When it comes to addressing anti-Black racism in Canada, I can’t help but think of the mythic plight of Sisyphus. As the story goes, the Greek gods sentenced Sisyphus to an eternity of repeatedly rolling a large boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down again once…
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The pandemic’s tightening grip and government efforts to strengthen public health measures are impacting employment in Canada: we lost 63,000 jobs between November and December 2020. And with additional necessary public health measures this winter, we can expect even more job losses—especially among Black, Indigenous and other racialized workers who…
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There is little time left before public consultations on proposed regulations in support of the new federal Pay Equity Act close on January 13th. After years spent looking ahead to a new pay equity regime in Canada, what’s at stake is not just about a pay raise, as vital as that…
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The January 6 storming of the United States’ Capitol reveals just how dangerous the organized white supremacist right has become. It is imperative that we face the threat that white supremacists pose to what are already weak-functioning Western democracies. And, perhaps just as importantly, we must face the inanity of…
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When I became Executive Director of the CCPA in January 1994, I thought we needed to build our individual membership base, which was very small at the time. The board of directors, which then included one Ed Finn, reacted positively to my proposal that the CCPA launch a journal of…
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Ed Finn was a master of the English language, a man who lived by his principles, and a loving family man. He made a huge contribution to his birthplace of Newfoundland and Labrador, to the labour movement in Canada, and to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives—the CCPA. Ed was…
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The first time I met Ed, he intimidated me a little bit which, to anyone who even remotely knew this incredibly kind and patient man, seems hilarious now. In my defence, I was in my 20s, in a meeting at the CCPA office that I did not yet realize was…
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The COVID-19 crisis has repeatedly demonstrated the profound inequities of our labour market and social safety net. The situation has been particularly acute for low wage, precarious workers, those with the fewest legal protections and the fewest resources to weather this storm. With 2020 drawing to a close, we compiled…
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With the recent release of the federal government’s fall economic statement, Canadians got their first official overview of the government’s fiscal response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Governments in Canada have implemented or announced $382.4-billion in fiscal measures, according to the federal government’s statement. Numbers of this magnitude are hard to…
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Five years after the negotiation of the Paris agreement, the federal government is finally starting to walk the talk on climate change. Canada’s updated climate action plan, released December 11, is the most serious piece of climate policy we’ve yet seen from this government. It comes alongside new measures announced…
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