First published in the Winnipeg Free Press May 1, 2020
Government finance
First published CBC online April 21, 2020
Photo by Elvert Barnes (Flickr Creative Commons)
Illustration by Maura Doyle
Sometimes it takes one crisis to bring another into the light.
In our first issue following the outbreak of COVD-19 in Canada, Monitor contributors assess the federal and provincial government responses to date and propose how we might use this moment of government activism to fix the gross inequalities in our society—by improving social programs such as employment insurance, income assistance and our health care system, for example.
Noted Canadian author and social activist Naomi Klein published The Shock Doctrine more than a decade ago. The book’s major thesis is that governments and others in position of power exploit national and international crises to establish controversial policies while citizens are too distracted to notice, to engage and to resist. Rahm Emmanuel, former chief of staff of President Obama, captured the essence of this strategy in his remark that “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”
First published in the Winnipeg Free Press March 30, 2020
Never has a provincial budget become so out-of-date so fast. In many ways, it’s just as well. Budget 2020 brought in tax cuts that were highly questionable at the best of times and which would have made the current situation far worse. Once lowered, taxes are extremely difficult to raise, hampering our ability to pay back the deficit spending the government must urgently provide.
Des experts et expertes réclament des mesures à court, à moyen et à long terme afin de soutenir les collectivités et de les protéger contre les effets de la pandémie
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Nous publions le Budget fédéral alternatif 2020 — notre 25e édition depuis 1995 — à un moment très instable pour le Canada et le monde. La combinaison de COVID-19, une vente mondiale de pétrole et l'effondrement des marchés financiers mondiaux menace non seulement la santé et la sécurité publiques, mais aussi la stabilité de notre économie, qui sera probablement en récession d'ici la fin de l'année. Il est maintenant temps de penser au-delà des correctifs fiscaux standard et des plans de sauvetage des banques.