Scratching the surface: more needed to address northern housing, say MPs, experts
New funding allotted for the North in the recent federal budget won’t make a dent in the housing problems that plague these communities, and more needs to be done in a multitude of areas, experts say. Housing conditions in the North came under a spotlight following the release of NDP MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq’s (Nunavut) report, […]
In combatting climate change, the more ambition the better
On Earth Day on April 22, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a new, steeper reduction target for greenhouse gas emissions for Canada: to reduce them by up to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. It raises the stakes of its previous target, set in Paris at the end of 2015, to reduce emissions […]
With an ambitious domestic policy budget, Liberals leave little for foreign affairs
While the Trudeau Liberal government focused on a domestic recovery from the public health and economic crises brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, it left foreign policy largely ignored in its first budget in two years. Ambitious plans for childcare and Indigenous spending were unveiled in the April 19 budget, but that same ambition wasn’t […]
Here’s the hard-to-swallow truth about hunger
Community, camaraderie, and “care-mongering”– an almost obsessive tendency toward being helpful— were emblematic of Canada’s first pandemic wave. We were all in this together. The fear and anxiety felt by everyone was powerfully unifying. Now, as the third wave drags on, our spirits have been dulled by the painful truth of structural and unjust inequality. […]
Ottawa’s historic, forward-looking budget hinges on real partnership
With Budget 2021, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have put all their chips down on the proposition that more than $100-billion in strategic investments will set the stage for a 21st-century era of inclusive, sustainable Canadian prosperity. If they are right, concerns about eye-popping deficits and the doubling of the national […]
Our challenge is to create a new normal
TORONTO—In her budget speech last week, an optimistic Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland promised that, “the Canadian economy is poised to come roaring back.” And she has a good chance of being right. At least for the short-term. But the longer term is another question. There’s little doubt that keeping our $2.4-trillion economy on life support […]
‘Not a time for austerity’: public service unions laud feds’ childcare pledge, focus on recovery through spending over cuts
Leaders of Canada’s largest federal public service unions are lauding the government’s big-ticket commitment to affordable child care, and say this year’s budget shows the government isn’t interested in pursuing austerity measures after more than a year of record spending. “My reaction is generally positive—it’s clear that the government understands that this is not a […]
Could budget spending overheat the economy? Experts weigh in
The government’s big-spending budget could overheat Canada’s economy and put households and businesses under pressure, say Conservative MPs and a senior economist at the Royal Bank of Canada, but other experts, including Canada’s parliamentary budget officer, aren’t sweating the risk. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s (University-Rosedale, Ont.) first budget included $135-billion in new spending over five […]
We should have had a national rollout vaccine strategy
Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s tears failed to dampen the unprecedented spike in his unpopularity. His mea culpa, offered while in isolation at his late mother’s home in Etobicoke, was designed to let people know that their pain was his pain. But nobody was listening. The government’s decision to announce draconian lockdown measures the previous weekend […]
$2.2-billion for MMIWG positive sign, but groups cautiously await details amid delayed action plan
Indigenous women’s groups say they need clarity on how Ottawa will roll out the $2.2-billion in funding earmarked in the budget and when it will release its delayed action plan in response to the inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. When Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland (University-Rosedale, Ont.) unveiled Budget 2021 on April […]
