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August 4, 2020 - No. 52
Discussion on a New Direction for the Economy
The Demand for a New Pro-Social Direction for the Economy and Country Begins to Take Hold
Discussion on a New Direction for the Economy
The demand to stop paying the rich and increase investments in social
programs is taking hold in Canada with various unions adding their
voices to the discussion and making demands. The need to increase
investments in social programs and set a new pro-social direction for
the economy and for the working people to control the decisions
which affect their lives is very great. Workers' Forum calls on all
workers to add their voices by raising their own demands and claims on
what belongs to them by right.
In a press release the Public Service Alliance of Canada
(PSAC) comments on the Alternative Federal Budget Recovery Plan
released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) on July
21.
PSAC joins with the CCPA in calling for "an
investment-based approach" to recover from the current economic crisis.
Crucial in the recovery, PSAC says, is to recognize that the crisis has
"severely impacted women and Black, Indigenous and racialized families
and workers." In warning against austerity measures, PSAC says a focus
is needed
on "action to ensure that in the next months and years we correct the
deepening crisis that Canadians are facing."
Affordable Child Care
A key sector for public investment, PSAC says, is affordable child care, "which includes $4.5 billion for early learning
and child care." To accomplish this requires construction of an
"accessible, affordable, quality, inclusive system of early learning
and child care" where workers receive wages
and benefits befitting educators.
Modernize Employment Insurance
PSAC insists that a radical improvement to the
employment insurance (EI) system was "already necessary prior to the
pandemic and has become critical." Changes to EI "would improve access
by reducing qualifying hours, raise benefit rates and weeks and ensure
that those with responsibilities to care for others have access to
specific
benefits."
Security for Post-Secondary Students and Workers
PSAC writes that investments must be made to make
tuition free for post-secondary students and increased funding must be made
available for retraining and research. PSAC says post-secondary
education should be universal, accessible and come under public
administration.
Keep Public Services Public
PSAC calls for an end to privatization. Through an
expanded public service an effort must be
made to bring privatization to an end. Workers must be guaranteed wages
and benefits agreeable to themselves such as paid sick leave and must be
equipped with whatever they need to do their jobs safely.
PSAC calls for expansion of "public services such as
seniors' care, childcare, and affordable housing" and demands that
"infrastructure projects remain in public hands." Public services
should be provided all the resources and personnel they need to meet
the needs of the people and "correct the gaps in policy and service
delivery that have been
highlighted by the pandemic."
Discussion is growing regarding the necessity for a
new direction for the economy to stop paying the rich and increase
investments in social programs. With the release of its Recovery Plan
the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) makes a contribution to the discussion.
Workers' Forum is publishing Part I of highlights of
the Alternative Federal Budget Recovery Plan released by the CCPA on July 21. All quotations are
from the Plan.
 CCPA
writes, "Let's be clear: a pandemic was never a question of 'if' but a
question of 'when.' Lessons from SARS in the early-2000s taught us that
we should prepare. Public health officials warned, year in and year
out, that we should prepare. Government austerity agendas -- fuelled by
neo-liberal ideology that privileged the 'free market'
over public health and community well-being -- left us unprepared, and
expected women and families to pick up the slack.
"The same governments that ignored the warnings have
pursued an expanding trade agenda that deliberately constrains our
ability to intervene in the economy or the environment. Proponents of
this agenda promised it would lead to 'jobs, jobs, jobs,' rising
productivity, and sustainable economic growth. The actual results do
not bear this out. In
fact, the COVID-19 crisis has exposed Canada's disproportionate
reliance on the export of raw and semi-processed resources, notably
fossil fuels."
CCPA insists the "old normal" is unacceptable and cannot continue. It writes:
"This pandemic is forcing us into a new chapter of
history. We will be judged by what we do next. And we will be judged by
what we fail to do.
"COVID-19 exposed the impossibility of a healthy economy
without a healthy society. The status quo is no longer an option. This
is our chance to bend the curve of public policy toward justice,
well-being, solidarity, equity, resilience, and sustainability. These
are not just words. These are the conditions upon which we rebuild."
Housing
CCPA writes, "The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the
importance of housing as an underpinning factor for protecting people
and public health" and voices support for "the right to housing in
Canada."
History has proved that the right to housing cannot be
affirmed and guaranteed when private construction and investment trust
companies control Canada's housing development. The CCPA program does
not explore any alternatives to housing development captured within pay
the rich schemes.
Agriculture
CCPA writes, "COVID-19 has disrupted agriculture most
visibly where serious outbreaks of the virus have caused mass illness
or death. This was a major problem in large meatpacking plants, where
conditions are close and there was not adequate protection for line
workers, and on some farms that depend on temporary foreign workers.
Far
too many of these workers paid for their employer's neglect with their
lives.... Their deaths, serious illness, and mistreatment highlight the
exploitation at the centre of our 'normal' food system."
