The recession has had a tremendous impact on Canadians. Job losses and a faltering safety net have added hundreds of thousands of people to the population of Canadians living in poverty. Economic stimulus and deficit spending are most certainly required to confront this vulnerability. Measures to create and sustain jobs and to build a strong and healthy country are needed. But this cannot be done at the expense of those on the margins, excluded from mainstream society. Read more »
By Kathy Vandergrift and Citizens for Public Justice | Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
The Prime Minister sent our MPs home to recalibrate the government agenda. The break was 20 workdays, he said.
If you could set the agenda for 2010 during this pause, what would your list of the 20 most important policy concerns include?
CPJ has come up with a list of 20 key policy questions, one for each day. We believe these issues should be debated by MPs, the voice of the people, to set directions for Canada. Read more »
Canada has always welcomed people from many different backgrounds through immigration. Newcomers have been instrumental in shaping Canada into the country it is today. However, as the economic goals of immigration take precedence, there are concerns that certain groups, particularly refugees and temporary foreign workers, are not being welcomed. It is time for decision makers to re-evaluate our primary purposes of immigration and the impacts of imminent policy changes. Read more »
Many Canadians believe it is inappropriate to pay people for "doing nothing." This notion is related to our cultural norms and values around work and income security. Our cultural valuing of economic growth, and therefore productivity, affects how we value people and what we consider to be work worth doing. In order to truly value people and their activities, regardless of income, we need to relinquish our focus on productivity and re-focus our attention on people. Read more »
Recently, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney expressed surprise that the demand for temporary foreign workers has not gone down since the recession.
However, this steady demand for temporary foreign workers should not be surprising to Minister Kenney at all. This steady demand is, in fact, the inevitable result of the temporary foreign worker program and the current government’s approach to immigration. Read more »
Some policy experts prefer conditional income support programs to Guaranteed Livable Income because they believe those who are able to work should receive lower benefits to encourage them to work, while those who are disabled should receive higher benefits since they are deserving poor. But this division assumes that it is possible to make good distinctions between who is and is not capable of working. Instead, our poor track record in judging others and their ability to work suggests that employment conditions are the equivalent of condemning some people to poverty. Income security must be unconditional and universal. Read more »
We believe that freedom from poverty is a human right.
We believe in equality among all people.
We believe that everyone is entitled to social and economic security.
We believe in dignity for all. NOW is the time to end poverty in Canada.
Millions of Canadians aspire to a life free from poverty – the hungry, the homeless and the disenfranchised; the working poor, the unemployed and the socially assisted; the Aboriginal, the immigrant and the person of colour; the person with disability, the parent and the pensioner. Read more »
How and why does poverty happen? Who is experiencing poverty in Canada? How are communities and institutions addressing poverty? What further action must be taken?
These are some of the questions that CPJ staff members Chandra Pasma, Karri Munn-Venn and Mariel Angus will be reflecting on next week when they attend the Canadian Social Forum. Read more »
It’s tax time in Canada and people across the country are crunching their numbers, filling out the forms, and crossing their fingers for a good tax return. Chances are, very little consideration is being given to the benefit of paying taxes, or to the services we receive in return.
The extent to which taxes have been disassociated from public services is astounding. Across the Canadian political spectrum, taxation is consistently presented in a negative light. Yet the truth about taxes is that they finance the mechanisms by which the health, safety, and well-being of our society are promoted. They also provide us with tremendous personal benefits. Read more »
Concerns about a possible work disincentive appear to be one of the biggest obstacles to guaranteed livable income. In this paper, presented at the USBIG Congress 2009, policy analyst Chandra Pasma examines the assumptions that underlie the belief in a work disincentive. Read more »
The recession has had a tremendous impact on Canadians. Job losses and a faltering safety net have added hundreds of thousands of people to the population of Canadians living in poverty. Economic stimulus and deficit spending are most certainly required to confront this vulnerability. Measures to create and sustain jobs and to build a strong and healthy country are needed. But this cannot be done at the expense of those on the margins, excluded from mainstream society. 
The Prime Minister sent our MPs home to recalibrate the government agenda. The break was 20 workdays, he said.
Canada has always welcomed people from many different backgrounds through immigration. Newcomers have been instrumental in shaping Canada into the country it is today. However, as the economic goals of immigration take precedence, there are concerns that certain groups, particularly refugees and temporary foreign workers, are not being welcomed. It is time for decision makers to re-evaluate our primary purposes of immigration and the impacts of imminent policy changes. 
Many Canadians believe it is inappropriate to pay people for "doing nothing." This notion is related to our cultural norms and values around work and income security. Our cultural valuing of economic growth, and therefore productivity, affects how we value people and what we consider to be work worth doing. In order to truly value people and their activities, regardless of income, we need to relinquish our focus on productivity and re-focus our attention on people. 
Some policy experts prefer conditional income support programs to Guaranteed Livable Income because they believe those who are able to work should receive lower benefits to encourage them to work, while those who are disabled should receive higher benefits since they are deserving poor. But this division assumes that it is possible to make good distinctions between who is and is not capable of working. Instead, our poor track record in judging others and their ability to work suggests that employment conditions are the equivalent of condemning some people to poverty. Income security must be unconditional and universal. 
It’s tax time in Canada and people across the country are crunching their numbers, filling out the forms, and crossing their fingers for a good tax return. Chances are, very little consideration is being given to the benefit of paying taxes, or to the services we receive in return. 
