Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, May/June 2016 Congratulations Marjorie!

WINNER OF THE 2016 GALBRAITH PRIZE IN ECONOMICS The Monitor is proud to announce that HELP US SHED LIGHT ON THE Marjorie Griffin Cohen has been selected the 2016 winner of the John Kenneth Galbraith Prize in Economics for her ISSUES THAT MATTER TO YOU. contributions to political economy in Canada. (we’ve got some bright ideas) Marjorie is an economist and emeritus professor of political science and women’s studies at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. She is also a long-time research associate of the CCPA and was a national board member from 1985 to 2004. She played a central role in the establishment of the centre’s B.C. office, MAKE A DONATION Tax receipts are issued for contributions of $15 or more. where she served as first chairperson. A scholar in the feminist tradition, Marjorie has written on public policy and economics with special emphasis I would like to make a monthly contribution of: I would like to make a one-time donation of: on the Canadian economy, Canadian public policy, women, labour, international trade agreements and $25 $15 $10 Other ____ OR $300 $100 $75 Other ____ deregulation of the electricity sector. She is highly regarded for her research on women’s work an d income security, and more recently the implications of climate PAYMENT TYPE: change for labour in Canada. I would like to receive my In partnership with the CCPA-BC, Marjorie led the I’ve enclosed a cheque (made payable to CCPA, or void cheque for monthly donation) subscription to The Monitor: five-year SSHRC-funded Economic Security Project (co-directed by B.C. Director Seth Klein), which I’d like to make my contribution by: VISA MASTERCARD brought together university and community-based By e-mail researchers, and many students, to study the impact Mailed to my address of B.C. government policies on vulnerable populations. CREDIT CARD NUMBER: Significantly, the project establishes new public policy No Monitor, thanks approaches to better meet the economic security EXPIRY DATE: SIGNATURE: needs of this population. The Galbraith Prize in Economics was established in 2007 by the Progressive Economics Forum and is awarded every two years to someone who has made a CONTACT INFORMATION lifelong commitment to combining rigorous economic analysis with a commitment to social justice. The award Return this form to: consists of a $2,000 cash prize, and the winner must Name deliver a lecture on their ideas at the annual meeting of 500-251 BANK ST. the Canadian Economics Association, which takes place Addresss OTTAWA, ON K2P 1X3 this June in Ottawa. We hope to print Marjorie’s lecture in an upcoming issue of the Monitor. City Province Postal Code Or donate online at: So once again, our enthusiastic WWW.POLICYALTERNATIVES.CA congratulations, Marjorie! Telephone (Required) Email

Yes, I prefer to receive my tax receipt Please do not trade my name with other and updates by email. organizations. REGISTERED CHARITY #124146473 RR0001 May/June 2016

On the cover 18/ New Economic Directions From slow growth (slowth) to the Leap Manifesto, a guaranteed annual income to the $15 minimum wage, efficient manufacturing to public investment banks, people are talking about a different kind of economy and a more active role for government in taking us there.

FROM THE TOP FEATURES ARTS FRACKING

BEHIND THE NUMBERS /6 Live long and progress: Globalization: How does Star Trek’s legacy Buying and Selling the World Budget signals regime change of equality stack up 50 years in Ottawa, but it’s only a start The Health Gap: into the franchise? /38 Armine Yalnizyan The Challenge of an Unequal Chris Lackner and Jarrah Hodge World Alberta is not paying for Active history Quebec’s social programs: Spaces of Aid: How Cars, and the left in Canada /41 Debunking myths about Compounds and Hotels Shape Chris Schultz and Jon Weier equalization Humanitarianism Ricardo Acuña The changing face reviewed in Books /53 of Canadian international aid Public sector innovation /45 —it happens Jennie-Laure Sully Erika Shaker Will low-level GMO presence Trump will lose America hurt Canada’s exports? /48 Note from the editor /3 Maxwell Cameron Lucy Sharratt Letters /4 IN THE NEWS /12 In Venezuela and Argentina, New from the CCPA /11 Why “sunny ways” aren’t a pink tide recedes /49 always best for Canada–U.S. Asad Ismi Index: The Panama Papers /17 relations The good news page /52 Robert Mason Contributors

