ontario

Basic Income for Canadians

Basic Income Plan For Canadians

April 13, 2020 Happenings

A fringe economic theory which proposes a minimum income guarantee for the society is finally becoming a mainstream discussion due to the COVID crisis. The idea of long-term economic support to low-income groups in times of uncertainty otherwise referred to as the Universal Basic Income (UBI) has gained rapid popularity & support in this global pandemic of COVID-19. For a start, UBI provides for a basic minimum allowance to everyone in the society (hence, universal) regardless of the circumstances or income. These benefits are especially needed

The main advantage is that ensures a minimum standard of income for everyone – without any costs and bureaucracy of means-tested benefits. Also, it avoids the disincentive to work that can occur with means-tested benefits. In times of crisis, a UBI can also provide a social safety net with minimum admin costs.

Universal Basic Income — Pros and Cons

A recent Gallup and Northeastern University survey found resonance for the UBI amongst 75% Canadians and 77% in the UK for workers who lose their jobs owing to AI advancements in the field. Sadly only 43% in the United States supported the call for a “government-instituted program that would provide every adult with a specific amount of money each year” despite Democratic Presidential candidate Andrew Yang advocating a UBI plan during his campaign run. AI’s imminent threat to livelihoods and the inevitable rise in class inequality isn’t out of question in the future, however, millions have been left unemployed today due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and more would follow as long as establishments remain under strict lockdown policy. Canada’s economy lost more than a million jobs in March alone, pushing the unemployment rate to a whopping 7.8% from 5.6% in February. According to Statistics Canada, 19.2 million Canadians had paid work in February before the coronavirus hit Canada with full force. A month later, barely 18 million still had jobs. The Federal government launched the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) to help businesses and workers who have been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak — $2,000 a month for up to four months for workers who lose their income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The CERB would cover Canadians who have lost their job, are sick, quarantined, or taking care of someone who is sick with COVID-19, as well as working parents who must stay home without pay to care for children who are sick or at home because of school and daycare closures. The CERB would apply to wage earners, as well as contract workers and self-employed individuals who would not otherwise be eligible for Employment Insurance (EI).

Government introduces Canada Emergency Response Benefit to help workers and businesses
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We’re Together In Our Fight Against COVID-19!

March 24, 2020 Happenings
COVID-19

It’s been a week since Ontario declared an emergency facing increasing COVID-19 cases in the province, and largely to prevent people from gathering in large numbers. In other words, practicing ‘social distancing’ to avoid contact with infected persons, even if it’s business as usual for some of them. The tremors from the Coronavirus blowout are being felt everywhere even as I’m writing this piece. It all seems like the world has being pounded by an army of invisible invaders while it was napping, but while the governments are doing everything in their power to pushback COVID-19 the residents are clearly losing the plot. The objective to decrease the infections cannot be achieved without everyone deciding to isolate themselves voluntarily and by maintaining a strict personal hygiene routine considering that the virus has the potential to survive on various kinds of materials for days.

Since it’s a new virus our immune systems are being compromised — there is no sign of an infection for days, and moreover, there’s no vaccine or treatment which is currently available. The only way to safeguard ourselves from this brutal threat and that of our society is through preventive measures of self-isolation during infection, and through ‘social distancing’. By not following these precautionary measures, we’re only adding to the risk of an unprecedented and a catastrophic scale that could push our nations into turmoil and affect our livelihoods for several decades. We’re already seeing the economic impacts, so far – the value of gold has plummeted, oil and gas prices are at is lowest since June 2001, the global travel industry has been crippled by cancellations and nationwide lockdowns, and there have been large scale layoffs in almost every major industry worldwide as a domino effect. Besides the official postponement of the biggest event of all, the Tokyo Olympics. It’d be completely appropriate to say, that as a global community, we’re going through our worst nightmares arising out of an inconspicuous element of danger.

Heart of the matter is, we all should be committed in our struggle against COVID-19 with the rules of our involvement pretty straightforward. Get yourself informed and share the info, maintain strict personal hygiene, and avoid contact with the outside world unless if it’s absolutely, positively, necessary.

What’s ‘Social Distancing‘?

– avoiding crowded places and non-essential gatherings
– avoiding common greetings, such as handshakes
– limiting contact with people at higher risk like older adults and those in poor health
– keeping a distance of at least 2 arms-length (approximately 2 metres) from others

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Prevention and risks

(Another) Upcoming Crazy Weather System

February 24, 2019 Happenings

Brace yourself, Ontarians, for one last time! Because hopefully, this could be the last crazy weather system before the spring makes its way into Toronto. Personally, just when I thought the mercury was rising, the Canada Geese have arrived and the snow was thawing, unfortunately, there’s more of it coming shortly. If one was looking for surprises in Canada, they can be rest assured, the weather won’t disappoint and would deliver on its promises pronto!

So, Environment Canada has issued an alert beginning Sunday afternoon until Monday, for a “major wind storm” this time that will sweep through most of Southern Ontario.

Weather System Alert - Southern Ontario

The winter this year has been especially onerous, over the past few days the temperatures have swung up and down like a yo-yo, not to mention there was a storm just a few weeks ago dumping tons of snow. And if you all thought all that was a result of a dreaded global phenomenon called ‘climate change’, not only are you dead right but you are free to panic as well, according to this insightful and scary article.