CCPA suggests the farm sector generally would benefit from supply
management as it exists today with dairy, broiler chickens, turkeys,
eggs, and hatching eggs. CCPA writes, "Since these sectors are
distributed across Canada, have smaller processing facilities, do not
rely on exports, and production levels are governed by the farmers
themselves through quotas, impacts on individual farmers and the food
system have been less severe than in beef and pork.
"Local and regional abattoirs serving smaller-scale
farmers were already stretched and are now booked up many months ahead.
The need for more local and regional capacity is clear, as livestock
producers are facing severe delays or simply cannot get their animals
butchered."
CCPA proposes to "shut down the Industry Strategy Table,
the federal government's advisory panel for a corporate-led COVID-19
recovery, and disband the Agri-Food Table, the committee of
agribusiness executives appointed by Finance Minister Bill Morneau to
develop policy for intensifying extractive, export-oriented agriculture
through
digitization, deregulation, and automation."
CCPA proposes to "Reform the Temporary Foreign Worker
Program to ensure workers are guaranteed safe working and living
conditions, as well as the ability to change employers and speak up
without fear of deportation. The reforms will also ensure that they are
granted permanent resident status on arrival."
CCPA also proposes to "ban lobbying by agribusinesses
and their associations. Develop, revitalize, and support institutions
for democratic control of the food system, such as supply management;
single-desk marketing agencies; producer, consumer, worker, and
multi-stakeholder co-operatives; land trusts; strategic reserves;
public research
institutions; and community food hubs, farmers' markets, and CSAs."
CCPA wants to "incentivize and support the development
of domestic food production and processing, to provide Canadian
residents with a balanced, seasonal diet, reducing our dependence on
imports, retaining more food dollars within Canada, and limiting
exposure to the volatility of foreign markets."
With this emphasis on local production, control and
sales the CCPA demands Canada "withdraw from trade agreements and
negotiate international solidarity agreements that impel a virtuous
circle that enhances justice, equity, diversity, and resilience among
trading partners.... Re-establish and expand the Canadian Wheat Board
... and return to
single-desk marketing; reinstating domestic market share taken via
trade deals from Canada's supply-managed sectors. [...] Orient
agricultural policy toward stability, resilience, self-reliance, and
democratic governance by reducing integration with the U.S. economy and
its regulatory framework."
Arts and Culture
CCPA writes, "Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey
suggests 192,300 workers in the information, culture, and recreation
industries lost their jobs between February and May 2020; employment
declined from 778,700 to 586,400 -- a 24.7 per cent drop. As of May 27,
2020, an independent survey of 800 of Canada's 726,000 culture workers
confirmed the cancellation or potential loss of 28,000 jobs,
representing over $20 million in lost income.... COVID-19 has blatantly
exposed the long-standing, well-documented precariousness of the
cultural sector. As Canada transitions from crisis to recovery, many
arts sector workers will remain in untenable circumstances due to the
anticipated
extended delays in reopening arts and cultural venues."
CCPA "proposes income relief measures to support
cultural workers through mid- and long-term transitions into new and
unknown realities [and] to develop responsive programs for unique,
local, community, and social re-stabilization needs that are supported
federally and delivered locally."
Child Care
CCPA emphasizes, "Never has child care been more
vulnerable -- and more essential. It has taken a public health crisis
for the essential role of early learning and child care to be widely
recognized, and for the fragility of Canada's provision to be laid
bare. Early learning and child care in Canada was fragile before the
pandemic hit because it
is market-based, fragmented, and under-funded. Most licensed programs
primarily rely on parent fee revenue.
"The predominantly female workforce earns low wages and any raise in
compensation translates into higher parent fees, as do any other
quality improvements. As a result, recruitment and retention of
qualified early childhood educators is a perpetual serious concern."
CCPA points out, "A recent survey of licensed child care
centres in Canada confirms that 70 per cent laid off all or part of
their workforce during the emergency response phase of the pandemic,
and more than one-third of the centres across Canada are uncertain
about reopening. The early learning and child care sector could lose
thousands of
educators who will not return to low-wage work when other employment
opportunities open up again."
CCPA demands, "The construction of an accessible,
affordable, quality, inclusive system of early learning and child care,
with fairly compensated early childhood educators at its heart is now
essential if Canada is to forge a resilient and just future, and also
become the best possible place for children."
It writes, "Before parents of young children can return
to work, they need access to affordable child care programs that meet
their diverse needs. This is particularly true for mothers, who have
suffered disproportionately through the pandemic. As one economist
states: 'There can be no recovery without a she-covery; and there can
be no
she-covery without childcare.' (Armine Yalnizyan) The evidence
providing the rationale for, and value of, a universal child care
system has been well established over the last few decades and is now
the norm in many countries. While even countries with established
universal child care systems continue to struggle to remedy inequality
of access
for less advantaged populations, the evidence still shows that a
universal system is the best approach to advancing equity in child
care. Given that the pandemic has disproportionately impacted families
facing various and often inter-related systemic barriers, building a
universal system in Canada is all the more urgent -- one that would
make early
learning and child care 'accessible and affordable for all families and
inclusive of children regardless of ability, economic, cultural or
linguistic circumstances, where they live in Canada or whether their
parents are in or out of the workforce, studying or working
non-standard hours.'
