Poverty in Canada from Poor No More
The Problem with Business Reporting: Coverage of so-called EI 'reform' replete with attacks on seasonal workers, misinformation about EI.
Fillmore, N. (2013). Straight Goods.
EI benefits are not a government expense because the $300 million involved is not government money. The EI system is funded by contributions from employers and employees. The government has not contributed to the fund since 1990.
Second, it is inaccurate, and harmful to the people of the Atlantic region, to say that “much” of the overpayment went to cheaters. As Canadian Labour Congress economist Angella MacEwen told me in an e-mail interview, “It is mostly automation induced error, according to the Service Canada backroom staff that I spoke to…They say that increased reliance on automation has led to an increase in errors calculating benefit levels and duration. Because of staff cutbacks, most of these errors are only caught when integrity checks are done against tax information from the business/individual.”
... past governments dipped into the EI account to the tune of $57 billion — money which workers and employers paid into what they believed was a bona fide insurance plan. Instead, the money was put it into general government revenues to help pay down the debt and support other government programs. As of March 2012 – after much government fiddling – the EI account had a deficit of $7.9 billion.
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New information on federal job and
service cuts
MacDonald, D. (2013).
After four austerity budgets and lots of hide and seek, there are finally some answers about what services federal departments are going to cut. CCPA’s Senior Economist David Macdonald has examined over 180 departmental Reports on Plans and Priorities in order to estimate employment cuts down to the program level and determine where federal spending cuts hit the hardest.
He finds that cuts have disproportionately focused on service delivery, and that the total number of federal public service jobs cut over the entire austerity period (March 2012 to March 2016) will be 28,700—with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada experiencing the largest loss of positions. By 2016, the total number of people working for the federal government will have fallen by 8%, almost double the 4.8% figure reported in Budget 2012.
After four austerity budgets and lots of hide and seek, there are finally some answers about what services federal departments are going to cut. CCPA’s Senior Economist David Macdonald has examined over 180 departmental Reports on Plans and Priorities in order to estimate employment cuts down to the program level and determine where federal spending cuts hit the hardest.
He finds that cuts have disproportionately focused on service delivery, and that the total number of federal public service jobs cut over the entire austerity period (March 2012 to March 2016) will be 28,700—with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada experiencing the largest loss of positions. By 2016, the total number of people working for the federal government will have fallen by 8%, almost double the 4.8% figure reported in Budget 2012.
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Corporate
Profits Canada: Stats Can Reports 1.2% Decline
HuffPost
Canada, (2013).
OTTAWA - Statistics Canada says corporations
earned $74 billion in operating profits in the first quarter, down 1.2 per cent
from the previous quarter.
It says
this comes after a 1.4 per cent increase in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Operating
profits decreased in 14 of 22 industries, led by insurance carriers and related
activities, whose profits were down 16 per cent to $3.9 billion.
Securities,
commodity contracts and other financial investments fell 4.2 per cent to $5.5
billion.
In the non-financial sector,
first quarter operating profits rose 0.3 per cent to $53.6 billion, following a
0.9 per cent increase in the previous quarter.
Retail trade profits increased
1.7 per cent to $4.1 billion while profits for manufacturing industries
declined 1.0 per cent to $12.1 billion and wholesale trade profits fell 3.0 per
cent to $5.7 billion.
Offshore Tax Haven Prosecution Pitifully Low As Sheltered
Money Spikes: Reports
Only 44 Canadians have been convicted of offences related to offshore tax havens since the Harper government came to power — a period during which the amount of Canadian money held in the largest offshore havens is estimated to have doubled.
According to documents from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), tabled in parliament Thursday, 44 taxpayers were convicted of crimes related to offshore accounts between April 1, 2006, and March 31, 2012.
“This involved $7.7 million in federal tax evaded and the court
sentences totaled $6.8 million in fines and 337 months in jail,” stated the CRA
document, which was posted to the web by CBC’s Kady O’Malley. The agency had
put together the report at the request of opposition members of Parliament.
The CRA report comes as Canadians for Tax Fairness (CTF) released
a new report estimating that the amount of money held by Canadians in the
world’s 12 largest tax havens has reached $170 billion.
“That is $109 billion hidden away, untaxed, while the rest of us pay our share on every cent we earn,” CTF executive director Dennis Howlett said in a statement.
Tax evasion jumped into the spotlight as an issue last month when an international consortium of journalists released leaked data on tens of thousands of offshore accounts, including, reportedly, those of 450 Canadians.
