Completing the promise of Medicare
In the early 1960’s, a CCF government (the CCF was the precursor to the NDP) in Saskatchewan successfully lit the path towards what we now know nationally as Medicare, a...
One Lesson from the Pandemic: Canada Needs to Rebuild Manufacturing
One of the by-products of the global COVID 19 pandemic is that all of a sudden people are paying attention to where things are actually manufactured. On Monday morning April...
COVID-19 is not the great leveller, it’s the great revealer
In a medical sense, COVID-19, as highly contagious as it is, can be thought of as the great leveller. No one has immunity, and we face the health risk of...
Educating Ontario Students During Covid-19
EMERGENCY REMOTE LEARNING IN ONTARIO On March 31st, Phase 2 of Ontario’s “Learn at Home” program was announced in response to COVID-19 school closures. The announcement has resulted in inconsistency...
COVID-19 Emergency Benefits: Who's included, who's left out and the role of provinces
Applications for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) were opened on Monday, April 6th, and officials have estimated that up to 4 million people may apply for the emergency support....
Financing the War Against COVID-19
It is no exaggeration to say that the world and Canada are now at war with a virus which threatens human lives, our health care system and the economy. As...
Canada’s Response to the Coronavirus: Better than the US, Worse than EU
How does Canada’s fiscal response to the coronavirus stack up so far relative to the rest of the world? Data compiled by the IMF suggests that the totality of Ottawa’s announced measures...
Federal COVID-19 aid needs speed, and space to grow
On March 18, the federal government announced an aid package to help workers and businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The package includes $27 billion in wage supports and enhanced benefits, and $55 billion in deferred income tax payments. It is supposed to ensure that workers...
Let’s shore up workers today while thinking of the future in light of COVID-19
Every crisis, it is said, also provides us with an opportunity. Government responses to the economic and social emergency caused by COVID-19 must deal with the immediate impacts on vulnerable...