"Federal leadership, including bold, accelerated federal
spending, is needed to expedite Canada's move from the market-based
provision of early learning and care to a publicly managed and fully
publicly funded system."
 CCPA
calls for the implementation of an updated Affordable Child Care for
ALL starting with, "$2.5 billion for early learning and child care in
new federal transfers to the provinces/territories and Indigenous
communities to support the safe and full recovery of regulated child
care as part of the re-opening of the economy.
"In the second phase, the plan proposes federal spending
of $2 billion on early learning and child care in 2021-22. This base
would be increased each year after by $2 billion (that is, $4 billion
in 2022-23, $6 billion in 2023-24, etc.). The federal funds would be
used to move Canada toward a fully publicly funded system, in
partnership with
the provinces, territories, and Indigenous governments."
CCPA insists, "Agreements with each province and
territory would ensure that the federal funds are used for: A safe
restart of child care programs; Restoration and expansion of the number
of licensed child care spaces that existed prior to the pandemic;
Increases in wages and other compensation for those who work in early
learning and child
care to ensure the return and retention of staff to the sector;
Stabilization of parent fees, and reductions to the extent possible;
and Interim full-day child care programs for school age children 12
years of age and younger until schools are re-opened."
CCPA writes, "Research shows investments in early
learning and child care pay for themselves by enabling women to enter
the paid labour market. Socialization opportunities are also essential
for children's well-being, especially since many have been isolated due
to the necessary COVID-19 shutdown."
Cities and Infrastructure
CCPA says, "The crisis is further exposing the weakness
of public-private partnerships (P3s). When big shocks happen, projects
are disrupted and revenues disappear. When deals go bad, ultimately,
governments are on the hook. Private investors get the profit while
public coffers cover the risk."
With regards to cities, CCPA proposes to "ease the
municipal budget crunch through an immediate transfer of $15 billion to
cities. This amount will cover unforeseen COVID-19 related expenses and
revenue shortfalls. It will also provide stabilization funds for
health, child care, and social services. Public safety and equity
should guide
decision-making about municipal services, not an artificial scarcity of
resources."
 CCPA
wants to "divert all new Canada Infrastructure Bank projects away from
P3s and toward projects that are entirely publicly financed, owned,
operated, and maintained."
It should be noted that CCPA does not include publicly
built projects as a crucial aspect of a new direction even though
construction constitutes the largest investment of public funds for
infrastructure.
CCPA wants to "negotiate new funding agreements with
provinces, territories, municipalities, and Indigenous communities to
expand public ownership and facilitate infrastructure projects based on
a set of national priorities, including a national public transit
strategy, decarbonization, care economy investments, and universal
access to
broadband. These agreements will be designed to achieve a broad range
of policy objectives, such as poverty reduction, equity, and community
economic development."
CCPA suggests projects should include: "Universal access
to affordable broadband internet. Critical social infrastructure
projects in neglected but critically important service areas that have
been overlooked because of the communities they serve or the
demographics of their workers. This includes investments in child care,
long-term care,
recreational facilities, cultural infrastructure, homelessness, harm
reduction, and other social support services that disproportionately
impact women, members of the trans and non-binary community, Indigenous
and racialized communities, people with disabilities, and immigrants."
Public investment should include:
"- Expanding public transit projects
like rapid transit priority lanes that reduce commuter times, and get
people out of cars and onto public transit.
"- Expanding alternative
transportation infrastructure, such as bike lanes, trails, sidewalks,
and car-free zones to promote cycling, walkability, and healthier
lifestyles.
"- Expanding clean
electricity and zero-emission infrastructure projects, including the
production and transmission of energy as well as within the
transportation system.
"- Expanding adaptation and resilience initiatives to
prepare infrastructure for higher frequency and more extreme weather
events.
"- Resource efficiency projects that extend the life of products,
expand re-use
and recycling capacity, and divert waste from landfills and
incineration.
"- District energy projects that expand centralized
production of thermal energy for heating and hot water.
"- High-speed rail
expansion to create more efficient intercity travel within the Windsor-Toronto-Quebec City corridor, Calgary-Edmonton,
Vancouver-Portland, and other
regions.
"- Limiting urban sprawl and encouraging brownfield
rehabilitation, encouraging the cleanup and reuse of existing urban
land -- projects that create more compact dense cities that are less
reliant on car-ownership for mobility."
The CCPA plan "recognizes the dysfunctional nature of
municipal funding arrangements and addresses the problem in the short-,
medium-, and long-term by increasing federal funding for physical and
social infrastructure in order to improve and expand vitally necessary
public services. These investments will foster community well-being,
public ownership, inclusive economic initiatives, and city resilience."
(To be continued.)
(To access articles individually click on the black headline.)
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