On February 27, Jason Kenney’s UCP government will table its second budget. With that in mind, here are 10 things to know about income support for low-income households in Alberta: 1. Low income is associated with lower food expenditures, including fewer purchases of milk, fruits and vegetables. Low income is…
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It has been 30 years since the all-party resolution in the House of Commons to eliminate poverty among Canadian children by the year 2000. It is also almost 30 years since Canada ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991. Article 27 of the Convention directs…
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“Papa, you had a whole decade and this is all you did with it?” Reflecting on the start of the second decade of this millennium, I shudder with heart-sinking shame at the thought of my daughter asking me such a question in January 2030. She will be a few…
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There has been no shortage of talk about race and racism in Canada of late. In September, revelations about the Prime Minister’s past penchant for wearing blackface triggered a national conversation about the mockery, insults, bullying, and disrespect that racialized Canadians routinely face. But in discussing racism in social interactions,…
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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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