As it should, the coronavirus pandemic took centre stage in the Liberal government’s speech from the throne. Getting through this global crisis, which affects us all, must take precedence. With some notable gaps and a last-minute push from the NDP to ensure workers affected by COVID do not see their incomes reduced…
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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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Moments like these—pandemics, depressions, wars—often mark historic turning points when fundamental changes become possible.
By Simon Enoch & Emily Eaton One of the key pillars for cities attempting to achieve 100 percent renewability is perhaps obvious—renewable power. Exemplary renewable cities like Portland, Oregon, and Austin, Texas, have met or exceeded their renewability goals in large part through the purchase of renewable power from a…
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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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On June 23, 2020, Halifax Regional Council unanimously passed their new climate action plan, ‘HalifACT 2050: Acting on Climate Together’. The plan is focused on ensuring equity, creating thousands of jobs, reducing energy poverty, strengthening resilience and saving the municipality $22 billion over the course of the plan. Crucially, the…
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One of the apparent silver linings of the COVID-19 lockdown has been a significant drop in air pollution in cities around the world. Although the effect has been most pronounced in notoriously polluted places like New Delhi, Beijing and Los Angeles, we’ve seen improvements in Canada as well. As I…
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The COVID-19 pandemic and associated policy response has caused an unprecedented economic shock in Canada. Millions of workers have lost their jobs, schools and workplaces have closed and everyone who can is staying home. One consequence of this precipitous decline in economic activity has been a reduction in air pollution….
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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…
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