Vol. 23, No. 1 Martin Adelaar Robert Mason Centre, a history of the white ISSN 1198-497X recently retired from a is a law student at the poppy for the National Post, Canada Post Publication 40009942 30-year career in the University of British Columbia and has been a film critic for CCPA Monitor is published six times energy management field, with a background in The Leveller newspaper. a year by the Canadian Centre for which included stints at international relations and Jim Stanford Policy Alternatives. Environment Canada and American studies. is a research associate with The opinions expressed in the CCPA Energy, Mines and Resource John Millar the CCPA presently living in Monitor are those of the authors Canada. He was a partner is a former provincial health Sydney, Australia. His book and do not necessarily reflect with Marbek Resource officer (1992–1998) for Economics for Everyone was the views of the CCPA. Consultants, and has worked British Columbia, former co-published in 2015 by Please send feedback to as a consultant on energy vice-president of the the CCPA and Pluto Books, [email protected]. efficiency policy with industry, Canadian Institute for Health and is available at www. government, electricity and Editor: Stuart Trew Information, and professor economicsforeveryone.ca. gas utilities, and international Senior Designer: Tim Scarth emeritus at the University of Layout: Susan Purtell aid agencies. Jennie-Laure Sully British Columbia. Currently, Editorial Board: Peter Bleyer, is a community activist and Frank Bayerl he is the vice-president of Kerri-Anne Finn, Seth Klein, Kate researcher at the Institute is a former translator, a long- the Public Health Association McInturff, Erika Shaker, Emily Turk for Socioeconomic Research time volunteer at the CCPA’s of B.C. and a member of First CCPA National Office: (IRIS) in Montreal. Her national office in Ottawa and Call, the Poverty Reduction 500-251 Bank St., Ottawa, interests include North– a frequent book reviewer for Coalition of B.C. and the ON K2P 1X3 South relations, citizen tel: 613-563-1341 the Monitor. Health Officers’ Council of empowerment, health care fax: 613-233-1458 B.C. [email protected] Trish Hennessy policies and social justice. is Director of the Canadian Jonathan M. Sears www.policyalternatives.ca Jon Weier Twitter: @ccpa Centre for Policy Alternatives’ teaches political science at is a PhD candidate in the facebook.com/policyalternatives Ontario office. Follow her on the University of Winnipeg. history department at Twitter @trishhennessy. His current research project, CCPA BC Office: Western University. His thesis with Bruno Charbonneau, 1400-207 West Hastings St., Jarrah Hodge is a transnational history of Vancouver, BC V6B 1H7 is called “A New Theory of blogs at trekkiefeminist. the First World War work of tel: 604-801-5121 Post-Conflict Government: tumblr.com and is a co-host the YMCA. He is a long-time fax: 604-801-5122 Transforming the State at the of the podcast Women at NDP member and activist. [email protected] Security-Development Nexus Warp. She lives in Ottawa. CCPA Manitoba Office: of Intervention.” Armine Yalnizyan Unit 205-765 Main St., Winnipeg, Asad Ismi is a senior economist with the Lucy Sharratt MB R2W 3N5 writes about international Canadian Centre for Policy tel: 204-927-3200 is Co-ordinator of the affairs for theMonitor , Alternatives. Follow her on fax: 204-927-3201 Canadian Biotechnology specializing in the destructive Twitter @armineyalnizyan. [email protected] Action Network (CBAN)—a impact of U.S. and Canadian project on Tides Canada’s CCPA Nova Scotia Office: imperialism, and resistance to P.O. Box 8355, Halifax, NS B3K 5M1 shared platform. CBAN it, in the Global South. tel: 902-240-0926 is a campaign coalition [email protected] Iglika Ivanova of 17 organizations that CCPA Ontario Office: is a senior economist at the researches, monitors and 10 Dundas Street East, Canadian Centre for Policy raises awareness about P.O. Box 47129, Toronto, Alternatives and author issues relating to genetic ON, M5B 0A1 of Solving B.C.’s Child Care engineering in food and tel: 416-598-5985 Affordability Crisis: Financing farming. [email protected] the $10-a-day Plan. CCPA Saskatchewan Office: Christopher Schultz 2nd Floor, 2138 McIntyre Street Seth Klein is completing his PhD Regina, SK S4P 2R7 is Director of the CCPA- in history from Western tel: 306-924-3372 BC. Follow him on Twitter University, writing on war fax: 306-586-5177 @SethDKlein. and culture. He is the co- Luke Ramsey [email protected] creator and a series editor This month’s cover artist is Chris Lackner for Canada’s First World a co-founder of Islands Fold, is an Ottawa-based political War: A Centennial Series, an artist residency on Pender and pop culture junky whose hosted by ActiveHistory. Island in B.C. His practice writing has appeared in the ca. In addition to several includes collaboration, public Globe and Mail, National academic publications and art projects, illustration and Post, Toronto Star, Ottawa book reviews, Christopher detailed freehand drawing. Citizen and elsewhere. He is a has written a theatre study His book IS? is published contributing editor at Ottawa guide for the National Arts by Drawn and Quarterly. Magazine and the editor of Luke currently lives on the Where Ottawa. Sunshine Coast, B.C. Note from the editor Stuart Trew A place to disagree

