Blogs

There were two more news articles this week seeking to engage Canadians in conversations about our politics, our democracy and our vision for our country.

Mira Sucharov (a former professor of mine from Carleton University) had an article in the Ottawa Citizen challenging Canadians to start talking politics. “With Canadian voter turnout in the 2008 elections being the lowest on record at 59 per cent, I can't help but wonder if Canadian political culture might not benefit from a dose of frank political conversation among regular citizens -- daily and often.” Read more »

Ontario Minister of Children and Youth Services,Deb Matthews, was in Ottawa this week for a community conversation on the Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy. Set against the failure of the federal government to address the needs of the poor, this strategy is an exciting initiative. The challenging reality of people's lives, however, demonstrate that we still have a long, long way to go. Read more »

The UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of Canada took place yesterday, with the review focusing on Canada’s record on Aboriginal rights, domestic poverty, and racial discrimination, among other issues. The UPR Working Group will adopt the report on Canada on Thursday. Read more »

I received an excellent suggestion from a CPJ supporter about the federal government's tax credit for home renovations. JD from Victoria writes: Read more »

While the global economic crisis continues to threaten the jobs and savings of millions of Canadians, it has also been casting a shadow across much of the developing world. Read more »

You’ve heard us say it before, and I’ll say it again: there are over 3.4 million Canadians living in poverty – this according to the Statistics Canada after-tax Low Income Cut-Off (LICO).

Sadly, the Conservative government failed to deliver for Canada’s poor.

The budget contained no poverty reduction strategy. In fact, it contained no mention of poverty, let alone a commitment to ensure that it is addressed. And, the measures aimed at “low-income” Canadians provide far too little for those that need it most. Read more »

Further to my post on tax cuts last week, the Toronto Star has an excellent article by Lisa Philipps today on the breakdown of the benefits. 

Philipps notes that those earning less than $35,000 - more than 60% of tax filers and mostly women - will gain no benefit but the additional $33 a year due to the increased personal amount. Read more »

The federal budget, announced on Tuesday, was significantly lacking on the ‘green’ front. It was clearly still Tory blue.

CPJ, along with environmental groups, hoped that the government would take this prime opportunity to implement a green budget, with increased funding for alternative energy, green infrastructure alternatives and measures to encourage technological innovation. This would have moved Canada towards a modern, sustainable economy. Read more »

Although economists were nearly unanimous in their advice before the budget that tax cuts are not a good form of stimulus, Budget 2009 includes $2 billion a year in tax cuts as part of its economic stimulus package. The government – as part of its coordinated campaign of leaks – had been hinting before the budget at tax cuts for the middle class, the “backbone of the economy.”

So when I saw the budget commitment to a tax cut for essentially anyone making less than $81,452, I began to wonder what “middle class” is in Canada. Read more »

While our full response to the federal budget can be found on our main website, over the next week we will be posting more detailed analysis of our response to specific investments and policies outlined in the budget. Please check back over our website in the next few days as they are posted.

WIth regards to funding for housing, CPJ applauds the federal government for including investments in affordable housing in its economic stimulus package. $1 billion in funding has been committed towards renovating existing social housing in Canada, as well as $600 million for on-reserve aboriginal housing, $400 million for seniors’ housing, and $75 million for housing for people with disabilities. Read more »