VANCOUVER - Canada should aim to become completely self-sufficient in producing masks and other essential medical supplies needed during pandemics and rely on the country’s forest industry—not its oil industry—to get the job done, says the BC office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Celebrating his life and legacy
Mel Watkins (May 15, 1932 - April 2, 2020) was a professor of political economy, a member of the Order of Canada, and a towering intellect of the Canadian left. Throughout his many years in policy and politics he mentored scores of progressives, and continued this leadership role as a longtime CCPA research associate and author. We remain indebted to Mel for his years of support, collaboration, and his indefatigable commitment to the labour movement, environmental and social justice, and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
VANCOUVER - The need to work multiple jobs to make ends meet has contributed to the tragedy in seniors homes during the COVID-19 crisis, but even beyond nursing homes, working more than one job is common across all regions of BC. That’s the central finding of new research released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives BC Office and SFU’s Labour Studies Program, from a province-wide workforce survey conducted not long before the pandemic began.
The COVID-19 crisis has caused a tectonic shift in Canada’s public finances. On April 1, the Bank of Canada (BoC) began a major bond-buying program, following the tracks of the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world. This sudden and dramatic shift in bank operations and strategy is the latest stage in the BoC’s relationship with government debt, financial markets, and the day-to-day lives of all Canadians.
VANCOUVER — The coronavirus pandemic has shone a light on serious problems in Canada’s seniors care system and after the crisis the BC government should begin to transition away from its reliance on contracting with for-profit companies, say two Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives research associates.
(VANCOUVER) Canadian charities and non-profit organizations should immediately qualify for the new Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) program or they’ll be forced into crisis, say Shannon Daub, Director of the CCPA-BC and Alison Brewin, Executive Director of Vantage Point, an organization that provides support, training and networking for non-profit organizations in BC.
The COVID-19 crisis offers an opportunity to create a new, better normal at Canadian long-term residential care facilities.
The report’s short-term recommendations include: making all staff permanent and limiting their work to one nursing home; raising staff wages and benefits, especially sick leave; rapidly providing testing for all those living, working or visiting in homes; ensuring access to protective equipment immediately; and severely limiting transfers from hospitals.
TORONTO – As the COVID-19 death toll mounts, the Ontario government must immediately spend at least $58 million more a month on staffing to help save the lives of seniors in long-term care homes, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) says.
In our first issue following the outbreak of COVD-19 in Canada, Monitor contributors assess the federal and provincial government responses to date and propose how we might use this moment of government activism to fix the gross inequalities in our society—by improving social programs such as employment insurance, income assistance and our health care system, for example.