N MY TWO years as editor of the Monitor, only a few While Armine urges policy-makers to think beyond readers have cancelled their subscriptions based monetary and fiscal measures to tackle slowth, for- on something we printed. In two cases it related to mer Unifor economist Jim Stanford thinks the con- a column on Israel’s bombardment of Gaza in 2014. cept is not helpful to progressives hoping to create In another the reader could no longer stomach our jobs in new public services and climate-friendly in- “neo-marxist” take on Indigenous sovereignty (what- dustries. The very act of “demanding our right to work, Iever that means). If others left under similar circum- to produce valuable goods and services, to generate stances, annoyed or discouraged about a specific ar- incomes and pay our taxes, fundamentally challeng- ticle, they chose not to let us know about it. es the failures of the current economy…to mobilize I think it says a lot of good things about our maga- resources and meet our human and environmental zine and its readers that more people haven’t escaped needs,” he writes (page 34). this way. I hope—and believe this is true—they recog- A second important debate involves proposals for nize that the Monitor is unique among current affairs a guaranteed annual income, popular again on the publications, at once a source of the latest CCPA re- left as one way to restore dignity to the lives of un- search and a forum for dialogue, and disagreement, employed or precarious workers. Some see a basic on issues of concern to Canadian progressives and income as a way to liberate people from the burden the broader left. This is a conversation, not a sermon. of work, others as a disguised attempt by neoliberal As we explain in our masthead, outside of contri- governments, including in Ontario, to downgrade or butions from the centre’s own researchers and econ- eliminate social services (page 23). omists, the CCPA does not necessarily endorse the Finally, we must talk about the Leap Manifesto—a opinions expressed in its bimonthly magazine. More blueprint for Canada’s just transition off fossil fuels, often than you might expect, I don’t agree with what popularized last year by Naomi Klein and husband Avi an author is arguing. It’s not my role to agree—only to Lewis and forced onto the agenda of the NDP con- make sure the ideas presented in the Monitor are co- vention in Edmonton this April by grassroots activ- gent, interesting, relevant to the centre’s progressive ists. Alberta’s NDP premier, Rachel Notley, dismissed values of social, environmental and economic justice, the Leap as “naïve,” and “tone-deaf” to her province’s and, when possible, timely. concerns about employment. “I don’t see the Leap as I emphasize all this, the word disagreement in par- a manifesto of the left,” wrote Waffle rebel James -Lax ticular, not to fetishize debate in the so-called market- er in Maclean’s, worried it spent too much ink on cli- place of ideas: this is not a space to find impossible mate change and not enough on inequality. compromises between right and left policy options. Simon Enoch, director of the CCPA-Saskatchewan, But the Monitor is meant to be somewhere progres- captured the absurdity of such heated reactions in sives can debate their ideas, compare research and a Facebook post: “We seem to be in a strange place generally hone our understanding of Canada’s politi- where to question climate change is crazy, but to cal economy. It is an active conversation toward our propose any serious action to mitigate said climate shared goal of societal change. change is treated as equally crazy.” As CCPA-BC Di- The issue you are holding is actually full of disa- rector Seth Klein explains on page 30, there are al- greement on topics we will need to come to grips ready dozens of climate-related policy options avail- with in the near term. The first isslowth , CCPA econ- able that would simultaneously create jobs, empow- omist Armine Yalnizyan’s term for slow or low growth er workers and enlarge the public sector. (page 18). The global economy is still slouching along All in all, it is a good thing the NDP has decided to nearly a decade after the last financial crisis. Low oil debate the Leap over the next two years, to create a prices have made production temporarily unprofita- non-doctrinaire space, as the Monitor does every two ble in Alberta, and Newfoundland and Labrador, cre- months, for discordant views on what a progressive ating downward pressure on the loonie. Is a $30-bil- political economy in Canada could look like. If we are lion deficit enough to kick-start activity elsewhere in facing a “New Abnormal,” as Armine proposes, the the economy? Would $100 billion be enough? sooner we can turn disagreement into a promising and popular way forward, the better.

