The Monitor starts off 2020—the CCPA's 40th anniversary year—with a direct attack on the Trudeau government's contradictory climate plans and the close connections between public officials and the fossil fuel sector. Will minority status and a rising Green New Deal movement change the government's course, or will it be just more business as usual?
Indigenous issues
Illustration by Remie Geoffroi
The "Beyond Neoliberalism" workshop in Ottawa on October 30, 2019 was co-organized by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Trade Justice Network and Institute for Policy Studies, with support from Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung-New York.
We are living with vast discrepancies between rich and poor in Canada. That much is undeniable. According to the Broadbent Institute, 10% of Canadians held almost half (47.9%) of all wealth in 2012. Meanwhile, around one in seven people (about 14%) live in poverty, according to Canada Without Poverty. The gap between those with and without wealth is stark.
Mining enjoys massive government support in Canada. Politically, it’s treated as a preferred development option for remote communities and Indigenous peoples. Former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall once said, “The best program for First Nations and Métis people in Saskatchewan is not a program at all—it's [uranium mining company] Cameco.” The law backs this up.
Canada is one of the biggest extractive sector players in the world. We are home to approximately 60% of the world’s mining companies, and the Toronto Stock Exchange and Venture Exchange host more oil and gas companies than any other exchange in the world. Collectively, these companies have interests in over 100 countries.
Recent attention to issues of addiction in Manitoba has shifted from concern over opioids to methamphetamine use. Questions about government response have remained a hot topic during the run up to the provincial election. As a result harm reduction is starting to become a part of the public discourse.
For immediate release (Winnipeg): A new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative’s (CCPA) Manitoba office: Manitoba Hydro, the Long View argues the publicly owned crown corporation offers economic and social benefits that would be lost if the crown were privatized.
Manitoba Hydro has a long history of development and innovation, combined with political controversy and, in the case of First Nation communities, outright exploitation and abuse. But, as this report demonstrates, it would be wrong to suggest that the utility is not changing, or that it has not learnt from past mistakes.
Photo by Hillary Beattie