In the age of COVID-19, where the unemployment rate is now estimated at 13.5% and many are struggling to pay next month’s rent, the necessity of suspending evictions, providing income supports for low-income households, and having a serious conversation about rent forgiveness couldn’t be clearer. A number of government measures…
Read more
If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that a lot of the people we pay the least are the ones we need the most. In the last two weeks, Canadians have come to appreciate the critical role of the workers in the “supply chain” that keeps us alive. From food…
Read more
The federal government has announced it is prepared to pay wages subsidies of up to 75% of employee wages for all private businesses and other employers, including non-profits, partnerships and charities that expect a 30% drop in revenues, up to a maximum of $847/worker per week and $11,011 over the…
Read more
Given that seniors are at greatest risk, as evidence from China shows, and those living in long term care homes are among the most vulnerable, it should be no surprise that the first cluster of illnesses, and the first fatality, related to the COVID-19 virus appeared at the Lynn Valley…
Read more
Schools are closed. Physical distancing is happening. Playgrounds are off limits. Life as we know it has shifted invoking fear and anxiety for both young people and adults. These emotions manifest differently for families depending on their context. Perhaps a caregiver has been laid off causing financial stress and food…
Read more
Yesterday, in response to the impact of COVID-19 on workers, the federal government announced the new Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), which replaces the short-lived Emergency Care Benefit and almost completely replaces Employment Insurance with a flat $2,000 a month payment ($462 a week). The CERB is available to anyone…
Read more
Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips presented his Economic and Fiscal Update at Queen’s Park today, tabling the Ford government’s battle plan to combat the health and economic crises brought on by the accelerating spread of the COVID-19 virus around the world. Phillips’ intervention is a big one. Today’s update includes…
Read more
The coronavirus pandemic is an unprecedented public health crisis that demands immediate and decisive action. Governments around the world are taking extraordinary measures to contain the virus to avoid the dire consequences of an uncontrolled COVID-19 outbreak. Those measures, extraordinary as they are, hold important lessons for the other, bigger…
Read more
This year’s Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) was released on March 17.[1] A general overview of the AFB project can be found here, but in a nutshell, it provides an alternative fiscal framework for Canada’s federal government; it’s released ahead of the actual federal budget in an effort to stir debate about an alternative…
Read more
If we take seriously the analogy of COVID-19 as a war, then our prisons are powder kegs being carried and cared for by chain-smoking soldiers.