OTTAWA – As new federal policies are created and adapted to attempt to counter the worst-case economic impacts of COVID-19, new analysis today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) shows 862,000 unemployed workers will receive nothing from either Employment Insurance (EI) or the new Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).
Health, health care system, pharmacare
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director general, said Monday. "To win, we need to attack the virus with aggressive and targeted tactics: testing every suspected case, isolating and caring for every confirmed case, and tracing and quarantining every close contact." (Free Press March 23)
If we have the capacity to do that then we should. The lessons of the 1918 influenza pandemic tell us we should also be telling the truth and not just reporting confirmed tests during a limited testing regime.
In the COVID-19 crisis workers are being urged to stay home and self-isolate if they feel sick or have been exposed. But emergency supplement in the provincial budget released on March 19th does not include anything for workers. Only 38% of sick leave and 23% of family responsibility leave in Canada is paid.
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.
In just a few months, COVID-19 has put a serious strain on the health care systems and economies of many countries.
OTTAWA — A briefing note released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) recommends critical changes to the federal employment insurance (EI) program that could be rapidly deployed in order support more vulnerable workers amid the growing COVID-19 pandemic.
The Sport and Prey of Capitalists: How the Rich Are Stealing Canada’s Public Wealth Linda McQuaig Dundurn, August 2019, $28.99
It’s hard to believe that in 2020 there is still a stigma around menstruation. It is beyond clear that access to menstrual hygiene products and information about periods is a basic human right, not a luxury. As Jasmine Ramze Rezaee, manager of advocacy at YWCA Toronto, told me recently, no one "should go without access to menstrual products because of financial barriers [and] some menstrual products should be fully funded by the government.”