The clear lesson from the past is that, once the sort of inequality that beset the Roman Empire – or that we are experiencing in Canada today – sets in, more often than not it has proven disastrous and in many cases spelled doom for entire societies.
While Canadians are rightly proud of the principles our health care system is based on, there should be little doubt that those principles do not apply broadly enough or lack adequate resourcing.
Our goal should be decent wages for all workers. The way to get there is to push for higher productivity in low-wage sectors by raising wages while maintaining full employment.
Now that the election is behind us, the left should focus on developing and mobilizing for an even bolder policy agenda.
One thing is for sure, the Tax the Rich debate is here to stay and our ability to invest in our future depends on its outcome.
The Conservative belief that we can squeeze every last drop of economic gain from a fading fossil fuel sector by delaying deep action on climate is a Faustian bargain if ever there was one.
Canada has long suffered from a broken pricing regime for prescription drugs. Now is the time for a new regime, one that supports the scientific community, encourages economic development and job creation.
While it is tempting to believe the extremely wealthy all “bootstrapped” themselves into affluence through their own ingenuity and hard work, the data paints a different picture.
Ed wanted to supplant the Liberals as the dominant party of the centre left, and very much saw himself, not as a “Liberal in a hurry,” as the old adage goes, but rather as an intellectually grounded democratic socialist.
