Top Stories
International Women’s Day – March 8
- StatsCan on gender pay gap: Women earn 87 cents to men’s dollar:
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/business/statistics-canada-gender-pay-gap-1.4014954 - The gap is larger than the OECD average, and is worse for racialized and Indigenous women: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/gender-pay-gap-a-persistent-issue-in-canada/article34210790/
- StatsCan study: Women and paid work: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/170308/dq170308b-eng.htm
- Five things you can do right now to help women achieve economic equality: http://behindthenumbers.ca/2017/03/08/five-things-to-achieve-womens-economic-equality/
- So you want to be a feminist government? Here are three simple steps you can take: http://canadianlabour.ca/news/news-archive/so-you-want-be-feminist-government
- On this Women’s Day, women should strike – for someone else: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/women-should-strike-for-someone-else/article34232690/?cmpid=PM0317
- Montreal protesters call for $15 minimum wage on International Women’s Day: http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/protesters-call-for-15-minimum-wage-on-international-women-s-day-1.3315772
- Iceland becomes first country to make equal pay mandatory: http://www.salon.com/2017/03/08/iceland-becomes-first-country-to-make-equal-pay-mandatory/
Ontario Works and ODSP aren’t enough to live on, Toronto residents say:
http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story/7167836-ontario-works-and-odsp-aren-t-enough-to-live-on-toronto-residents-say/
- Sudbury food banks fill the gaps left after social assistance funds run out: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/emergency-food-needs-charities-1.4007397
No firm estimates on costs to raise a family proving a problem for government: Report:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/no-firm-estimates-on-costs-to-raise-a-family-proving-a-problem-for-government-report-1.3313816
- Campaign2000: New report on the cost of raising children sets agenda for Canada: http://campaign2000.ca/603-2/
- Canada urged to calculate how much it costs to raise children: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/07/canada-urged-to-calculate-how-much-it-costs-to-raise-children.html
Alternative Federal Budget 2017: High Stakes, Clear Choices:
https://www.policyalternatives.ca/afb2017
- Federal budget scheduled for March 22: http://www.fin.gc.ca/n17/17-013-eng.asp
- Why the federal budget should focus on gender equality: http://www.macleans.ca/economy/economicanalysis/its-time-for-a-gender-equality-budget-because-its-2017/
The problem with $47 billion in unpaid taxes: Opinion:
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2017/03/07/the-problem-with-47-billion-in-unpaid-taxes-opinion.html
- Tax cheats in KPMG Isle of Man avoidance scheme could face criminal charges: Minister: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/opposition-reacts-kpmg-tax-dodge-1.4012519
- Royal Bank closes 40 accounts following internal Panama Papers probe: http://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/topstories/royal-bank-closes-40-accounts-following-internal-panama-papers-probe/ar-AAo1P9q
Further changes to Canada Pension Plan will have to wait, Bill Morneau says:
https://www.thestar.com/business/2017/03/02/further-changes-to-canada-pension-plan-will-have-to-wait-bill-morneau-says.html
Provincial Liberals kill bill that would have directed child-care cash to non-profit centres:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/02/liberals-kill-bill-that-would-have-directed-child-care-cash-to-non-profit-centres.html
Why did it take this woman an entire year to get paid?
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/07/why-did-it-take-this-woman-an-entire-year-to-get-paid.html
‘Inadequate and unsafe’ Inuit housing needs national fix, say senators:
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/north/senate-housing-report-inuit-nunangat-1.4004487
Region of Peel tax time campaign helps low-income residents boost their benefits:
http://www.peelregion.ca/news/archiveitem.asp?year=2017&month=2&day=2&file=201722.xml
UN Envoy: Housing should be seen as a human right, not a commodity:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/feb/28/luxury-real-estate-housing-crisis-un-homelessness
Ottawa should take a step towards pharmacare: Editorial:
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2017/02/27/ottawa-should-take-a-step-towards-pharmacare-editorial.html
Canada’s sharing economy is growing – but should we really call it “sharing”?
