Moments like these—pandemics, depressions, wars—often mark historic turning points when fundamental changes become possible.
Category: Canada
An August 26 news release from Ontario’s Ministry of Education reads, “Today’s federal announcement provides $381 million to Ontario, on top of the nearly $900 million provided by the province to support provincial back-to-school plans.” This statement is disingenuously inaccurate. A more accurate headline would be, federal government to transfer…
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Photo by ccbarr, Flickr Creative Commons On August 6, a mere five weeks after the Canada–U.S.–Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) entered into force, the Trump administration announced it was re-applying Section 232 tariffs of 10% against all imports of unwrought, unalloyed aluminum from Canada. Wasn’t the new NAFTA meant to spell the…
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When it comes to anti-Black racism in Canadian policing, we don’t have an information gap, we have a police accountability gap. I’m reminded of this as I review some of the findings of two significant reports released jointly in August by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, with news channels in…
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I don’t know who first used “build back better” as a slogan for the post-COVID recovery. Today the rather awful catchphrase is unavoidable wherever you look. Joe Biden promises to “Build Back Better” if he’s elected president in November (it’s the title of his election platform with Kamala Harris). Boris…
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Photo courtesy of HWDSB Kids Need Help A History Of Us On Monday June 22nd, after hosting a sit-in on the street for almost seven hours, we celebrated and danced as we listened in on the school board meeting, where trustees ultimately voted to terminate the Police Liaison Program for…
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Two giants have left us—Mel Watkins a few months ago, and now John Loxley. John (pictured, left, with Andrew Jackson and Watkins, his John Kenneth Galbraith Prize co-winners in 2008) was an inspiring and fiercely dedicated leader. His scholarly work, though impeccable, was not of an ivory tower vintage,…
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A new mathematics curriculum guide is set to drop this September in Ontario, the first update since 2005. Not only will students be heading back to the basics, they’ll also be introduced to a new “strand” of learning: financial literacy. The reason I’m so excited about this development is that…
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With the reopening of the economy in June, more women are back at work and others are picking up more hours, but their recovery continues to lag that of men. This unequal situation creates numerous challenges for Canada as we move into what may be a long, slow recovery, especially…
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In 25 years of Alternative Federal Budgets, this edition of the AFB stands out: reflecting a chapter of history as it is unfolding, in real time, in the middle of a global pandemic. Future generations will look back at 2020 as a critical turning point, a year in which the…
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