Illustration by Alisha Davidson
Remember what it was like back when your child was a newborn—how you used to gaze into his eyes and dream of the day when he’d be old enough to juggle multiple part-time, temporary jobs in the hope of someday, maybe, being able to afford his own place?
Federal election
The September/October issue of the Monitor goes beyond party politics to look at the economic context and big issues framing this year’s federal election.
In this issue, progressive voices assess the Conservative government record and the state of Canada's democracy on the eve of the vote, while CCPA staff offer their policy ideas for the parties and next government. Here’s a sample of what’s inside:
Babe Ruth didn’t hit a home run the first time he stepped onto a baseball field. Frederick Banting and Charles Best didn’t isolate insulin after an hour in the laboratory. Rosa Parks didn’t end segregation in the United States with one bus ride.
Voting queens: Brett Renee Meeches (left) takes a selfie with Amber Fontaine (middle) and Shanna Copenace during the Winnipeg municipal election.
Canadians expect their governments to take the necessary regulatory measures to protect their health, safety and environment. They do not trust corporations, focused as they are on making profits for their shareholders, to regulate themselves.
In so many ways, this election feels incomparably urgent. For at least a year, our news media, public debates, political strategizing meetings and private conversations have been saturated with stories of the destruction this government has reaped. Many of us are going to expend ourselves this month with hopes of producing change in Ottawa on October 19.
The podiums of the three major federal parties tell us this election is a choice between LEADERSHIP, change and Real Change.
OTTAWA – Seizing on the first federal election in recent history where income inequality is a hot button issue, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) has launched a platform to reduce the gap.
The user-friendly platform, available at GoodForCanada.ca, lays out a four-plank strategy to tackle income inequality, focusing on good jobs, a good safety net, good public programs, and progressive taxation.
We already know that the costs of inequality are high: poverty, unemployment, housing insecurity, poorer health and well-being.
But what if we invested in the things that could solve income inequality? Given sufficient political will, a federal government has the ability to make a more resilient, healthier, safer, more equal Canada.
We've put together a comprehensive platform that could end income inequality. Good jobs, a strong safety net and robust public programs—it's what's good for Canada, and good for all of us.
Every party has its political machine; technology, software and infrastructure that it rolls out into battle every time the writ drops. While talking points change, the machine keeps running in the background, getting the message out, measuring its impact and mobilizing voters. With the entry of social media and sophisticated voter databases, we might even want to drop the horse race metaphor for something else—something like a spectacle where robots fight each other for the big prize.