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/business/statistics-canada-sharing-economy-1.4004993
Ontario hydro:
- A look at the long, complicated history of Ontario hydro:
http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/7165441-a-look-at-the-long-complicated-history-of-ontario-hydro/ - Premier Wynne Op-Ed: Reducing bills the fairer way forward:
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2017/03/07/reducing-hydro-bills-the-fairer-way-forward-wynne.html - Andrea Horwath Op-Ed: NDP hydro plan gives money to citizens, not banks: https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2017/03/08/ndp-hydro-plan-gives-money-to-citizens-not-banks-horwath.html
- Todd Smith (PC critic) Op-Ed: Fixing hydro costs in Ontario starts with uncovering the details of government deals:
http://www.insidetoronto.com/opinion-story/7142897-fixing-hydro-costs-in-ontario-starts-with-uncovering-the-details-of-government-deals-pc-party/ - Peter Tabuns (NDP critic) Op-Ed: Ontario needs to stop the Hydro One sale and reduce our surplus power:
http://www.insidetoronto.com/opinion-story/7145037-ontario-needs-to-stop-the-hydro-one-sale-and-reduce-our-surplus-power-ndp/ - Elected Chief Hill says Ontario Fair Hydro Plan a step towards reconciliation: https://tworowtimes.com/news/local/elected-chief-hill-says-ontario-fair-hydro-plan-step-towards-reconcilliation/
- Opinion: Don’t blame renewable energy for Ontario’s electricity costs:
http://www.insidetoronto.com/opinion-story/7142799-opinion-don-t-blame-renewable-energy-for-ontario-s-electricity-costs/ - Opinion: Outrage not justified on Ontario electricity prices:
http://tvo.org/article/current-affairs/the-next-ontario/outrage-not-justified-on-ontario-electricity-prices - Ontario’s budget watchdog to look into hydro relief plan:
http://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/ontario-s-budget-watchdog-to-look-into-hydro-relief-plan-1.3312553 - Rural hydro customers fear rate cuts won’t be enough:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/rural-hydro-customers-fear-rate-cuts-wont-be-enough-1.4008113 - Plan to cut hydro rates is a reasonable response to real pain: Editorial:
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2017/03/01/plan-to-cut-hydro-rates-is-a-reasonable-response-to-real-pain-editorial.html - United Way of Bruce Grey director praises hydro bill cut: http://www.bayshorebroadcasting.ca/news_item.php?NewsID=91513
- Wynne’s pocketbook politics may not be enough to power down anger over hydro rates: https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2017/03/03/premier-kathleen-wynnes-pocketbook-politics-may-not-be-enough-to-power-down-anger-over-hydro-rates-cohn.html
Ontario
Time for Ontario to ban predatory payday loan operators:
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2017/03/03/time-for-ontario-to-ban-predatory-payday-loan-operators-opinion.html
Ontario funds financial empowerment services and free tax clinics:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/ontario-financial-empowerment-funding-1.4013955
- Government release: https://news.ontario.ca/mcss/en/2017/03/ontario-supporting-free-tax-clinics-and-financial-coaching.html
Ontario to tackle systemic racism through three-year strategic plan:
http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story/7177727-ontario-to-tackle-systemic-racism-through-three-year-strategic-plan/
- Government release: Ontario combatting systemic racism and breaking down barriers: https://news.ontario.ca/ard/en/2017/03/ontario-combatting-systemic-racism-and-breaking-down-barriers.html
Government release: Toronto company convicted of failing to obey orders to pay wages:
https://news.ontario.ca/mol/en/2017/03/toronto-company-convicted-of-failing-to-obey-orders-to-pay-wages.html
Government release: Ontario adds 4600 jobs in February:
https://news.ontario.ca/medg/en/2017/03/ontario-adds-4600-jobs-in-february.html
Reports, Events, Campaigns and Other Good Things
Public feedback sought on improving access to justice for families:
https://news.ontario.ca/mag/en/2017/03/improving-access-to-justice-for-families.html
Latest Homeless Hub newsletter:
http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=61233be4a0bcc87d8977b631e&id=32bb1e0f72&e=6da7d6f883
Canadians for Public Justice offering a 2017-2018 paid public justice internship:
