Fast Facts: Roughly 4 million Canadians were receiving Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) in August and early September. The move from a $400 to $500 weekly amount in Employment Insurance (EI) and Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) will improve benefits for 1.8 million CERB recipients. 776,000 CERB recipients will receive no…
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“We must not let the legacy of the pandemic be one of rolling back the clock on women’s participation in the workforce, nor one of backtracking on the social and political gains women and allies have fought so hard to secure.” (Speech from the Throne, September 23, 2020) This call…
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Wednesday’s throne speech offered hints of promising changes to long term care policies—something COVID-19 has exposed as urgently needed. Specifically, the federal government promises “to work with provinces and territories to set new, national standards for long term care.” There has been growing public pressure for federal leadership to address…
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Overcoming this pandemic that we’re living in requires the work and resolve of every order of government, every community, and each one of us—throne speech 2020 is a test of that resolve. It sets the stage for whether the federal government is going all in to ensure that no one…
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Picture it: You’re driving down a long straight road. Far in the distance you can see the road getting bumpier and bumpier before suddenly dropping over a cliff. Bright yellow and red warning signs punctuate the side of the roadway. “Danger!” they proclaim. “Road ends in 12 km! Uneven surface…
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Public policy in Canada remains haunted by large deficits that prevailed in the 1980s and early 1990s. With COVID-19 economic response pushing the federal deficit to an estimated $343 billion in 2020/21, some pundits are starting to beat the deficit hysteria drum again. Don’t let big numbers scare you. Here’s…
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Today the Halifax Regional Municipal Council will consider a staff report that recommends that Council approve the adoption of a Supplier Code of Conduct (including Living Wage requirements). Voting in favour of this recommendation would be one important step forward, but will not have the impact that a broader living wage policy could…
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When you add up the total wealth growth of Canada’s richest 20 billionaires since the March 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, their wealth has ballooned by $37 billion. Data from Forbes’ annual billionaires list and their “real-time billionaires” listing shows that Canada’s top 20 billionaires have amassed an average of just under…
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As the back-to-school terrain and announcements shift, fear and anxiety continue to rise. Second-guesswork, anxiety and wanting what’s best for your child are the great parental equalizers. What parents are able to do to mitigate that, however, is not equal—not by a long shot. It shouldn’t be lost on anyone…
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The school year has started with huge trepidation and heightened worry about the fate of our kid’s education and well-being, and growing fears about what the future holds as daily infection numbers climb. Even if we manage to avoid a second wave of the coronavirus—a big if—there will be inevitable…
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