National Office

As part of the consultations undertaken in preparation of our forthcoming Alternative Federal Budget, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives hosted an economic roundtable, The Global Economic Crisis: Can Canada Escape a Lost Decade? on January 26, 2012. The event brought together several leading Canadian economists to address the appropriate fiscal policy response to Canada’s anemic economic recovery, as well as three internationally recognized authorities who shared their perspectives on the nature of the global economic crisis, how it’s likely to unfold, and obstacles to reform.

Click on the keynote speeches below to watch online (via CPAC):

Keynote I: Perspectives on the global crisis and what to do

Speakers:

• Yanis Varoufakis (PhD Essex) is the director of Political Economy division, department of Economic Sciences, University of Athens. He is the author of The Global Minotaur: America, the true origins of the financial crisis, and the future of the world economy (2011).
• Stephany Griffith-Jones (PhD Cambridge) is Financial Markets Program Director at the Institute for Policy Dialogue, Columbia University; professorial fellow Institute of Development Studies University of Sussex. She is co-editor with José Antonio Ocampo and Joseph Stiglitz of Time for a Visible Hand: Lessons from the 2008 World Financial Crisis (2010). 

Keynote II: Perspective on the U.S. and the global crisis, and the way forward

Speaker:

• Thomas Palley (PhD Yale) is Schwartz Economic Growth Fellow at the New America Foundation, Washington DC. He is a frequent contributor to the Financial Times of London Economists’ Forum, and his most recent project is Economics for Democratic & Open Societies.

Old Age Security (OAS) is the basic building block of Canada’s retirement income system. Canadians build on that foundation, saving for their retirement with benefits from the Canada or Quebec Pension Plan, a workplace pension if they’re lucky enough to have one, and private savings.

But now Prime Minster Harper says OAS is unsustainable and will not be able to accommodate the retirement of the baby boom generation over the next 20 years. Subsequently, the government is now considering controversial reforms to pension programs—including raising the age of eligibility for OAS from 65 to 67.

Pension experts don’t agree. Old Age Security: Can We Afford It?, a new CCPA technical paper by Monica Townson, sheds some light on the negative impact of cuts to Canada's pension programs and also addresses its sustainability, given government claims that OAS costs will be soon be “unaffordable.”

Click here to read the full report.

Electro-Motive/Caterpillar's decision to lock out its London, Ontario workers on January 1st, demanding workers accept a 50% pay cut or lose the plant altogether, brings into focus a theme that is unfolding in 2012: The crackdown on middle class work in Canada.

The CCPA's Trish Hennessy has written two blog posts about the developments in London and what it means for Canada's labour movement:

Caterpillar: The moth flying too close to the flame shows the futility of Canada's tax cut agenda and the failure of senior governments to act to save jobs.

Attack of the killer unionbot deconstructs the dehumanizing narrative that is pitting Canadians against unions.

Last week Prime Minister Harper signaled possible cuts to Canada's pension programs, namely Old Age Security benefits for middle- and lower-income seniors. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has produced several resources on pension reform, including analysis of the possible plan to raise the age for OAS eligibility: 

• Canada’s Incredible Shrinking Population, by Erin Weir 

  CCPA research associate Erin Weir brings some clarity to claims that the cost of Old Age Security is unsustainable.

• The OAS Eligibility Age and Employment, by Andrew Jackson 

  Andrew Jackson suggests that an increase in the eligibility age for OAS/GIS will negatively impact an increasing proportion of older Canadians who are staying in the workforce well past 65.

• Is The OAS/GIS Program Unaffordable?, by Andrew Jackson 

  On CCPA’s blog, Andrew Jackson writes that despite the government's claims to the contrary, OAS costs are indeed sustainable in the context of an ageing society.

• Hennessy's Index: Grey Power, by Trish Hennessy 

  Hennessy's Index is a monthly listing of numbers about Canada and its place in the world. February's edition introduces us to some distressing numbers and facts on pensions and Old Age Security.

• Low Income and the Age of Eligibility for OAS, by Andrew Jackson 

  Andrew Jackson suggests that raising the age of eligibility for Old Age Security/Guaranteed Income Supplement (OAS/GIS) will have the biggest impact on future seniors who are in lower income brackets.

• Raising The Retirement Age Is The Wrong Way To Deal With The Retirement Crisis, by Andrew Jackson 

  In this blog post, Andrew Jackson writes that raising the age of eligibility for OAS/GIS will cut a basic building block of retirement security, and instead we should be expanding the Canada Pension Plan now to raise incomes for seniors in the future.

• Delaying Retirement: What does it mean for younger workers?, by Karen Foster 

  Karen Foster examines the impact of pension reforms on the job prospects and economic well-being of younger workers.

• A Stronger Foundation: Pension Reform and Old Age Security, by Monica Townson 

  This report reviews OAS and its associated programs of the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) and the Allowance and discusses measures that could be taken to strengthen this part of Canada’s pension system.

• Pension Breakdown: How the Finance Ministers Bungled Pension Reform, by Monica Townson 

  This study provides an analysis of the government's proposed Pooled Registered Pension Plan (PRPP) program, and asserts that it will do nothing to solve Canada’s pension crisis.

The speed and breadth of technological change and how it plays out in education is creating many battles. The Winter 2012 issue of Our Schools/Our Selves -- Every Tool Shapes the Task identifies some of these areas of conflict and how they play out in schools and for students and teachers. The articles in this issue frame some of the many areas of conflict over education — conflicts that grow out of social, cultural, political and technological changes and differences. Conflict and controversy are sometimes carried out as a dialogue, and can lead to understanding and consensus. They sometimes also reflect differences that cannot be reconciled. Both are true of issues dealt with in this edition.

Click here for a preview of the book, or to order.

Caterpillar's February 3rd announcement that it will close the Electro-Motive Diesel facility in London has renewed calls to overhaul the Investment Canada Act.  The CAW, CEP, USW and CLC among others have pressed for expanding the criteria for approving foreign takeovers to include the impact of the investment on employment, wages and conditions, and the livelihood of workers, retirees and communities affected.  Unions have also pointed to the lack of transparency and public participation in the review process, calling on the government to make public all commitments made by companies under the Act.

Some in the media have also questioned why companies like Electro-Motive (Caterpillar), which benefited from tax breaks and incentives announced in 2008, are not required to return the money if they close plants and lay off workers.  In a similar vein, the CLC recently urged the federal government to require companies benefitting from corporate income tax cuts, but stockpiling cash, raising executive compensation, and boosting shareholder dividends instead of increasing real investment and employment, to pay back the money to taxpayers.