Assorted content to end your week. – Robert Reich discusses the rise of the non-working rich as an indicator that extreme wealth has less and less to do with merit – as well as the simple policy steps which can reverse the trend: In reality, most of America’s poor work
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Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Paul Boothe responds to the C.D. Howe Institute’s unwarranted bias against public-sector investment: Is the public sector holding back provincial growth rates by crowding out private sector investment? That’s the contention of a recent C.D. Howe paper by Philip Cross. The paper
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Rental Housing in Yellowknife
Yesterday I blogged about rental housing in Yellowknife, over at the Northern Public Affairs web site. Specifically, I blogged about a recent announcement by the city’s largest for-profit landlord that it plans to “tighten” its policies vis-a-vis renting to recipients of “income assistance” (which, in most parts of Canada, is
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Huge Jump in Ontario EI Claims
Statistics Canada reported today that the number of Canadians filing Employment Insurance (EI) claims rose by 10,350 or 4.5 per cent in March, the largest monthly increase since the start of 2013. This national increase was driven by a jump of 9,480 or 12.9 per cent in Ontario, the largest
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Chipping Away at Access to E.I.
There were two announcements this week around E.I. – both framed as “being more responsive to local labour market conditions”. What that really means is that in the three territories and Prince Edward Island, access to E.I. will become more difficult in urban areas. Employment Insurance is divided into 58
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Flaherty’s Funny Math with the EI Surplus
The Parliamentary Budget Office has come out with a report, suggesting that the Conservatives will likely balance the budget ahead of schedule. But, and it’s a big but, if there were no EI surplus, there would be no balanced budget in 2016. And the annual surplus in the EI Operating
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Angella MacEwen rightly slams the Cons’ attempt to use Employment Insurance funds as a subsidy for employers at the expense of workers. And Don Lenihan sees the Cons’ structure as a cynical means of trying to claim success by ignoring the actual
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how governments are outsourcing policy decisions to employers in areas ranging from immigration to employment insurance – and on why that may not be any more desirable for employers than for the people affected. For further reading…– The relatively fine print surrounding the new immigration nominee program is
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Thomas Walkom notes that the Harper Cons’ latest EI cuts look to amplify the pain of unemployment in Ontario while serving the broader purpose of forcing workers to conclude their federal government doesn’t care if they go hungry: The great irony is that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Andrew Nikiforuk writes that air quality in Alberta’s Upgrader Alley may be among the worst in North America, including dangerous concentrations of cancer-causing chemicals. And Danny Harvey points out that the planet as a whole stands to be damaged by excessive tar
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Andrew Jackson discusses why attacks on Old Age Security – including the Fraser Institute’s calls for increased clawbacks – serve no useful purpose: The principled argument for not clawing back OAS benefits is that all seniors should be entitled to a bare-bones public
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Employment Insurance Claims in Newfoundland and Labrador, 2003 – 2013 #nlpoli
Every day, in every way, things are better and better. No, that wasn’t Inspector Dreyfus from the Pink Panther movies. That was one of the key messages Premier Kathy Dunderdale brought to her fellow Conservatives at their earlier-than-usual annual meeting this past weekend. With any politician, it is always a
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Only 36.5 per cent of unemployed Canadians now qualify for EI: NDP
by: Obert Madondo Statistics Canada reported last week that Employment Insurance (EI) recipients dropped by 2.1% in July to 503 900 after the Harper government toughened the rules earlier this year. The federal NDP calls the drop a “new historic low”, accuses the Harper Conservatives of cutting EI to deny Canadians “help
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Carol Goar points out why Canada’s EI system is running surpluses (contrary to all parties’ intentions) – and notes that the result has nothing to do with the best interests of the workers who pay into the system: Flaherty’s explanation was true
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Black Day for EI in July
Today, Statistics Canada reported a large monthly drop of 10,900 for July in the number of Canadians receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits. Its press release noted, “This decline brings the number of beneficiaries to a level similar to that observed before the start of the labour-market downturn in 2008.”
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: EI Premium Freeze Leaves Unemployed Canadians in the Cold
Today, finance minister Jim Flaherty announced a three-year freeze on Employment Insurance (EI) premiums, ostensibly because a stronger job market has alleviated the need for additional premium revenue. Under the current policy, employee premiums were rising each year by 5 cents per $100 earned. Flaherty had announced this policy on
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: EI, Self-Insurance or Three-Card Monte?
Monte Solberg, the former Conservative cabinet minister responsible for Employment Insurance, proposed to eliminate the program in a recent Sun Media column: An alternative would be to self-insure. Employee and employer premiums would accumulate in an account in each worker’s name. Including interest, anyone who managed to stay employed through
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: Whistleblower Sylvie Therrien suspended after leaking Canada’s EI rejection ‘quotas’(VIDEO)
Richard Hub Hughes-Political Blogger Sylvie Therrien did not feel right about kicking people off Employment Insurance to meet an Conservative Government mandated quota. Another insider blows the whistle on government behaviour. Now she has not had to flee the country but she has been suspended and may lose her job
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: EI Benefits Falling Faster Than Unemployment
Statistics Canada reported today that 12,290 fewer Canadians received Employment Insurance (EI) benefits in May compared to April. EI benefits are shrinking far faster than unemployment. In percentage terms, the number of EI recipients declined as much in just the last month as unemployment declined over the past year. Between
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Extend EI coverage for all Southern Alberta flood victims: AFL
by: Alberta Federation of Labour | Press Release: EDMONTON, June 25, 2013 – Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan has called on the federal government to extend EI coverage for all those affected by floods in Southern Alberta. Only about 22% of unemployed Albertans are eligible for EI and the waiting period is
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