3 our individual framing up in how we understand arises from the students’ of them. So the word ourselves, our politics and solution—nationalizing “left-wing” evokes the hopes for society. Even the mining industry. frame that includes the so, they often come with Handing over complete words “communistic,” baggage—historical roots control of the country’s “anarchistic” and “radical” and real-world applications. major source of wealth to to some, while it evokes A term like “progressive” a corrupt government can the frame that includes can certainly change over hardly result in a more the words “progressive,” time, such that today it equitable society. It would Leers “liberal” and “socialist” probably holds together a almost certainly do just the (which today has its own larger share of “the left” opposite, enhancing both positive and negative than it might have 100 the power and opportunity framing) for others. In years ago, making it a for corruption of an already Words have other words, the framing useful catchall. (You could discredited regime. of an idea can be the probably fill an issue of the meaning Institutions should be most important aspect of Monitor with perspectives n reading the “What’s allowed to do what they do meaningful debate and on the evolution of Left” feature in the best. Let mining companies I argument. progressivism, and maybe January-February 2016 mine and governments we will!) For now, let me issue I was struck with the If we are ever going to govern. Good government just say that I would not power that words can have. return to the days of includes collecting feel comfortable replacing The title is very clever, and respectful conversation royalties and taxes such “left-wing” or “left” with a meaningful metaphor and consideration of that the people get a fair, “progressive” (or vice in my opinion. However, another person’s or equitably distributed versa) where a contributor I believe to describe the organization’s contrary share of the revenues has carefully selected one contents as “left-wing” opinion or perspective generated from their term over the other. For issues is problematic, as it it should start with the resources. In South Africa what it’s worth, Citizens’ perpetuates the divisive words we use. Might it this will require replacing Press defines itself as “a politics and discourse on begin with the Monitor the ANC—complacent and network of non-sectarian the rise in the last couple substituting the word corrupt after 21 years in socialist student, labour of decades or more. “progressive” for “left- power—with a progressive, and community organizers wing” in future articles? I relatively honest political Using terms like “left- based in Canada.” The admit that even using the party. Nationalization is a wing” and “right-wing,” network kindly allows us word “progressive” could tempting but dangerously although perhaps to reprint some of their evoke a negative frame for simplistic answer. Until accurately descriptive, has material in the Monitor (see those who hold staunchly a new government is in become normal for the page 24 for a “What’s Left” conservative and right- place and has proven itself general population, and take on the basic income wing views, but I think it honest and accountable, particularly for journalists guarantee). carries less of that impact it would be utter folly to and academics. What for most people. even consider it. we are really writing or talking about, however, I also admit that I Nationalization not Bill Longstaff, Calgary, Alta. are progressive and present an additional the answer conservative issues, conundrum if I suggest sad Ismi’s article, “South and the politicians who you do likewise with the African students take on Ed’s more represent political parties words “conservative” and A neoliberalism and the ANC” and less right of either persuasion. In “right-wing.” In an era (January-February 2016), eading an otherwise this way we perpetuate of extreme right-wing offers both optimism and compelling essay by and perhaps even worsen views that take on the air R pessimism for South Africa. Ed Finn covering the vast the extreme partisanship of fundamentalism, an Optimism arises from the subject of “Canada After afflicting today’s politics exploration of how we student protests against Harper” (March-April and conversations about might accomplish this the failure of the governing 2016), I sought in vain for political issues. might be in order. African National Congress analysis or even mention I am reminded of George Patti Maurice, Guelph, Ont. (ANC) to keep its promises of Harper’s sabre-rattling Lakoff’s excellent book, (including free education), militaristic policies and Editor’s response: Don’t Think of An Elephant, its rampant corruption, arms budget priorities, his Dear Patti, you raise an in which he suggests the and its failure generally to unconcern for the wretched important, sensitive point words we hear or read create a more equitable of the Earth, Canadian about language. The words are defined relative to society. Pessimism Indigenous suffering, as we use are, as you say, tied 4 well as our bombing of super profits. Meanwhile, (Pembina Institute), but she in a region. Inside or the victims of NATO/U.S. the Munk School of Global did not have full staffing outside federal ridings? interventions from Libya to Affairs at the University at that point. Secondly, Shared responsibilities Pakistan. Canadian parties, of Toronto states that the circumstances of the or independent even before Harper, have they “advance the latest dump were such that the responsibilities as MPs? too often avoided critical thinking on global issues.” alternative could, according Clarity of messaging will parliamentary debate But who is the benefactor to a panel of independent be critical to winning on foreign policy. As a of the school? The oligarch scientists, have led to an Canadians over to a PR constituent of the late Jack of Canadian mining the even greater disaster. Finn system. Layton, I urged the former world over. Finn would makes no mention of that. NDP leader to denounce agree that Mr. Munk is a Carl Hager, Pontiac, Que. To judge a new Harper’s aggressive actions member of our “plutocracy, government’s in Libya, Israel/Palestine the rule of a wealthy environmental decisions and the Middle East, but elite.” We cannot let “the after only a few days in he was reluctant to do so. latest thinking on global office, and use them as Peace, a core value of the issues” guide Canadian an example for possible Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, March/April 2016 NDP and also of Canadian global policies without upcoming inadequacies, public opinion, needed contradiction. Foreign shows a very closed, eloquent expression, but policy will always come ideological mindset that is the peace movement home to roost. counterproductive to really found virtually no support Melvin Zimmerman, trying to make Canada on the floor of House of Toronto, Ont. better in a co-operative Commons. way. I had expected a In my opinion, we will hile I would agree more unbiased, solution- continue to pay dearly W with many of Ed Finn’s focused approach. To undo for this reluctance and visions for “building a a decade of Harper policies disregard of the necessity better country,” I was will take time and patience to struggle for world appalled by some of his and goodwill. A place in my library peace. Moreover, we superficial and actually here is a large stack Maria Raynolds, progressives, including wrong indictments of the of back copies of the Maple Ridge, B.C. T anti-capitalist Canadians, new Liberal government’s Monitor in an obscure place would be foolish to think environment policies. in my home—for future we can fight for a better reference. But the March- For example, Finn states world (or Canada) by trying PR clarity needed April 2016 copy will go that, only a few weeks after to “break the neoliberal wo areas need into my current library in a the election, Trudeau’s grip on our national clarification place of honour. Its fullness environment and climate T ideology,” as Finn writes, regarding proportional of truth-telling is amazing. change minister, Catherine “and to permanently representation as treated Thank you. McKenna, gave “the go- replace plutocracy…with in Murray Dobbin’s article ahead to dump five billion Robert Wild, some form of genuine in the March-April issue. litres of raw sewage into Salt Spring Island, B.C. democracy” at home, while the St. Lawrence River.” First, while his explanation at the same time we say Editor’s response: No, thank He asks: “Is approving the of how the IRV (instant- and do nothing to withdraw you, Robert! We are so massive pollution of one of runoff or transferable vote) from NATO’s imperialist happy you think so. our largest rivers reflective works is clear, he does attacks, and spend billions of a government that is not tackle the operational to buy the latest fighter any more concerned about aspect of the way the planes to defend Canada, the environment than the Trudeau government will but from what enemy? Harper government was?” likely present the option Similarly, we need to Canadians. It’s likely to First of all, the Montreal to make clear that be populist in tone, simple sewage disaster landed on Harper’s adoration of the in messaging. Proponents the new minister’s desk unsustainable extractivist of PR need to simplify five days after she was economy is particularly the presentation of their sworn in on November destructive and poisonous preferred option. 4. She had a chief-of- to Indigenous lands and staff who, by the way, Second, Dobbin needs peoples, both in our North comes from a major to clarify where the Send us your feedback and worldwide, as Canada’s environmental think-tank PR-elected MPs reside and thoughts: monitor@ mining corporations reap policyalternatives.ca 5 The only thing that has changed, after months of handwringing over slow growth, is that the government has recognized it will be difficult to get all Behind the the infrastructure money out the door in this fiscal year (it has been added to the 2017-18 fiscal year—see graph). Canada’s cities will continue to receive just over $2 billion annually in numbers gas taxes, as they have for over a decade. (This source of funding was introduced in 2005 at $2 billion, made ARMINE YALNIZYAN permanent in 2011, and indexed to inflation in 2013.) The new Liberal government will provide an additional What regime $3.4 billion over the next three years for public transit, to be shared by all change means in Canadian municipalities. That trans- lates to just over $1 billion a year if Budget 2016 that money flows equally over the next three years. As a point of reference, Toronto’s replacement of its 70 he first Liberal budget in a dec- ments will occur in the next two years, oldest subway trains (420 cars) will ade is an artful document. In a significant portion of which will start cost $1.5 billion. Tsome ways it does signal a pro- to address the long-overdue housing Similarly, there is just over $1 bil- found regime change; in others it is and clean water needs on First Na- lion a year ($2.3 billion over the next trying to say there’s not much to get tions reserves. But those who thought two years) for all affordable housing fussed about. that infrastructure spending might be needs in the country. About a third of The budget appeals to progres- ramped up at the beginning of the new that amount is, justifiably, allocated to sives by introducing the most impor- government’s term, as a way of goos- First Nations reserves. But it simply tant poverty reduction measures in ing sluggish growth (or laying the isn’t enough. The Alternative Federal 50 years for seniors and families with foundation for new growth), may be Budget estimates the needed budget children, and raising taxes on the top surprised to learn the Liberals have for affordable housing in Canada to be 1%. It also appeals to those who pay not changed their original platform approximately $2 billion a year, not in- the most taxes by providing income pledge to back-end load the money. cluding First Nations investments. tax cuts for the top 30% of earners and calling them the “middle class.” (Those earning above $217,000, the top 1%, fall into a new higher top mar- New Infrastructure 10 ginal tax rate.) Spending ($ Billions) The Liberal budget appeals to those Public transit, green infrastructure who worry about runaway federal and social infrastructure, Budget 2016 spending by increasing, then lowering, measures & future commitment 8 the federal contribution to the economy. By 2020-21, federal spending as a share of GDP will be 15.1%, only slightly 6 more than it was at its lowest point in 65 years (14.2% in 2014-15). And it appeals to debt hawks by providing a fiscal “anchor” in the form of a promise 4 to reduce the federal debt-to-GDP ratio to 30.9% in four years—a level last seen in 1981-82, before the recession that occurred that year. 2 Probably the biggest surprise in Budget 2016 relates to the Infrastruc-

