Feds’ priciest COVID-19 spending measures could cost more than $851-million, says budget watchdog
Some of the federal government’s priciest spending measures in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic could cost more than $851-million between the 2020 and 2021 fiscal year, according to analyses released Thursday by the Parliamentary Budget Officer. The PBO estimated that one of the feds’ priciest COVID-19 programs, the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, which is […]
Market fundamentalism is dead. We’re all socialists now
OTTAWA—So, us SJWs (social justice warriors) were right all along. It seems like building a just and equitable society where people are paid a livable wage, health care and housing are human rights, the environment is protected, labour is powerful, and white supremacy/colonialism and patriarchy are relegated to the annals of history is quite doable, […]
The fight against COVID-19 isn’t a war, and shouldn’t be described that way
OTTAWA—Whenever there is a crisis involving death and destruction, one of the first reactions of the media is to describe it as being akin to “a war zone.” A tornado rips through an urban centre and we are told that the wreckage looks “like a war zone.” A train derails and bursts into flames and […]
COVID upheaval may prompt long overdue repudiation of selfishness disguised as austerity
OTTAWA—More than a decade has passed since, during the 2009 financial meltdown, we heard the now-resurrected refrain: “We’re all socialists now.” That ironic phrasing is, of course, a recognition of the reality that, in the worst of times, people turn to government to inject large quantities of money into the economy in hopes of resurrecting […]
‘Is it even big enough?’: Morneau shells out unprecedented billions, economists applaud move as COVID-19 crisis deepens
Finance Minister Bill Morneau says he is spending an unprecedented amount of borrowed money to prop up Canada’s economy as the spreading novel coronavirus has kept Canadians in their homes, out of stores, and more than two million out of work, and economists, a former parliamentary budget officer, and a former deputy prime minister say […]
COVID-19 illuminating challenges of democratic governance
Is COVID-19 a blessing in disguise? Patients infected or dying from COVID-19 are the least likely to think so. This virus has shaken a number of concepts that many citizens of democratic societies take for granted. Reviews of how this crisis has been handled by governments, and global efforts at bracing for its impacts, will […]
How to save the Canadian media industry from mass extinction
TORONTO—If current trends continue, Canada’s news media will not survive the COVID-19 recession. Even during the boom years of 2009-2019, nearly 300 Canadian outlets shut down and 16,000 journalists were laid off. But the good times, if you can call them that, are over. In the last two weeks, nearly 500 more journalists have been […]
Wage subsidies ‘critical,’ a ‘lifeline’ for businesses to survive pandemic, says Chamber of Commerce president
The federal government’s increased wage subsidy announcement was “critical” if small- and medium-sized businesses are going to come out alive on the other side of the coronavirus pandemic, say business leaders. “It’s a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of small- and medium-sized businesses that employ millions of Canadians,” said Perrin Beatty, president and CEO of […]
Safety nets were chopped and now we’re screwed trying to respond to the ‘equal opportunity virus’
OTTAWA—The entire Western world was feelin’ itself until the novel coronavirus hit. Now, we’ve been humbled like Justin Trudeau on his blackface apology tour. Every time I type the name of this pandemic, all I can hear is Cardi B’s coronavirus rant on Instagram that has been chopped and screwed into a remix that’s blazing […]
Budget 2020, election promises in question amid COVID-19 global pandemic crisis, say McKay, Delacourt
The COVID-19 crisis will derail the government’s legislative agenda for the 43rd Parliament, says veteran Liberal MP John McKay, and may spike the government’s 2020 budget entirely, says Liberal-connected lobbyist John Delacourt. After narrowly winning a second mandate last fall, the Liberal government’s medium- and long-term plans for the 43rd Parliament have been put in […]
