First Nations Elementary-Secondary Education: A National Dilemma
Bill Robson – Welcome to the Intelligence Memos
From: William B.P. Robson To: Friends and Supporters of the C.D. Howe Institute Date: May 24, 2016 Re: Welcome to the Intelligence Memos I hope the C.D. Howe Institute’s many friends and supporters share my pleasure at the launch of the Institute’s Intelligence Memos. This new series of blog posts represents a fresh vehicle for us to get […] Unequal Access: Making Sense of EI Eligibility Rules and How to Improve Them
Improvements, not an overhaul, are needed for Employment Insurance (EI) eligibility, states a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Unequal Access: Making Sense of EI Eligibility Rules and How to Improve Them,” authors David Gray and Colin Busby find that the degree of alleged deterioration of the EI program as a social safety […] Ontario math training needs a full revamp: Globe and Mail Op-Ed
Ontario Education Minister Liz Sandals has announced a $60-million plan to improve math training in elementary schools.
The move comes in response to declining scores in standardized math tests, which showed that the portion of Grade 6 students meeting provincial standards fell to 54 per cent from 61 per cent over a five-year period. In that same period, scores in reading and writing increased, suggesting that policies specific to math education caused the decline.
The Ontario government is to be commended for addressing the problem, but it is important to consider carefully what might be contributing to the decline and how it is best corrected. For example, what resources were used over the period of decline?…
No luck for Edmonton in employment insurance lottery: Edmonton Journal Op-Ed
A decade of failure has propelled the Edmonton Oilers to win four of the last six NHL draft lotteries. The most recent lottery win landed Edmonton the hockey phenom, Connor McDavid, giving down-trodden Oilers fans a glimmer of hope.
However, when it comes to EI, Edmontonians are not so lucky. According to the 2016 federal budget, only Albertans outside Edmonton will see increases to EI benefit duration between five and 20 weeks.
These changes, which are well timed for the majority of Albertans caught in an avalanche of energy-related layoffs, also expose the major flaws in Canada’s regionally-based EI system.
In the words of professor Keith Banting and Vuk Radmilovic, EI is a postal code lottery. A laid-…
The Problems In Canada’s Job Market Aren’t What The Headlines Tell Us: Financial Post Op-ed
Statistics Canada’s latest jobs report, released on Friday, paints a picture of an economy struggling to adapt to the collapse in commodity prices. Fully 2,300 jobs were lost, but the headline-grabbing number was the 7.3 per cent unemployment rate — the highest since March 2013. The sobering labour market performance will almost certainly fuel demands for the federal government to include boosts for the economy in next week’s budget. But to assess how the government can best provide support, one needs to look beyond the unemployment rate, which only tells part of the story.
The unemployment rate comprises both a numerator and a denominator. Without getting too deep into the weeds, the numerator tells us how many people…
National Priorities 2016
The National Priorities 2016 series provides a high level overview of key issues that the federal and provincial governments need to address, and provides an opportunity to highlight policy recommendations made by prior C.D. Howe Institute research on these topics. Fiscal and Tax – Tax Reform Priorities for Canada: Creating More Income to Go Around […] Amid avalanche of lost jobs, confusion reigns about EI eligibility: Globe and Mail Op-Ed
The brunt of Canada’s economic woes is falling on a few resource-based provinces. This avalanche of lost employment – Alberta lost 10,000 jobs in January – calls for a close look at our employment-insurance system, which maintains regional inequities by treating some workers much more generously than others.
As the first layer of Canada’s social safety net, EI gives recently laid-off workers some income stability and acts as an economic stabilizer. Do enough of these workers obtain access to benefits? For the most part, yes, but coverage could still improve.
EI eligibility is broadly misunderstood, which generates a fragmented, unruly policy discussion on how to improve the program. Confusion reigns partly…
Job One is Jobs: Workers Need Better Policy Support and Stronger Skills
Canada’s policy makers should focus on four priorities to spur growth in Canada’s economy, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Job One is Jobs: Workers Need Better Policy Support and Stronger Skills,” author Craig Alexander outlines the key policy priorities that will reduce Canada’s labour market vulnerabilities. Students in Jeopardy: An Agenda for Improving Results in Band-Operated Schools
Major reforms are needed to address Canada’s failing reserve schools, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report. In “Students in Jeopardy: An Agenda for Improving Results in Band-Operated Schools,” authors Barry Anderson and John Richards provide a blueprint to reverse the high drop-out rates in reserve schools. Canada needs policies that encourage business investment: Globe and Mail Op-Ed
What’s the bad-news Canadian economic story of 2015? The collapse in oil prices is hammering activity in the West. Even worse is how retrenchment in the oil patch, which had boosted national business investment after the 2008-09 slump, is revealing woefully weak capital spending elsewhere in the country.
In a modern economy, prosperity depends vitally on capital spending by businesses. When Canadian businesses invest in plants and equipment, they equip workers with technology that makes them more productive, and, ultimately, better paid. The bad news is that even outside the oil patch – including in Central Canada, which we need to lead the way in this lower-energy-price environment – investment per worker is anemic and has been…
A Crisis of Capital: Canadian Workers Need More Tools, Buildings and Equipment
For the first time since the 2008-2009 economic crisis and recession, capital investment by business has declined, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report. In “A Crisis of Capital: Canadian Workers Need More Tools, Buildings and Equipment,” authors Benjamin Dachis, William B.P. Robson and Aaron Jacobs show that, after several years of improvements in […]