ture Fund. Some important invest- 2016 – 17 2017 – 18 2018 – 19 2019 – 20 2020 – 21 2021 – 22 2022 – 23 2023 – 24 2024 – 25 2025 – 26 0 6 The Liberal government recent- RICARDO ACUÑA ly announced an increase in the cap on immigration to over 300,000 people. Add to that refugees, temporary Alberta doesn’t foreign workers and continued inter- nal migration from rural to urban set- send oil money to tings, and without question there will be more people in Canada’s urban have-nots centres in the coming years. There is a growing urgency to the question of how we plan to house everyone and he vitriol from Alberta’s loud and Contrary to commonly held beliefs, move people around on public transit. angry right started within hours the Alberta government does not ac- A national immigration plan with- Tof the announcement by Mon- tually send money to have-not prov- out a national housing plan and na- treal-area mayors, back in January, inces like Quebec. Nor do any of the tional transit plan simply downloads that they would stand in opposition revenues, collected by the Alber- the costs of nation-building onto the to the proposed Energy East Pipeline. ta government from the oil industry, provinces and municipalities, levels In particular, Wildrose finance crit- make their way to Quebec through of government for which the costs of ic Derek Fildebrandt wasted no time equalization. Nor are Albertans who borrowing are much higher. jumping onto Twitter and asserting: “If have lost their jobs during the eco- The 2016 federal budget is, in this Quebec has such a big problem with nomic downturn currently contribut- way, penny-wise and pound-foolish. our energy industry, it can give back ing anything to equalization. Nor does The federal debt-to-GDP ratio may fall the $73B in Equalization.” any individual Albertan contribute dis- to its lowest level in almost 40 years, This sentiment was quickly ech- proportionately to equalization. but Canadian taxpayers in provinces oed—and continues to be repeated— The equalization program was es- and cities across the land will be sad- by conservative politicians, pundits tablished by the federal government dled with far higher costs. and media outlets across the coun- in 1957 and then enshrined in the Ca- What we will need in the coming try. At the end of February, Wildrose nadian Constitution in 1982. The pro- year is far more discussion about the leader Brian Jean announced his par- gram itself was, and is meant as, rec- appropriate role and size of the feder- ty had pulled together an expert panel ognition that Canada is one country. al government, fiscally and in terms of to study equalization and author a re- As such, all Canadians should have achieving widely shared policy goals. port on it for the provincial legislature. access to comparable levels of servic- One uncomfortable aspect of this will The panel is headed by Frank At- es and infrastructure—regardless of be the revenue conversation. kins, a University of Calgary profes- whether they happen to live in a rich Budget 2016 promises a welcome sor and researcher at the ultra-con- province or a poor one. review of the federal tax system. In servative Frontier Centre for Public The federal government does this cities like Toronto, residents are fac- Policy. The panel also includes staff- by calculating the average reve- ing new conversations as we acknowl- ers from like-minded think-tanks: the nue-generating capacity among the 10 edge that our budgets have sched- Atlantic Institute for Market Studies Canadian provinces, and then giving uled $22 billion for projects we say we and the Fraser Institute. One of the the provinces that fall shy of the line want but for which we have no fund- panel’s first acts was convincing its enough money to bring them up to the ing. Where will the revenues come right-wing friends at Postmedia to average. The calculation is based on from? Or should we abandon our as- run an op-ed, penned by Atkins, high- the revenues you would receive if you pirations? lighting the “problems” with equali- charged the average tax rate of all the One thing is certain: there is no way zation—which was published in the provinces combined—so a particular we can tackle issues like population Edmonton Journal on the same day province’s actual tax rate doesn’t re- aging and climate change without a (February 18) that Postmedia papers ally impact how much that province bigger federal role. That may be true featured articles about the creation receives. of the real deficit burden we risk pass- of the panel. It also doesn’t matter how cheap ing to our children—the infrastructure The problem with all this noise from child care or tuition is in your province, deficit, which defines our current and the right is that it appears to be less or how much your province spends on future quality of life, and our capacity about highlighting the genuine issues health care. The only thing that mat- for growth. and challenges that currently exist ters is what capacity your province Without question, the first Liberal with equalization, and more about ex- has for generating revenue. Because budget represents regime change. But ploiting generally flawed assumptions it’s based on revenue rather than exit is only the first Liberal budget, and about how equalization works, all for penditures, the federal government the first cut at what regime change the sake of fuelling anger and resent- puts no strings on what the provinc- will ultimately mean. ment toward Quebec and the federal es receiving equalization can or can’t