http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=a90945b6cbae71eebd4485b0b&id=ab206bc439&e=9276d85427
CLEO’s On the Radar: Hours of work a breaks: Workers’ rights and responsibilities:
http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=acaece29df8d07c95ef84a763&id=2d8da853b2
Stats Can: Employer pension plans (trusteed pension funds), third quarter 2016:
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/170308/dq170308e-eng.htm
Stats Can: Population estimates: Subprovincial areas, July 1, 2016:
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/170308/dq170308d-eng.htm
The problem with that equity vs. equality graphic you’re using:
http://culturalorganizing.org/the-problem-with-that-equity-vs-equality-graphic/
Around the Province
Mike Kirlew, the doctor-advocate fighting for better Indigenous health care:
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/03/05/mike-kirlew-the-doctor-advocate-fighting-for-better-indigenous-health-care.html
Vale shutting down Stobie Mine in Sudbury:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/vale-shuts-down-stobie-1.4018989
Queen’s University far from Canada’s “best employer”:
http://www.queensjournal.ca/story/2017-03-06/opinions/queens-university-far-from-canadas-best-employer/
Opinion in Brantford and Brant divided on Basic Income: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2017/03/05/opinion-divided-on-basic-income
TTC expands Wheel-Trans to include people with cognitive, sensory, or mental health disabilities:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/07/ttc-expands-wheel-trans-eligibility-to-include-people-with-cognitive-sensory-or-mental-health-disabilities.html
Vulnerable women in Toronto find a safe haven at Sistering:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/05/vulnerable-women-in-toronto-find-a-safe-haven-at-sistering.html
Parkdale food hub pushes back against gentrification:
https://nowtoronto.com/news/parkdale-food-hub-pushes-back-against-gentrification/
Aboriginal elders work with officers to build bridges between Toronto police and people who are homeless:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/walkabout-elder-outreach-1.4012191
Toronto moves forward with plan to target bad landlords:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/city-rental-bylaws-1.4012048?cmp=rss
Can anything be done to cool Toronto’s hot rental market?:
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/toronto/can-anything-be-done-to-cool-toronto-s-hot-rental-market-1.4005863
Circles Canada launches program in Simcoe County:
https://www.barrietoday.com/local-news/new-program-launched-to-help-break-the-cycle-of-poverty-551855
Local Poverty Reduction Fund grant used to support the three Simcoe programs:
http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2017/03/03/poverty-reduction-partnership
Across the Country
Minister defends no BC welfare rate increase in 10 years:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/minister-defends-no-b-c-welfare-rate-increase-in-10-years-1.4006540
- Downtown Vancouver rally highlights BC’s decade long $610 rate: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39138775
- Vancouver rally demands provincial poverty action plan: http://www.inews880.com/syn/112/280876/280876
- Vancouver’s high end retail shops pushing out long-time residents in Downtown Eastside: http://rabble.ca/news/2017-03-07t000000/vancouvers-high-end-retail-shops-pushing-out-long-time-residents-downtown
$5 transit passes are door-openers for low-income Calgarians, advocate says:
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/calgary/sliding-scale-transit-pass-1.4014180
- Calgary Sun Columnist says mayoral candidate’s stance on doing “all of these social things” inappropriate: http://www.calgarysun.com/2017/03/06/low-blow-from-chabot
Saskatoon United Way’s Tampon Tuesday program highlights women’s poverty:
http://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/tampon-donations-highlight-female-poverty
Iqaluit soup kitchen, Inclusion Café, in demand, outgrowing space:
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674iqaluit_soup_kitchen_inclusion_cafe_in_demand_outgrowing_space/
Meet the Montreal optician on a radical mission to make glasses affordable for everyone:
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/water-on-first-nations-reserves-islam-and-isis-prison-poem-pricey-glasses-heather-o-neill-1.4005479/meet-the-montreal-optician-on-a-radical-mission-to-make-glasses-affordable-for-everyone-1.4005488
