Donald Trump makes people sick, himself and his entourage included. Given the U.S. president's shameful, almost criminally negligent record on COVID-19, it will be surprising if he is re-elected on November 3. A sizeable expat community aside, most Canadians will not have a say in that race but its outcome will be felt globally.
Economy and economic indicators
(VANCOUVER) While millions of Canadians lost their jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s top 20 billionaires have amassed an average of nearly $2 billion each in wealth during six of the most economically catastrophic months in Canadian history, for a combined total of $37 billion.
Photo of a Vietnamese garment factory in 2012 from the ILO Asia-Pacific
HALIFAX and SAINT JOHN—In order to earn a living wage, a person working a full-time, full-year job must earn $21.80 in Halifax, $19.55 in Antigonish, $17.65 in Cape Breton, $16.80 in Bridgewater and $19.55 in Saint John, according to a new report released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Nova Scotia office and the Saint John Human Development Council.
The living wage was first calculated in Atlantic Canada in 2015 (Halifax). Antigonish was added in 2016 and Saint John, New Brunswick in 2018. Last year, we calculated the living wage rate for St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. This year we have added two more Nova Scotia communities: Bridgewater and the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. The calculation of the living wage provides communities with the following information:
Photo by Alma Ayon, Flickr Creative Commons
Illustration by Michael DeForge
It has been six months since we shut down the economy to all but essential activities in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19. Federal and many provincial emergency measures introduced since then, though imperfect and unevenly available across Canada, have stabilized incomes and bought governments time to figure out what comes next.
A U.S. sailor stands watch on a Mark VI patrol boat before a weapons sustainment exercise in the Arabian Gulf, April 16, 2020 (U.S. Navy)
Reviewed in this article:
Bigger than Bernie: How We Go from the Sanders Campaign to Democratic SocialismMeagan Day and Micah UetrichtVerso (March 2020), $33.95
Yesterday’s Man: The Case Against Joe BidenBranko MarceticVerso, January 2020), $25.95
***