Not to digress from the topic, but there’s no doubt in my mind that winds gusting at 120 km/h seem likely to take some serious toll on the city damaging precious life & property. It’s a weekend too so I just hope that this oncoming dreaded weather system passes on smoothly giving the residents some much-needed breathing space from its brutality. The crazy weather, with a looming threat of power outages and low visibility, means many in the affected neighbourhoods would be sadly confined yet again to the safety of their homes. For those courageous adventurers, who would still dare to venture out and risk everything despite the clear warnings, I can only say — stay safe, stay alert, and if possible, stay indoors.

A Winter Storm Is Blowing Through Toronto

January 29, 2019 Happenings

Having landed strictly from a tropical lineage AND having successfully achieved the distinction of surviving the frosty winter of Canada so far, I can speak with a certain degree of authority that winter storms are a unique feature of this country’s culture. Needless to say then, any discussion surrounding the Canadian winter is incomplete without mentioning the word ‘storm’. Just like the monsoon season which brings the city of Mumbai to its bare knees and drives the life of the common man to a complete nightmare, we Canadians, have been blessed with heaps of wintery snow raining to bring our individual lives to a dead end. Likewise, the storm that is sweeping parts of Ontario and GTA as I write this piece has wreaked more havoc today than its usual share with no sign of stopping so far, and it is soon going to be followed by a ‘polar vortex’ — one that is going to be much brutal than what came in 2014.

The ice storm this winter (some reports called it the “Alberta Clipper”) is definitely massive with the snowfall predicted to be at 15-25 cms for a single day and bringing temperatures down to the -40s. However, those figures sound lame when you read what happened two decades ago, during another such massive ice storm of January 1999. It was so severe that the then mayor, Mel Lastman, had to summon the help of the military in Toronto (and got squarely ridiculed for his decision) after the city saw a whopping 118 centimetres of snowfall in the first half of that month! Gosh, I can’t even imagine how that much snow must have felt on the ground.

Though, as I began to look deeper for more facts they continued to unravel itself. I realized it was in fact, the snow storm back in the December 1944 which was the harshest in the city’s history — it took 16 lives in Toronto, and 21 in Ontario overall. It seems we might be staring at yet another record-breaking heavy snow storm this time around.

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Electric Vehicle National Policy For Canada

October 20, 2018 Happenings
Electric Vehicle Symbol

On September 22, 2017, the Ontario government entered into a formal agreement with the Province of Québec and the State of California to join their carbon market starting January 1, 2018.  More famously known as Ontario’s cap-and-trade program it meant that the province engages in putting a cap on the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) that businesses would emit. This was designed to fight the forces of climate change and reward businesses who reduce their greenhouse pollution. Furthermore, all the proceeds from the cap-and-trade Program were invested in projects, including incentivizing the purchase of an HFCV or an electric vehicle, that’d help to reduce greenhouse gas pollution province-wide. 

In particular, the cap-and-trade program was the primary tool to help Ontario achieve its ambitious GHG reduction targets of 15% below 1990 levels by 2020, 37% by 2030 and 80% by 2050. Under the regime, industrial sectors including manufacturing, electricity and fuel distribution are required to purchase emission allowances to cover each tonne of GHG emissions resulting from their activities and the combustion of fuel distributed.

McCarthy Tetrault

Electric Vehicle & HFCV Incentives

The cap-and-trade involved funding programs that would have helped reduce carbon emissions. One of the initiatives undertaken by the Ontario province was the ‘Electric and Hydrogen Vehicle and Charging Incentive Programs’ that offered rebates of up to CA$14000 on the purchase of electric vehicles and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles and rebates of up to CA$1000 for electric vehicle charging stations to offset the cost of a home or office station, apart from providing a distinct green licence plate, and overall, this was done to discourage the rampant use of internal combustion engines. The incentive program was so well-received, in fact, according to data compiled by Fleet Carma, 7,477 battery and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles were sold in Ontario last year, an increase of 120 per cent from 2016 when increased rebates were implemented. Just as the efforts to fight climate change seemed to be on the right track, the newly elected government of Doug Ford repealed the cap-and-trade program on July 03, 2018, “to bring gas prices down and help lower costs for Ontario families and businesses”. I felt this was a disappointing move on the part of Ontario although whether it made economic sense is still being debated.

The Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Strategy

An e-petition is being sponsored by Peter Schiefke, the Liberal Party MP from Vaudreuil-Soulanges, Quebec, for the Minister of Transportation for seeking a Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) strategy by accelerating the deployment of electric vehicles. The list of countries below suggests Canada has a long way to go in setting targets for electric vehicles unlike some of its counterparts in the G7, and with provinces moving away from any commitment towards fighting climate change that should worry us all although the federal government has already released a draft proposal for introducing a federal carbon pollution pricing system.

In 2016, 14 countries already had electric car targets in place: Austria, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States (eight states).

Sign The E-Petition

If you’re a Canadian resident, here’s your chance to sign the parliamentary e-petition for pushing the federal government towards a zero-emission environment for our future generations and e-petitions with more than 500 signatures are guaranteed to be responded by the government. The last day for signing the petition is February 14, 2019, so act now!