Nova Scotia human rights commission dismisses special diet allowance complaint but urges province to take action:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/special-diet-discrimination-social-assistance-1.4009286
Minimum wage consultations coming up in Happy Valley – Goose Bay:
http://www.thelabradorian.ca/news/local/2017/3/6/minimum-wage-consultations-coming-up-in-happy-valley-goose-bay.html
National
Here’s why health care funds for First Nations children aren’t being spent:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/first-nations-health-care-1.4007404?cmp=rss
Canadian Human Rights Commission guidelines on accommodating workers with addiction issues:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/01/new-guidelines-help-accommodate-workers-with-addiction-issues.html
Do you have job security while on maternity leave?:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/leadership-lab/do-you-have-job-security-while-on-maternity-leave/article34235116/
Refugee advocates worry Canada will push US for border crackdown:
https://www.thestar.com/news/immigration/2017/03/07/refugee-advocates-worry-canada-will-push-us-for-border-crackdown.html
Housing starts, permits rise again as Canadian market stays hot:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/the-market/canada-housing-starts-inch-higher-in-february-cmhc/article34237473/
New home construction picks up, offering latest evidence of economic momentum:
http://www.metronews.ca/news/canada/2017/03/08/pace-of-new-home-construction-picks-up-in-february-especially-in-ontario-cmhc.html
Canadian pension funds can help rebuild US, says Trump transition official:
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/canadian+pension+funds+help+rebuild+says+trump+transition+official/13015234/story.html
International
Basic income isn’t just a nice idea. It’s a “birthright”:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/mar/04/basic-income-birthright-eliminating-poverty
Utopian Thinking: The easy way to eradicate poverty:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/06/utopian-thinking-poverty-universal-basic-income
Stealing to eat: London’s hungry criminalised for taking waste food from supermarket bins:
http://www.thelondoneconomic.com/tle-pick/stealing-eat-londons-hungry-criminalised-taking-waste-food-supermarket-bins/03/03/
Women bearing 86% of austerity burden, UK Commons figures reveal:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/09/women-bearing-86-of-austerity-burden-labour-research-reveals
It will never be morally right to pay those with learning disabilities below the minimum wage:
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/rosa-monckton-disability-minimum-wage-charity-spectator-a7609231.html
Why new minimum wage hikes in the US are under threat:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/07/opinions/lawsuits-against-minimum-wage-increase-schleifer/
Jason Chaffetz’s iPhone comment revives the ‘poverty is a choice’ argument:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/03/07/jason-chaffetzs-iphone-comment-revives-the-poverty-is-a-choice-argument/?utm_term=.0dbd7c229476
Laziness isn’t why people are poor, and iPhones aren’t why they lack health care:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/03/08/laziness-isnt-why-people-are-poor-and-iphones-arent-why-they-lack-health-care/
Poor people “just don’t want health care,” says US Republican congressman:
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2017/03/09/poor-people-just-dont-want-health-care-says-republican-congressman.html
Drug screening bill for Nebraska welfare recipients hits resistance:
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/nebraska/articles/2017-03-02/drug-screening-bill-for-welfare-recipients-hits-resistance
Rents and minimum wage income in the US’s largest cities:
http://cepr.net/blogs/cepr-blog/rents-and-minimum-wage-income-in-the-u-s-s-largest-cities
Italy creates new monthly benefit intended to tackle poverty: Five key points:
https://www.thelocal.it/20170309/italy-passes-law-to-tackle-poverty-five-key-points
Barcelona’s lost voices: The rise of homelessness in Barcelona:
http://www.spanishnews.es/20170307-barcelonas-lost-voices-the-rise-of-the-homeless-in-barcelona-5013/