Canada’s population is increasingly racialized. The 2016 census counted 7.7 million racialized individuals in Canada. That number represented 22% of the population, up from 16% just a decade earlier.Unfortunately, the rapid growth in the racialized population is not being matched by a corresponding increase in economic equality. Using 2016 census…
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The October election was dominated by two themes: affordability and climate change. Justin Trudeau acknowledged these concerns in his first press conference after the election. But immediately after acknowledging these issues, he announced that the first act of his newly formed minority government will be a “middle class” tax cut….
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What a difference a few years make. Tackling poverty and inequality were key themes in the 2015 election. This year, they have been muscled out by talk of affordability and tax cuts. International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is an excellent opportunity to take stock of where we are…
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If you think that in a country as rich as Canada no child lives in poverty, unfortunately you’d be wrong. Back in 1989, the House of Commons voted to end child poverty by 2000. Spoiler alert: they’re late. Campaign 2000 has been working for 30 years to achieve that goal,…
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In a vain attempt to keep pace with the avalanche of policy announcements, I’m wading into the NDP’s proposal of a wealth tax of 1% to be applied annually to all Canadians whose net worth exceeds $20 million. A wealth tax fundamentally differs from how most taxation in Canada presently…
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This weekend’s announcement of a plan for a “Universal Tax Cut” by the Conservative party signalled the first major tax discussion of Election 43. The basic premise of this plan is to reduce the rate in the lowest federal income tax bracket from 15% to 13.75% gradually over a three…
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With somewhat less media coverage than previous years, Statistics Canada has released its tuition fee estimates for 2019/20. And for the first time since I can remember, the national average for undergraduate tuition fees actually declined from the previous year. Good news, right? Not so fast. Erika Shaker looks at…
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As leaders debate the federal track record on Indigenous issues, there are several key issues that cannot, and should not be ignored. View the story Federal election primer: What we can't ignore when it comes to reconciliation By Alyssa O'Dell “The structures and processes of colonization, which are often relegated…
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Canada’s federal government has committed to working towards achieving the goals set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development both at home and abroad. Yet the scale and scope of investments to date continue to fall considerably short of SDG targets. Implementing the 2030 Agenda requires concrete action and…
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This blog post is the third in our series of election primers. It looks at three key issues—child care, housing and employment insurance—and what’s at stake in Election 2019. View the story Federal election primer: Investing in public services edition By Katherine Scott Election 2019 is shaping up to be…
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