With the fiscal “snapshot” on the way on Wednesday, we are seeing the ritual demands of opposition parties being laid out – the Conservatives demanding accurate fiscal forecasts, a proper picture of the deficit and debt, and changes to CERB that they claim will keep it from being a disincentive to work. Oh, and to basically deregulate the energy sector, as though it’s regulation and not the price of oil and a global supply glut that are the cause of a drop in investment. The Bloc want CERB phased out except for the arts, hospitality and agriculture industries. And the NDP want the programmes extended and to be financed by down on tax havens – because that can be done unilaterally and at the drop of a hat!
Of course, the biggest problem with the economic recovery is education and childcare, the lack of which threatens to set women’s participation in the labour force back by 40 years, and yet most of the provinces don’t seem to be too motivated by this fact, as they allow school boards like those in Ontario to come up with cockamamie plans like having kids in school for two days a week. And the worst of it is when you have provinces demanding federal help for things that are explicitly in their jurisdiction like education and childcare – which the federal government has made clear is part of the $14 billion they have on the table – but they don’t want the strings attached. “Just give us the money,” Doug Ford demanded, which isn’t how this works.
Getting really tired of provinces demanding the federal government “have a hand in” (i.e. pay for) things that are explicitly their area of jurisdiction, while simultaneously balking at strings being attached.
Pick a lane, or abolish the provinces. https://t.co/T0q2kuFi9b pic.twitter.com/GhgxZijaIe— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) July 6, 2020
And to drive home the point, economists like Jennifer Robson have calculated that keeping these women out of the workforce cuts household incomes by 40 percent, or $113 billion in direct earnings (to say nothing of lifetime earnings), which is a devastating blow to the economy. Would that these provincial governments didn’t assume that it’s fine that they have loaded this onto the shoulders of women in the workforce, and that there won’t be any consequences. It’s time for provinces to behave like grown-ups and make some adult decisions that include women in the labour force.
2/ our unis will be closed for the most part. There's nothing preventing us from using mid-sized class rooms on campus to house classes of 15 K-8s. Same with secondary schools. Throw in churches, community centres, etc. There is loads of space to be had if we get creative.
— Alex Usher (@AlexUsherHESA) July 6, 2020
4/ Would this be cheap? No. But it's peanuts compared to the cost of keeping parents (mothers, mostly if we're honest) at home. No schools, no functioning economy.
— Alex Usher (@AlexUsherHESA) July 6, 2020
6/ And you know, keep the goddamn bars closed so we eliminate an obvious source of disease spread. Not that tough.
— Alex Usher (@AlexUsherHESA) July 6, 2020
8/ And no, these solutions don't work in all locales and it's predicated on 9-12s staying in remote teaching for a term, which sucks. There are no perfect universal solutions. Striving to do better where we can will sometimes mean tradeoffs and triaging. That's life under COVID.
— Alex Usher (@AlexUsherHESA) July 6, 2020
https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1279931083430285312
Good reads:
- Activist groups are calling on the government to stop enforcing prostitution laws given how they are creating barriers for sex workers to get pandemic support.
- A Canadian Forces flight heading to our mission in Latvia had to turn around mid-flight when someone who was in contact with the plan tested positive for COVID-19.
- The Conservatives assure us that they’re not so politically suicidal as to force an election over the WE Charity debacle.
- The NDP are trying to keep making the bullshit “virtual attendance” story a Thing. It’s not, but hey, the NDP made hay lying about attendance in the past.
- Susan Delacourt suggests that we start taking the threat of conspiracy theories more seriously after the Rideau Hall intruder incident, and his posting those memes.
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“Susan Delacourt suggests that we start taking the threat of conspiracy theories more seriously after the Rideau Hall intruder incident, and his posting those memes.”
But reporting on an assassination attempt by an artisan sausage maker who suffered from a flare-up of economic anxiety disorder, and who literally wanted to make mince meat of the prime minister, might make Justin Trudeau a sympathetic figure, and bump the manufactured smear campaign off the front pages. No sense ruining a carefully crafted narrative that Trudeau Bad. Why would the feckless access journalists want to open themselves up to dreaded accusations of anti-conservative bias by focusing on Ontario Proud and Rebel Media as being a stochastic threat to people’s lives, when they can look like they’re “holding the government accountable” and get pats on the head by framing WE as the Laurentian mafia’s personal slush fund? Nope, nothing to see here folks. Back to our continuing wall-to-wall coverage of Clinton Cash, Canadian Edition. Pay no attention to Lee Harvey Hinckley behind the curtain. He’s our best hope for terrific, bigly yuge ratings.
“…education and childcare, the lack of which threatens to set women’s participation in the labour force back by 40 years….”
It’s sad to see that even during a pandemic there is not a crumb of interest in pressing fathers to accept a real role in caring for their children on a day-to-day basis. Apparently, that’s far too radical a notion for a country like Canada. After all, education and childcare are just part of women’s work! Good grief.