By Molly McCracken
A new year brings hope and the possibility for a healthier, happier and more just province for all Manitobans. As the holiday season draws to a close, let us carry forward the feelings of good will towards all into this New Year. This is within easier reach than it seems; here are four actions governments and citizens alike can do to make change for the better.
Administrator – Manitoba Research Alliance / Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Manitoba Office
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Manitoba office (CCPA – MB) is an independent, non-partisan research institute concerned with issues of social, economic and environmental justice. Founded in 1980, the CCPA is one of Canada’s leading progressive voices in public policy debates. CCPA has a national office in Ottawa, and provincial offices in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Nova Scotia, as well as Manitoba.
By Lynne Fernandez, Errol Black Chair in Labour Issues
Apparently our country is going to hell in a mail bag. According to conservative analysts, public-sector workers are playing fast and loose with tax payers’ money and the only remedy is to get them off the public payroll. In order to save the public purse, the federal government will be dramatically changing how mail is delivered in this country, something that deserves some local attention given that Winnipeg very recently updated its plant specifically to adapt to new realities. But despite a couple of very good articles in Canada’s national newspapers, little has been said locally about the changes coming to Canada Post.
Both The Globe and Mail and The National Post have featured level-headed articles asking some tough questions about the need to cancel home delivery and get rid of up to 8,000 unionized workers. CCPA’s Armine Yalnizyan points out that Canada Post has made money in all but 1 of the past 17 years. By the time the Christmas traffic is tallied this year, it is likely it will be in the black again. So what’s the problem?
According to the pundits, the problem is the pension: once again, spoilt public sector workers will be living the high life on a pension paid for by taxpayers, many of whom don’t have a pension. It’s enough to make your blood boil.
Except that there’s not really a problem with the pension.
Yalnizyan, who has actually examined the issue, finds that Canada Post’s pension fund has assets over $16B and “is not in deficit and is fully funded on a going-concern basis.” She explains that the plan would have problems if Canada Post closed shop today, but there’s no reason to think that will happen.
Yalnizyan and others point out that other post offices have adapted to the changing times. Parcel delivery is up and postal banking has proven lucrative in Italy, Switzerland, Japan and New Zealand. In the National Post, Ethan Cox reminds us that Canada had a vibrant postal bank for over 100 years, until the banking lobby helped shut it down. Given that so many Canadians don’t have access to banking services, now would be a good time to revisit the concept.
Cox confirms Yalnizyan’s analysis: in the past decade, Canada Post has delivered $1.5 billion in profits to taxpayers. So, let’s review this:
Canada Post is a profitable enterprise
Canada Post’s pension is in fine shape
Letter traffic is down, but parcel delivery is up and expected to grow
Postal banking is a demand looking for a supply
Still don’t see the problem? The truth is likely quite simple: Canada Post is a public corporation with unionized workers. Both these concepts are anathemas to a federal government bent on privatizing public institutions and breaking unions. This point is poignantly made by Cox:
“[…] it’s worth recalling that in 2011 mail delivery was a service so essential that it required back-to-work legislation to end a lockout.”
They attack unionized postal workers on one hand by declaring them essential workers, and they blindside them on the other hand by saying tax payers can’t afford to continue investing in their services.
Contradictory? You bet.
Ideologically driven? Most certainly.
Inevitable? It’s up to us.
By Lynne Fernandez, Errol Black Chair in Labour Issues
That Nelson Mandela’s memorial be celebrated on International Human Rights Day is destiny; a more poignant coupling of events cannot be imagined. It seems unusually cruel then to sully today’s tributes to this great man with grumblings of suppression and abuse, but the irony of today’s events coinciding with anti-union legislation being passed in Alberta demands comment. At the same time that her government has pushed Bill 45 through the Alberta Legislature, Premier Alison Redford is paying tribute to Nelson Mandela.
A collection of photographs taken by Winnipeg youth offers a fresh perspective on some of city’s lowest income neighbourhoods. They tell stories of what makes for good places to live, and what needs to change. The exhibition, coordinated by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) with the support of local community organizations, will be launched Wednesday, Dec 11 at the Graffiti Gallery, 109 Higgins.
The project gave cameras and photography training to sixteen youth from North and West End Winnipeg. The youth were asked to take pictures of their neighbourhood. Many of the photos depict urban decay and abandoned spaces that are too common in Winnipeg’s Inner City. They also point to often-overlooked images of hope, nature and cooperation that are also a part of city life. The results are an urgent call to action to address poverty by supporting community development.
“When we looked at the photos, their artistic voice was immediately apparent,” said Molly McCracken, Manitoba director for CCPA. “We also saw how important community organizations are for these youth and how centrally these figure in their daily lives. Although poverty persists, using holistic practices, community-based organizations can support youth to develop a strong identity and healthy community.”
The exhibition is part of the CCPA’s State of the Inner City Report 2013. The annual report has examined different aspects of inequality in Winnipeg since 2005. This year’s report focuses on youth and poverty. Manitoba has the second highest rate of child poverty in Canada.
The report and exhibition will be launched Wednesday December 11th at 4:30 pm at the Graffiti Gallery, 109 Higgins.
By Lynne Fernandez and Christina Maes Nino
The City of Winnipeg has released its proposed operational and capital budgets for 2014. As in previous years, it is hard to see the vision in this budget or the direction it is taking. Many believe there is no long-term plan guiding political decisions, but one theme does persist: business taxes (and hence scarce revenues) are lowered at the same time as expenditures needed for the sound management of the City are cut. In this budget, already scarce City of Winnipeg workers are forced to take days off without pay. Looking behind the numbers we can see that the budget is designed to continue the City on the path of increasing inequity between residents and neighbourhoods, supporting developers even when what they do is unsustainable, and excluding citizens from participation in decision-making. We’ve seen this movie before.
From Demonized to Organized: Building the New Union Movement by Nora Loreto
Reviewed by Gabriel Bako
This new book published by CCPA National provides a timely analysis of unions and neoliberalism. Mainstream media teaches youth, who have been born and raised under neoliberalism, to be consumers of popular culture rather than critical and active participants in our communities. We’ve known nothing else, so it’s no wonder why more of us believe in the notions of individualism rather than collectivism. Loreto’s book challenges these ideas and invites youth to consider a different perspective.
By Dr. Ryan Meili
Social factors play a significant role in determining whether we will be healthy or ill. Our health care is but one element of what makes the biggest difference in health outcomes. This has been understood for centuries, and empirically validated in recent decades with study after study demonstrating health inequalities between wealthy and disadvantaged populations.
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