Manitoba Inequality Update: Low income families left behind

By Ian Hudson and Benita Cohen, A decade ago the CCPA-MB released the Stuck in Neutral report on inequality in Manitoba. Although inequality was less pronounced in Manitoba than it was in other provinces, earnings for the poorest …

Income Security to End Poverty in Manitoba

By Andrew Clark Income security programs in Manitoba and Canada are not keeping pace with the growing problem of poverty. Change is needed to ensure low income and vulnerable people and families do not become entrapped in a …

Response to Premier’s bike tour from Selkirk to Peguis First Nation

Premier Brian Pallister announced will be riding his bicycle from the St Peter’s Reserve (Selkirk) to Peguis First Nation this June 16 – 17 to recognize the 200th anniversary of the Selkirk Treaty. This blog summarizes the responses by …

Today’s conservatives are not your Grandpa’s Tories: Co-ops, Credit Unions and Free Trade Policies

By Ellen Smirl On the Main Street in Morden Manitoba there are two gas stations: an Esso and a Co-op. During the busiest times of the week-after a hockey game, or on Sunday when the area’s many churches …

Community looking for action plan from Province on poverty

By Josh Brandon When Lieutenant Governor Janice Filmon delivers the throne speech November 21, a plan for poverty reduction should top the government’s priority list. The Province has promised a plan by next year’s budget and Manitobans are …

Submission: Legislative Committee hearing on Bill 7

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. I hold the Errol Black Chair in Labour Issues at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. On behalf of the Chair, I wish to speak in opposition to …

Provincial Budget Consultation submission from CCPA Manitoba

  This is the presentation Lynne Fernandez, Errol Black Chair in Labour Issues made in person for the Provincial Budget Consultation on October 26th, 2016.  Minister Friesen and Panel Members, thank you for inviting me to present this …

New Report: It’s Time To Give Back to Manitoba’s North

By Lynne Fernandez A new Errol Black Chair report released today examines how events are unfolding in  Churchill and The Pas. It puts these events in the context of the entire Northern region and urges government to consider …

Inaction Threatens to Stagnate Manitoba Minimum Wage

First published as an editorial in the Winnipeg Free Press July 18, 2016 By Molly McCracken Unless immediate action is taken, 2016 will be the first time in a generation that minimum wage workers will see their wages …

Poverty Policy Choices and Winnipeg’s Inner City

By Jim Silver Provincial government policy can be designed to punish those in poverty, or to reduce poverty. Both approaches have been tried in Manitoba, the first in the 1990s and the other more recently. We can compare …