Top Stories
IMF study says austerity policies do more harm than good:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/may/27/austerity-policies-do-more-harm-than-good-imf-study-concludes?CMP=twt_gu
- You’re witnessing the death of neoliberalism, from within: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/31/witnessing-death-neoliberalism-imf-economists
Who’s earning minimum wage? Ontarians!:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/05/31/minimum-wage-canada-ontario_n_10223826.html
ACORN Canada urges federal government to follow US lead on tackling payday lending:
https://www.thestar.com/business/2016/06/02/canada-urged-to-follow-us-payday-loan-clampdown.html
Five things to know about CPP expansion plans:
https://www.thestar.com/business/personal_finance/retirement/2016/06/01/as-ministers-meet-5-things-to-know-about-the-cpp-mayers.html
- Editorial: Ministers have another chance to fix pension system: https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2016/05/30/ministers-have-another-chance-to-fix-pension-system-editorial.html
- Ottawa sees Ontario as potential roadblock to expanding CPP: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/05/31/ottawa-sees-ontario-as-potential-roadblock-to-expanding-canada-pension-plan.html
- Province passes Ontario Retirement Pension Plan Act: https://news.ontario.ca/mof/en/2016/06/province-passes-ontario-retirement-pension-plan-act.html
- CPP reform should target middle-income Canadians should be target of CPP reform, says business and youth coalition: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/cpp-reform-should-target-middle-income-canadians-coalition-argues/article30227426/
- Fraser Institute report says expanding the CPP won’t help Canada’s most vulnerable seniors: http://business.financialpost.com/fp-comment/expanding-the-cpp-wont-help-canadas-most-vulnerable-seniors
Defense Minister Sajjan says veterans’ pensions are “a top priority”:
http://www.hilltimes.com/2016/05/30/sajjan-says-veterans-pensions-a-top-priority-mps-getting-pensions-several-times-bigger-than-veterans-with-similar-tenures/65522
Ontario hydro is “rapacious” and increasing energy costs are hitting low income people hard:
http://windsorstar.com/opinion/columnists/hydro-a-rapacious-public-corporation
Foreign workers demand changes to protect against abuse:
http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/foreign-workers-demand-changes-to-protect-against-abuse
- Attack on BC migrant worker highlights lack of protection: http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/alleged-attack-highlights-lack-of-protection-for-foreign-farm-workers
- UFCW calls for permanent immigration option for migrant workers: http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/canadas-union-for-migrant-workers-calls-for-permanent-immigration-option-2130554.htm
- Local food lovers: Pay attention to migrant workers’ rights:
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/the180/pop-taxes-don-t-work-robot-sweatshops-and-an-american-tells-us-what-s-wrong-with-cancon-1.3601722/opinion-local-food-lovers-pay-attention-to-migrant-worker-rights-1.3601945
Opposition finance critic Raitt says new child benefit leaves divorced parents fighting over child support:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/new-child-benefit-could-pose-pitfalls-for-divorced-couples-raitt-1.2922305
- Finance Minister Morneau calls Raitt’s criticism a red herring: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/child-benefit-divorced-couples-1.3607376
- The problem of child benefits in shared custody isn’t a new problem: http://www.macleans.ca/economy/economicanalysis/the-problem-of-child-benefits-in-shared-custody/
- ISAC letter to the editor (sent to several media outlets) – scroll down: http://thechronicleherald.ca/letters/1369422-voice-of-the-people-%E2%80%94-june-3-2016
Basic income: Social assistance without the stigma:
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/05/30/basic-income-social-assistance-without-the-stigma.html
- Liberals ready to shake up social policy with basic income guarantee:
http://leadersandlegacies.com/2016/05/30/liberals-ready-to-shake-up-canadas-social-policy-with-basic-income-guarantee/
- Why a Universal Basic Income will not solve poverty: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/01/business/economy/why-a-universal-basic-income-will-not-solve-poverty.html?_r=0
- Universal Basic Income is the best tool to fight poverty: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-santens/universal-basic-income-is_b_10251176.html
- A Universal Basic Income could absolutely solve poverty: http://www.vox.com/2016/5/31/11819024/universal-basic-income-works
- Guaranteed income’s dangerous outcome: http://www.socialist.ca/node/3115
- A brief history of basic income ideas: http://basicincome-europe.org/ubie/brief-history-basic-income-ideas/
Zon: The long-form census is the starting point, not finishing line, of evidence for public policy:
http://maytree.com/policy-and-insights/opinion/you-filled-out-your-census-now-what.html
Poverty linked to changes in DNA that can lead to mental illness:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/poverty-changes-dna-linked-mental-illness-180959235/
Ontario
Ontario apologizes to Indigenous communities for generations of abuse:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-official-response-truth-reconciliation-commission-report-1.3606862
- News release: https://news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2016/05/ontario-apologizes-for-residential-schools.html
Judge halts charge against Toronto man stating income threshold for legal aid is too low:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/06/03/threshold-to-qualify-for-legal-aid-too-low-toronto-judge-rules.html
Events, Campaigns, Reports, and Other Good Things
New Campaign 2000 website!:
http://campaign2000.ca/
2016 Queen’s International Institute on Social Policy: Social Canada Revisited: Is Canada’s social policy architecture fit for contemporary purpose?:
http://www.queensu.ca/sps/qiisp
Ed Finn’s 3-part series on neoliberalism:
- What we need to know about neoliberalism before it’s too late: http://behindthenumbers.ca/2016/05/11/what-we-need-to-know-about-neoliberalism-before-its-too-late/
- Free trade extends scope and power of corporate oligarchy: http://behindthenumbers.ca/2016/05/19/free-trade-extends-scope-and-power-of-corporate-oligarchy/
- “The future’s not ours to see” but it is ours to shape: http://behindthenumbers.ca/2016/05/27/the-futures-not-ours-to-see-but-it-is-ours-to-shape/
Around the Province
Class struggle at Toronto’s Pearson Airport:
http://rankandfile.ca/2016/05/25/class-struggle-at-pearson-airport/
Anti-poverty initiative in Hamilton aims to help young people prepare for job market:
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/6702427-anti-poverty-initiative-to-help-young-people-better-prepare-for-job-market/
Hunger is happening in London:
http://basicincome-europe.org/ubie/brief-history-basic-income-ideas/
Oakville mayor calls on business community to help Town fight poverty:
http://www.insidehalton.com/news-story/6704335-oakville-mayor-calls-on-business-community-to-help-town-fight-poverty/
New director of the Hastings Prince Edward Poverty Roundtable:
http://www.insidebelleville.com/news-story/6704280-new-director-of-poverty-roundtable-has-wealth-of-experience/
People with low incomes in Wellington County can use telemedicine system to access legal help:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/rural-wellington-county-residents-can-connect-to-legal-help-at-local-health-offices-1.3613113
Poverty is growing in Mississauga:
http://www.insauga.com/poverty-is-growing-in-mississauga
Across the Country
Saskatchewan budget hurts seniors and people who are poor:
http://leaderpost.com/news/politics/sinners-spared-seniors-and-poor-hurt-in-saskatchewan-budget-say-critics
Manitoba budget and lack of promised poverty reduction plan do little to help low-income earners:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/budget-does-little-to-help-low-income-earners-381742531.html
Quebec’s better way of administering parental leave:
http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/quebec-has-a-better-way-of-doling-out-parental-leave/
Alberta invests $13.5 million in Calgary’s Low Income Transit Pass:
http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/province-kicks-in-13-5-m-to-support-low-income-calgarians-1.2920393
Low-income transit project moves ahead a stop in Halifax:
http://www.metronews.ca/news/halifax/2016/05/31/halifax-low-income-transit-pilot-project-moves-ahead.html
Protest for migrant workers’ rights draws small crowd in Charlottetown:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-rally-migrant-workers-rights-charlottetown-1.3607567
People in Abbotsford, BC, who are homeless tell their own stories:
http://www.abbynews.com/news/381168811.html
The number of people in Vancouver who are homeless is at a 10-year high:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-homeless-count-2016-1.3609948
Only a fraction of new social housing units in Vancouver are guaranteed for low-income people:
http://themainlander.com/2016/05/31/only-fraction-of-new-social-housing-units-in-vancouver-guaranteed-for-low-income-people/
Opinion: Tent city is making Victoria, BC a little less kind:
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/jack-knox-tent-city-is-making-victoria-a-little-less-kind-1.2265345
Elevator broken again in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside’s West Hotel again, after lawsuit last year:
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/british-columbia/west-hotel-sro-elevator-down-1.3604028
Provincial clawbacks of disability income in BC relegate people with disabilities to poverty:
http://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/stephen-hume-provincial-clawbacks-relegate-the-disabled-to-life-of-poverty
Migrant workers facing barriers in South Okanagan, BC:
http://www.pentictonwesternnews.com/news/381050711.html
Poverty in BC: Pay Hydro or go hungry:
http://thetyee.ca/News/2016/05/30/Lens-on-Poverty-BC/
Is Vancouver the tax haven capital of Canada?:
http://www.vice.com/read/is-vancouver-the-tax-haven-capital-of-canada
National
OECD tells Ottawa to cool down hot housing markets:
https://www.thestar.com/business/2016/06/01/cool-off-hot-housing-markets-oecd-tells-ottawa.html
Extended EI benefits not being considered for more regions, says Finance minister:
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/05/30/extended-ei-benefits-not-being-considered-for-more-regions-bill-morneau-says.html
Parliamentary Budget Office study shows how much new federal policies could save or cost your family:
http://globalnews.ca/news/2737104/heres-how-much-liberal-policies-could-cost-or-save-your-family/
International
Subversive access: Disability history goes public in the United States:
http://www.public-disabilityhistory.org/2016/05/subversive-access-disability-history.html
Mapping how much the average American has to earn to afford a modest rental, in each state:
http://www.citylab.com/housing/2016/05/the-hourly-wage-needed-to-rent-a-2-bedroom-apartment-in-2016-mapped/484091/
Uber is in the sub-prime auto business:
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/outside-the-boardroom/article/Uber-is-in-the-sub-prime-auto-business-7955561.php?t=4ca09c1fff&cmpid=twitter-premium
Wendy’s to replace staff with self-service ordering kiosks as minimum wage hikes push up wages:
http://www.investors.com/politics/policy-analysis/wendys-serves-up-kiosks-as-wages-rise-hits-fast-food-group/
Conservative lobby group says parental breakups are to blame for poverty in New Zealand:
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/385014/break-ups-blame-child-poverty
Aussie advocates call on major parties to make poverty reduction election commitments:
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/jun/02/welfare-sector-calls-for-poverty-reduction-target-and-fairer-super-system
