First Nation children are denied equal access to health care supports and services, and receive significantly less per capita funding for their education and far less funding per capita once in care despite this greater need.
Truly massive public and private investments will have to made in research, in energy conservation and in the production of renewable energy over the next few years if we are to meet and exceed the goal recently set in Paris to stop to avoid global temperatures from rising by more than two degrees.
If we recognize the overlaps between different sectors, drawing dichotomies between “green” and fossil fuel jobs are unhelpful. We really need to think about how our existing set of skills and resources can be leveraged to build a low-carbon economy.
A well-designed system of income tested benefits for low income workers, including disability benefits, is needed to set a basic income floor for all Canadians and to replace our inadequate and punitive social assistance system.
In the current rush to experiment with guaranteed livable incomes, let’s not forget the hard won battles to decommodify certain things we value like health care.
Will the Trudeau Government have the courage to listen to concerned Canadians and acknowledge that “free” trade and investment deals have run their course?
What countries that have got their emissions under control have is a well-institutionalized process for integrating the monitoring of emissions trends and the policy making process, and to develop real-time policy adjustment in the face of evolving emissions trends.
It is crucial that Canada’s INDC provides a serious, quantifiable strategy for reducing oil sands emissions — either by curtailment of future expansion, or through improved extractive and refining efficiencies.
In 2015, it’s dreadfully evident that our patchwork, marketized child care situation fails just about everyone and that young Canadian families live in one of the few wealthy countries that fails to support them well.
