Federal election

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Since late last year, tens of thousands of French have hit the streets in protest of the country’s rising cost of living and shrinking opportunities. Many of these gilets jaunes protesters, named after the yellow safety jackets they wear in public, rely on their vehicles to get to work, or to do their work. President Emmanuel Macron’s proposed carbon tax, which would have added painfully to the cost of working in France, was the final straw.
With the country facing significant and unpredictable headwinds going into another federal election year, the 2019 Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) shows that Canada can boost competitiveness and encourage innovation by investing in people, not by giving corporations more tax cuts.
This report card reviews the federal government's progress in 16 key policy areas at the halfway mark of their term. It finds that, despite some positive first steps, the Liberals’ ambitious talk hasn’t been backed up with the action needed to make these promises a reality. With two years left in the term, the report card includes suggested next steps to help the Liberal government fulfill the progressive agenda they committed to leading up to the election. Among the recommendations:
OTTAWA—After more than 200 sitting days in Parliament, the federal government has not lived up to the vast majority of its progressive promises, according to new analysis released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The federal Conservative government has been making much of its economic record in recent weeks. Its campaign slogan, front and center on its website and prominently waved at whistle stop photo ops is “protect our economy.” But what is the Conservative economic record? Based on a study of sixteen key economic indicators, Jim Stanford, an economist at UNIFOR, has pointed out that Harper’s record is actually the worst of any Prime Minister since the Second World War.
The energy strategy debate thus far in the federal election has focussed on the future of the oil sands and pipeline politics. The Federal Tories have trumpeted the economic benefits of oil sands development but the benefits are paltry compared to a comprehensive energy and water retrofit program focussed on low income Canadians.
First published by CBC online, October 8th, 2015
The Leap Manifesto: A Call for Canada Based on Caring for the Earth and One Another was launched by a group of prominent Canadians on September 15. So far, over 25,000 Canadians have added their names to the declaration. In the face of the ho-hum party platforms on offer, many see the manifesto as a way to give expression to their desire for bold climate action and social justice. Many mainstream media commentators, however, promptly set their hair on fire.
What’s that they say about the first casualty of war? You can obviously say the same for Canadian elections. Linda McQuaig, the prominent Toronto NDP candidate and long-time economics journalist, is the latest to be caught in this political vortex. She found herself in a heap of trouble last week for saying this on CBC TV: “A lot of the oilsands oil may have to stay in the ground if we're going to meet our climate change targets. We'll know that better once we properly put in place a climate change accountability system of some kind.”