The Pearson Centre for Progressive Policy is organizing a conference in Ottawa for Feb 24 and 25, entitled Parliament 2020, focussing on the first year of minority government. Representatives of MP’s from most parties, as well as business, labour and civil society, will also be on the agenda. The topics are wide-ranging, including the economy, environment, reconciliation, future of work, and international relations.  (thepearsoncentre.ca). 

The Pearson Centre is also about to release a new report entitled The Future of Workers, with a set of policy recommendations for preparing and protecting workers.  

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has just released a 2019 Report on Child Poverty in Nova Scotia.  (policyalternatives.ca). The report indicates that child poverty has decreased less than 1% since 1989, when Parliament voted unanimously to adopt Ed Broadbent’s private member’s motion to set an objective of eliminating child poverty in Canada by the year 2000.

The Fraser Institute (fraserinstitute.org) is carrying a blog article describing Alberta’s intention to follow Saskatchewan’s lead in reducing wait times for specialist services. Saskatchewan invited private clinics to deliver publicly-funded services. They also introduced a central registry which permitted patients to be connected with specialists who had the shortest wait times. The combination has had significant success in reducing wait times. 

The Broadbent Institute (broadbentinstitute.ca)   has posted an article by Melana Roberts, about Black Food Insecurity in Canada. She points out that black Canadians are 3.5 times more likely to experience food insecurity than white Canadians, and suggests that lasting change will only be achieved through systemic change.