Income inequality is getting worse in Manitoba: the market income of the bottom 20 percent of Manitoba families declined while the top 20 percent of Manitoba families received greater income increases than the national average.
Inequality and poverty
Claim: “Budget 2023 removes 47,400 low-income Manitobans from the tax rolls and saves the average family $1,000”
Impact: More of the Basic Personal Amount tax change money will go to Manitoba’s richest 10% than the bottom 50% combined.
The poorest 10% (100,100 Manitobans) get no benefit from this change as they don’t make enough to be on the tax rolls currently.
The second-poorest 10% (990,900 Manitobans) saves only $74 by the increase in the Basic Personal Amount.
Previously published in the Brandon Sun and The Winnipeg Free Press, March 23, 2023
The 2023 Manitoba Budget released on March 7 announced close almost $1 billion in revenue cuts. Despite claims about affordability for low and middle-income households, most Manitoba families will not receive anything near the tax savings promoted by the province. Make no mistake, these tax cuts are a giveaway to the rich that will reduce our capacity to fund public services for years.
The 2023 Manitoba budget proposes over half a billion dollars in tax cuts, but many Manitobans won’t see a dime, while the richest Manitobans will get the lion’s share of this money. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has shown that over 100,000 Manitobans – those with the lowest income and most in need – will get nothing from these tax cuts. In fact, the bottom 500,000+ Manitobans will get less than the 100,000+ highest-income Manitobans.
Previously published in the Winnipeg Free Press May 1, 2023
Although recent media coverage of our healthcare and education problems here in Manitoba has been very good and quite wide-ranging, one particularly important piece of the puzzle has been consistently missing. That missing piece is the social determinants of health.
There is strong scientific evidence, going back decades and covering most countries in the world, that socio-economic factors play a particularly important role in determining people’s health and level of educational attainment.
The Convoy that took over Ottawa for a month last year just met outside Winnipeg this past weekend. While the right to protest is an essential part of our democracy, it is important to look critically at this movement that has harboured white supremacist, libertarian and in some cases even fascist beliefs. These ideas have originated most recently in the USA, but have a long and odious history elsewhere in the world.
Click here to read the report online.
In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the shutdown of large sections of the Ontario economy. In a few short months, total economic activity in the province fell by 13%. By May, 1.1 million workers were out of a job. The unemployment rate, which had been 5.5% in February 2020, was 13.2% in May.
A version of this article was published in the Winnipeg Free Press January 11, 2022
Manitoba’s the Disability Support Act establishes a framework for providing financial assistance outside the Employment and Income Assistance (EIA) system to persons with prolonged and severe disabilities. This fall, the government is considering draft regulations for the new program.
As cities around the world lead on climate action, recognition is growing that success often hinges on whether policies designed to address climate change also promote equity. As the City of Regina pursues its goal of becoming 100 percent renewable by 2050, Emily Eaton and Simon Enoch consider what other cities have done to successfully incorporate equity concerns into municipal climate policy. By understanding the best climate equity practices of other municipalities, we can ensure an equitable made-in-Regina climate action plan that leaves no one behind.