ARMINE YALNIZYAN IS A SENIOR ECONOMIST WITH THE government. do with the money they receive. CCPA. FOLLOW HER ON TWITTER @ARMINEYALNIZYAN.

7 The most important thing to re- ERIKA SHAKER member in all of this is that the federal government pays for equalization, and it does it out of the same The fickle mantle general revenue pool used to fund all of its programs and services. In other of innovation words, every Canadian that pays federal taxes contributes to equalization payments on the exact same basis. A nnovation™ has become both a re- transportation in rural areas. rich person in Quebec or New Brun- branding exercise and an apology for “We [that’s us: the public] own the swick will contribute more to equal- Ia host of regressive corporate prac- biggest retail network in the country. ization than a less wealthy person in tices that look suspiciously like busi- What will we do with it?” asks CUPW. Alberta or Saskatchewan. And be- ness as usual. Compare that to Uber’s unspoken cause there are more Ontarians pay- Uber’s business model, for example, motto (and, okay, I’m paraphrasing): ing federal taxes than Albertans, more involves a precarious, low-paid, unpro- “there’s an increasingly desperate dollars for equalization actually come tected workforce, a cheeky disregard workforce and a just-in-time mental- from Ontario than Alberta. (read: utter lack of respect) for juris- ity out there; how can we profit from Of course, none of these nuances dictional laws or regulations, and an it with virtual impunity?” seem to make their way into the argu- almost unlimited desire for self-pro- In other words, when a union demon- ments put forth by Fildebrandt, Jean, motion through money and personal strates some creative thinking and a Atkins or their friends in the corpo- or political connections. revamped business model for exist- rate media and conservative think- Now, throw in a few choice phras- ing, publicly owned infrastructure, it’s tanks. What they all do seem to sug- es (just-in-time, on-demand, custom- criticized for being unrealistic or act- gest is that, because Alberta does ized) and an app…. Boom! Innovation. ing only in its own self-interest (so that not receive equalization payments, But why is it that when a public- workers can keep their “sweet jobs”). we should somehow be able to dic- ly owned enterprise (or its workers) But when a private company “brave- tate public policy choices to demo- starts talking about “shaking up” an ly” disregards basic health and safety cratically elected governments in oth- older business model, rather than be- regulations—including paying worker provinces; that Montreal should be ing lauded for their innovative think- ers a minimum wage (after all, Uber forced to approve a pipeline; and/or ing, they are accused of overreaching vehemently denies it even has em- that Nova Scotia should reverse its or abandoning their mandate, or of de- ployees or assets)—or even a commit- ban on fracking—simply because Al- laying the inevitable march toward the ment to basic human rights, it’s gift- berta has money and we say so. future (read: privatization)? ed with a series of fawning articles in Given how these same right-wing- That’s exactly what happened when, various mainstream publications tout- ers react when folks in other provinc- earlier this month, the Canadian Un- ing a swashbuckling innovative spirit. es try to tell us what to do, you would ion of Postal Workers (CUPW), in con- Yippee-ki-yay, right? think they would be less eager to try to junction with the Leap Manifesto, re- To recap: CUPW thinks big and is told impose their policy choices on others. leased a comprehensive proposal for a to remember its place, ironically after There is no question there are things green postal service that re-envisions being repeatedly told that many of the that can and should be changed about post offices as community hubs that services its members provide are all but how equalization currently works. Ul- encourage economic development. obsolete. Uber embodies nostalgia for timately, however, those changes are The wide-ranging proposal would a leaner, meaner, Dickensian economy, best made by the provinces working rework existing infrastructure to pro- throws in an app and…voilà! The future! together with the federal government mote sustainable activities for both Uber isn’t groundbreaking. We may to ensure the spirit of the program re- the postal service and the communi- fetishize its techno-private-sector mains intact and that all provinces are ties it serves: postal banking (vital for swagger, but in reality it is just anoth- happy with the outcome. communities traditionally underserved er example of unchecked capitalism— Screaming and yelling about Que- by conventional banks), enhancement with better accessories. Call it app-ital- bec, while purposefully misrepre- of door-to-door service, charging sta- ism. Meanwhile, initiatives that are senting a program that has served our tions for electric vehicles, and helping predicated on building a sustainable country well for over 50 years, will ac- deliver services to an aging population. workforce, enhancing communities complish none of that. Ambitious? Absolutely. But also, in and improving our quality of life are de-

