A year into pandemic, feds have improved messaging on its toll on mental well-being, say experts
The federal government has done a better job of acknowledging the various emotional states COVID-19 has plunged Canadians into, says one expert, while another notes that the level of empathy politicians display only goes so far without long-term financial support for mental health services. Independent Senator Stan Kutcher (Nova Scotia), a psychiatrist by training, said […]
An open letter to federal Black employees
Dear federal Black employees, Thank you for your words of encouragement and support and for trusting me with your own stories. Your humanity is not to be negotiated and your voices are never to be silenced. Unfortunately, to work in the public service means as Black employees your value will be disregarded, your talents diminished […]
House reports $344.2-million in spending so far in 2020-21, as BOIE extends COVID supports for MPs
Thanks to COVID-19, House of Commons spending continued its downward trend through the third quarter of 2020-21, with $344.2-million in net spending as of Dec. 31, 2020, or 63.9 per cent of the $539-million in approved funding. The recently published third-quarter financial report covers all House spending from the start of the 2020-21 fiscal year, […]
The long road back from COVID will challenge Canadians on every front
OTTAWA—The ever-receding light at the end of the tunnel is, if nothing else, getting a little brighter now that Canadians are finally being vaccinated. But the talk about how to manage the post-COVID-19 recovery, which we began to hear late last summer, still seems preliminary six months later, even as Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland prepares […]
Hill journalists still working out the kinks after nearly a year of COVID coverage
Creeson Agecoutay, a parliamentary correspondent at CTV News, began his job on the Hill in November 2020, during a time unlike any other. The pandemic has changed the very way that members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery do their work, and as a new reporter on the Hill, part of his job has been figuring […]
Former political staffer launches a program to support mental health in public workplaces
There’s a problem with mental health in the public service, says former executive director of the BC Liberal Party Emile Scheffel and current senior associate at lobbying firm Prospectus Associates That’s why he’s launching a program aimed at supporting those with mental health needs in political workplaces, such as federal Parliament and provincial legislatures. Launched […]
Ongoing fed support ‘essential’ as pandemic has laid bare cracks in ‘outdated’ municipal financing system, say experts
The COVID-19 pandemic that has wreaked havoc on government finances has exposed existing cracks in how cities across the country are financed, according to experts, with Federation of Canadian Municipalities president Garth Frizzell calling the system “outdated” as the federal government continues to come to the rescue of cash-strapped cities across the country. “If we […]
Vaccine panel’s advice on AstraZeneca use for seniors to evolve as new data comes, say public health officials
The federal vaccine advisory committee’s guidance advising against giving the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to seniors, despite Health Canada’s approval for its use by adults of all ages, should not be read as “static,” say public health officials, dismissing concerns that the conflicting advice puts provinces and territories in a bind. “As they see more and more […]
Pandemic supports surpass losses for lower-income households, suggests new data
As many coped with the impact of economic closures and lost wages, Ottawa’s pandemic relief measures “more than compensated” for the losses lower-income households experienced, and instead, led to an uptick in disposable income, according to new data. The “unprecedented increases in transfers to households” during the first three quarters of 2020 helped drive that […]
We must ensure post-pandemic employment for so-called ‘expendables’
TORONTO—One of the most urgent messages from the pandemic world is that when the crisis is over, many people who lost their jobs—there are some 850,000 Canadians affected—won’t get their old jobs back, and will lack the skills for the new jobs. Most are in low-wage jobs. The actual number at risk is larger because […]
