Income inequality

The Institute’s Senior Policy Analyst Brittany Andrew-Amofah interviewed former Deputy Minister of Ontario & Manitoba Michael Mendelson on Canada's housing crisis in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and what housing solutions should be considered as Canada moves towards a recovery. Michael Mendelson is currently a Maytree Fellow. 

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 this virus with a sense of our common humanity.

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 in communication to parents and to teachers, who are tasked with supporting two million students with a diverse range of learning needs and inconsistent access to resources and support at home.

A new report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer shows that the personal income tax cut proposed by the Trudeau Liberals will cost more in terms of lost revenue than first thought, and will strongly favour high income earners and families.

Decent, safe, and affordable housing is an absolute foundation for healthy lives. Research has shown the critical links between housing and health. Without appropriate and secure housing, our health suffers, our mental health deteriorates, we are more stressed. Without affordable housing we may need to skip on food or medications in order to pay the rent. Every single person requires affordable housing in order to be healthy, and yet so many struggle to find decent housing in Canada, one of the richest countries in the world.

In March, the Broadbent Institute commissioned a study from Abacus Data to explore how Canadians feel about present-day affordability concerns. Highlights of its findings paints a bleak picture:  

• 1 in 4 Canadians say that issues such as money, taxes and housing are keeping them up at night; 

• Nearly 60 percent ranked issues tied to cost of living (wages, taxes, healthcare) as their top issues heading into the federal election; 

• Found there was a direct correlation between household income and concern about the cost of living; and, 

• When asked what would make a difference to make life more affordable, a majority felt that covering more under public health care such as dental, prescriptions, and home care, as well as access to decent work and wages would be most helpful. 

The competing personal income tax cuts proposed by the Liberal and Conservative parties in this federal election are almost identical in terms of goals and re-distributive impact, and neither advance a truly progressive agenda.

In May, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden caused a small media storm when comments he made that he had no empathy for millennials who argue they face more difficult economic circumstances than previous generations circulated on social media. Biden was only the most recent public figure to weigh in on what’s become a hot topic over the past few years.

An impersonal decision-making process excludes communities whose stories need to be heard.

Solidarity has long been a standing principle of social justice advocates, but in the face of the current crisis of inequality and the concentration of power and money, solidarity is an essential ingredient of change. This was the message at a day-long workshop the Power Lab recently convened with a multitude of organizers, from public transit activists based in Scarborough to community benefits advocates based in Jane-Finch, on how to strengthen our collective fight for fair economies.