RICARDO ACUÑA IS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE many cases, tried and tested. A num- rided as pie-in-the-sky or self-serving. PARKLAND INSTITUTE, A NON-PARTISAN PUBLIC ber of countries already have post- Apparently, when it comes to inno- POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE HOUSED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA. THIS COLUMN RAN IN al banking, Norway’s postal workers vation, irony isn’t dead. It’s just been EDMONTON’S VUE WEEKLY MAGAZINE ON MARCH drive electric vehicles, Japan’s offer taken for a ride. 2. THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THE AUTHOR’S AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THOSE elder assistance, those in France and ERIKA SHAKER IS DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION AND OF THE PARKLAND INSTITUTE. Australia deliver food, and Switzer- OUTREACH AT THE CCPA. FOLLOW ERIKA ON TWITTER @ land’s postal services include public ERIKASHAKER. 8 MAXWELL A. CAMERON children and submissive younger wife. Authoritarian attitudes are good predictors of support for his candidacy. Trump’s fall, A key feature of the authoritarian personality is intolerance of ambiguity. foretold Intolerance of ambiguity encourages “truthiness”—the view that gut feeling and instinct matter more than he rise of “The Donald” was nev- Voting in a system corrupted by facts or evidence. Trump’s support for er proof that low-road, divisive, money, in which parties are mere PR the idea of a wall across the full length Tdog-whistle, race-to-the-rhetor- agencies for candidates and the me- of the U.S.-Mexico border is just one ical-bottom, vulgar and intolerant be- dia is dominated by corporate inter- example. When confronted with real havior always pays in politics. Some- ests, is less about choosing represent- objections, he responds with charac- times it does, but not always. atives and influencing policy, and more teristic truthiness: “The wall just got In the 2015 Canadian election, for- about vicarious identification with win- 10 feet taller!” mer prime minister Harper’s appar- ners and losers. The game is rigged— The Donald’s immense net worth is, ent lack of compassion for Syrian ref- everybody knows, as Leonard Cohen perversely, seen as a political asset by ugees, his opposition to the niqab in put it—but we still want to see the out- his supporters; they presume he can- citizenship ceremonies, his advocacy come of the great spectacle, the virtu- not be corrupted by special interests. of stripping citizenship from dual na- al Colosseum. In this, the media have Such naivety is shared by every victim tionals, and the creation of a barbar- been a great enabler, giving Trump bil- of the con artist. Trump’s rise heralds ic practices snitch line compelled Ca- lions of dollars of publicity for free. the advent of politics not as a market nadians to ask: What kind of country Trump has good intuitions for what but as a speculative bubble. are we? moves his base. Research has shown This is a game for which he—as That same kind of question will spell that one of the best predictors of classic rent-seeker and speculator—is Trump’s demise. conservatism is disgust reactivity. uniquely suited. His ruthless egocen- Trump’s explosion onto the scene Through allusions to menstruation, trism has taken him far in business, defied pundits and the GOP estab- urination, perspiration and profanity, but it won’t work in politics. lishment. By attacking China, Mexico, he taps into disgust, which is closely What The Donald doesn’t get, be- trade deals, terrorists, Muslims and associated with a conservative con- cause he is a poster-child for nar- immigrants, Trump articulates widely cern for purity and fear of pollution. cissism, is the impact of his words felt grievances. Many U.S. voters have Equally visceral is the ridicule he and actions on others. Trapped in a come to doubt whether they have any heaps on his adversaries: they have low-empathy personality, he cannot influence over politics. low-energy personalities or ugly understand how other people might As a matter of fact, they’re right to wives. Even a journalist’s handicap is feel, certainly not how they might be wonder: studies show average citi- fair game for his mockery. hurt by his words. He assumes he can zens have little influence compared to Trump evokes the authority of the charm his way back into the affections those with great wealth and organiza- father figure, complete with dutiful of anyone he has offended. He thinks tion. For those who feel left behind by a cosmopolitan and politically correct world, Trump’s language is refreshingly transgressive, vulgar, emotive and, above all, entertaining. He embodies the merger of politics and entertainment—the primary election has become a reality-show contest. Political scientists often struggle to understand why people vote. Is it even rational given the marginal impact of a single ballot? A better question would be: Why do we watch reality TV? Now- adays, there is not a whole lot of difference.

