Yesterday, Nova Scotia’s Minister of Finance proudly stood up to table a tiny surplus, and to convince us that a stable economy is good. However, stable is another word for stagnant. With no net job growth to speak of and very little economic growth, and with consumer spending flat; these…
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Every year on April 28 a Day of Mourning is observed for workers killed or injured on the job. The Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada recorded 852 workplace deaths in Canada in 2015. If we also consider the 232,629 claims that year for lost time due to a…
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With the 2017-18 Ontario budget officially tabled, the terms of the June 2018 provincial election have now been set — and it’s both a good and bad news story. The good news is that Ontario will go into the election with a balanced budget, which opens the door to a…
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Child benefits have significant potential to reduce homelessness and the need for emergency shelter beds by putting more money into the hands of low-income parents. They also can (and do) reduce child poverty, though not always as much as governments claim. And because they do not carry the same stigma…
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Eighteen months into the federal government’s mandate, with several provincial elections approaching, child care is once again a topic of debate. And, inevitably, Quebec’s system of providing and paying for child care (European-inspired and unique in North America) comes up in the discussion. While Quebec’s program is by no means…
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The June 2018 provincial election is more than a year away, but there are already signs of pre-election fever. Look for them in the upcoming Ontario provincial budget. You see evidence of pre-election fever in the flurry of announcements coming out of the Premier’s office on everything from hydro affordability to attempting to…
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Next week the Nova Scotia government will table its budget that is forecast to have no deficit. This is no measure of good government when it was an unnecessary goal that was achieved with serious cost and sacrifice borne by the less-advantaged, families, and working Nova Scotians, on whose back…
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An economic slump is behind Erdoğan’s power grab, but democracy and unity will be its first victims, writes Asad Ismi. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan claimed a narrow victory (51.3%) in Sunday’s referendum on constitutional reform amid charges of widespread electoral fraud by his opponents. The vote allows Erdoğan and…
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There are several compelling questions raised by government’s recent decision to wind down the Saskatchewan Transportation Company. For the most deeply affected, the questions are along the lines of “How am I going to get to my cancer treatments now?” But even those of us not directly impacted by the bus…
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Late last week, federal, provincial and territorial governments jointly celebrated the conclusion of a new internal trade deal they’re calling the Canadian Free Trade Agreement. The CFTA replaces the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT), which was completed in 1995 and updated a half-dozen times since to respond to business complaints…
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