Do you see yourself in those who shape the news?
Column space in Canadian newspapers remains dominated by middle-aged white males – even while our communities become increasingly more diverse. Dylan Robertson, a freelance journalist, recently published a piece on J-Source citing...
Ottawa's oil and gas sitcom
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any slower, Ottawa has yet another rationale for delaying greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations for oil and gas companies. Worryingly, this one comes straight...
With more seniors working already, do we need to raise the retirement age?
For the first time ever, the percentage of Canadian seniors aged 65 to 69 who are still working rose to more than one in four in the autumn of 2013....
“Toxin Toxout”: it’s the green economy, stupid!
Five years ago, when Bruce Lourie and I started work on our first book, Slow Death by Rubber Duck: How the Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Life Affects Our Health, it wasn’t immediately...
Elimination of poverty requires a dedicated plan
Surrounded as we are by the tunes and decorations of the holiday season, Industry Minister James Moore’s recent uncharitable comments about child poverty and hunger invoke inevitable comparisons to Charles...
Jim Flaherty, pensions, and economic doublespeak
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says the economy is too weak to support a modest, phased-in increase in Canada Pension Plan (CPP) premiums divided between employers and employees.This is disputed by...
The case for wage-led growth
The standard view in economics and in policy circles is that wage increases come at a cost that impacts individual firms negatively. According to this view, wage increases also lead to...
How many Canadians have "middle-class jobs"?
There is broad agreement across the political spectrum that we need to create more 'good middle-class jobs', especially for young people leaving the educational system, recent immigrants to Canada, and...
Flaherty's EI surplus sleight-of-hand
The Parliamentary Budget Office has come out with a report suggesting that the Conservatives will likely balance the budget ahead of schedule. But, and it’s a big but, they also found there would...
What's behind the opposition to a bigger, better CPP?
Today, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said he is opposed to the provincial proposal to expand the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) because it is not a “modest” proposal and would cost jobs. In...