Liberal Senator Percy Downe has been pushing the CRA to begin estimating Canada's "tax gap" — the amount of money government would be collecting in revenue if offshore havens didn't exist. Though many countries estimate this number, the CRA has so far refused to do so.
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FEDERAL CUTS FOCUSED ON FRONTLINE JOBS: Almost 29,000 jobs gone by 2016.
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
"If it can be digitized, it can be sent anywhere in the world."
CBC, (2013).
Rising inequality in Canada demands attention
Fixing Income Inequality in Canada
Miller, D. R. (2013). HuffingtonPost.
Why Income Inequality Matters
Why should we care about income equality? Many see it as a fairness and social justice issue, and there's merit to this. Income inequality is directly correlated to higher levels of child poverty, poor health, and shorter lifespans. But there are other concerns that go beyond social justice and strike at the heart of both democracy and greater long-term economic health.
One of the key concerns is that income inequality undermines the democratic process that our country was founded on. As the middle class shrinks and more people fall to subsistence living levels, they spend more time on their own survival and far less time participating in any form of democratic debate. They "disengage" from the democratic process -- and leave the decision making to others, without any direct input.
First, we need to re-think the "lowest possible cost" globalization mantra. International trade is here to stay and can yield many benefits, both in Canada and abroad. But the emphasis should be less on "free trade" and more on "fair trade."
Second, we need to strengthen the rights of trade unions to organize in the new digital economy. The power balance has swung too far -- and we need to better empower trade unions in their fight to bargain for fairer wages. For those not in a trade union, we need to raise the minimum wage to reduce the incidence of subsistence living.
Third, we need to examine how we can use public policy for all projects at all levels of government to advance the economic prospects for those least well off.
Video: Treating poverty works like medicine,doctors say - Financial support can pay off with better health
CBC, (2013).
The Canadian Medical Association is asking people across the country how poverty affects their health as part of its national dialogue tour. The group said that social and economic factors determine 50 per cent of health outcomes.
"Treating people at low income with a higher income will have at least as big an impact on their health as any other drugs that I could prescribe them," Bloch said.
"I do see poverty as a disease," Bloch said.
In his practice, prescribing income could mean assessing whether a patient's illnesses might qualify for provincial or federal disability supports and employment insurance. He helps fill in applications and connects patients with programs such as basic financial planning.
"I absolutely see the improvement in my patients' health," Bloch said. "For patients that we do manage to get on income supports, their lives often really turn around."
Increasingly, physician groups are recognizing poverty as a disease, not simply from lifestyle factors such as smoking, but also from the toll the stress of being poor can take on the body.
Children bear 'toxic stress'
For children in particular, the strong and frequent bombardment of "toxic stress" from living in substandard housing with adults who are also stressed can set the stage for lifelong damage, doctors say.
Such high stress stunts healthy development by "disrupting developing brain architecture," the American Academy of Pediatrics said in a technical report last year.
"Toxic stress can lead to potentially permanent changes in learning, behaviour and physiology," the U.S. group concluded.
Statistics Canada has reported that growing up in poverty is associated with increased rates of death and illness including diabetes, mental illness, stroke, cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal disease, central nervous system disease and injuries.
"We do know that our child poverty rates are an embarrassment," Dr. Richard Stanwick, president of the Canadian Pediatric Society, said from Victoria. "Do we want … a society where a certain group is permanently disadvantaged? Unfortunately, that's what poverty does."
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Nine in Ten Canadians Support Taxing the Rich “More” (88%) and a Potential ‘Millionaire’s Tax’ (89%); Average Canadian Defines ‘Rich’ As $195,000 Annual Household Income
Nine in ten (88%) Canadians ‘support’ (48% strongly/40% somewhat) the following
resolution, to be the subject of the upcoming Munk Debate on May 30th: the rich should pay
more taxes. Just one in ten (12%) Canadians ‘oppose’ (3% strongly/8% somewhat) this
resolution.
British Columbians (93%) are most supportive of the rich paying more taxes, compared to
Albertans (82%) who are least supportive.
As household income increases, support for making the rich pay more taxes decreases.
Canadians making a household income of less than $40,000 annually (93%) are most
supportive while those on the other end of the income spectrum, making $100,000+ annually,
are least supportive (72%) – yet still a majority supports the initiative.
Canadians seniors (91%, aged 55+) are most supportive of the idea of taxing the rich more,
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