Trump at CPAC 2011 in Washington, D.C. GAGE SKIDMORE 9 the people he has offended love him, If he is not nominated, the narcissis- A draft of the Transportation Safe- or should. They don’t. tic rage will be a spectacle in itself. Ei- ty Board (TSB) report, obtained by Ra- Like a virus preying on a sick organ- ther way, a colossal fall is in the mak- dio-Canada, stated that the existence ism, Trump will run his course or tear ing. For those who think civility in pol- of a single operator was “a cause and apart the Republican Party. His defeat itics is merely the whiny complaint of contributing factor” to the accident. in Wisconsin makes a contested con- the pietist, prepare to watch the very In the report’s final version this cause vention more likely. Should he emerge real effects of politics stripped of all was curiously demoted to “findings as as the eventual nominee, an unprece- ethical restraints. to risk.” There is also evidence that the

dented Republican defeat in the presi- MAXWELL A. CAMERON IS DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRE regulatory regime has not changed dential elections will surely follow. FOR THE STUDY OF DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS, fundamentally since the disaster. WHICH PROVIDES TRAINING FOR FUTURE POLITICIANS, AND A RESEARCH ASSOCIATE WITH THE B.C. OFFICE OF For example, the industry contin- THE CANADIAN CENTRE FOR POLICY ALTERNATIVES. ues its kneejerk defence of the Safety Management Systems (SMS) regime. This system was designed to give the companies greater responsibility for BRUCE CAMPBELL ensuring the safety of their operations. However, in an environment of regulatory capture, a SMS regime be- Little progress comes highly problematic. The industry claims SMS is an ef- on rail safety fective additional line of defence. But that’s only true if government al- locates sufficient resources, includ- ransport Minister Marc Garneau Most importantly, why were these ing on-site inspectors, for traditional said recently that rail safety is his trains allowed to transport their mas- oversight. Failing that, companies are Tnumber one priority. The feder- sive oil cargo with only one crew mem- in practice left to regulate themselves. al budget pledged an extra $143 mil- ber? Immediately after the accident, The sad history of MMA’s totally defec- lion over three years to, among other Transport Canada reversed itself, issu- tive Safety Management System, and things, “support new and expanded ac- ing an emergency directive requiring the failure of Transport Canada to do tivities to strengthen oversight and en- a minimum of two operators for trains anything about it, is a case in point. forcement” of rail safety. carrying dangerous goods—an order Several reports, including from the While this is a laudable step, funda- which was subsequently entrenched auditor general, have pointed out that mental problems with the rail regu- in the Canadian rail operating rules. SMS “contained serious flaws.” Safety latory regime remain, some of which Omitted from this narrative is how, Management Systems remain on the are mentioned in a letter to the minis- several years earlier, the Railway As- Transportation Safety Board’s watch ter this April from Toronto Mayor John sociation of Canada redrafted the rail list as “among those issues posing Tory and 17 counsellors. Not included, operating rules, notably introducing the greatest risk to Canada’s trans- however, is the issue of regulatory cap- General Rule M, which enabled com- portation system.” A vague TSB letter ture, which gained widespread atten- panies to implement single-person stating there has been “satisfactory in- tion during the U.S. subprime mort- train operations for freight trains, un- tent” to fix it provides little comfort. gage crisis. der certain conditions, without need- Furthermore, despite repeated re- It is generally accepted that a ma- ing a formal ministerial exemption. quests from many municipalities, jor cause of the financial crisis was Transport Canada approved this rule companies are still resisting making that regulators were in the pocket of modification, over the objections of public their safety reports, risk as- a regulation-averse industry. Capture the unions, without ensuring an equiv- sessments and real-time information exists where regulation is systemati- alent level of safety. about their dangerous goods cargo. cally directed to benefit the private in- Subsequently, the RAC lobbied hard The people of Lac-Mégantic were terest of the regulated industry at the on behalf of Montreal, Maine & Atlan- victims of a regulatory regime that expense of the public interest. tic Railway—the first company to take failed catastrophically. They should Characteristically, industry is able advantage of the rule change; one not be victimized again by a system to shape the regulations governing with a poor safety record—to enable it that continues to obscure the truth its operations. It regularly blocks or to operate oil trains on its Lac-Mégan- about what happened and who was delays new regulations, and seeks tic line with a single operator. Senior responsible—essential to preventing to remove or dilute existing regula- Transport Canada officials approved it from happening again.

tions deemed to be adversely affect- the MMA request despite opposition BRUCE CAMPBELL IS A VISITING FELLOW AT THE ing profits. There is considerable evi- from within Transport Canada itself, UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA FACULTY OF LAW, ON LEAVE FROM THE CANADIAN CENTRE FOR POLICY dence that regulatory capture of the and contrary to the advice of its own ALTERNATIVES. HE RECEIVED THE 2015 LAW rail regulatory regime played a role in National Research Council–commis- FOUNDATION OF ONTARIO COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP the 2013 Lac-Mégantic rail disaster. sioned study. IN JUSTICE FELLOWSHIP. 10 has released three more CWA/SCA Canada, the Canadian consular service, reports in its series on the University of Ottawa’s charts the development, TPP, What’s the Big Deal? School of Epidemiology, over the past decade, of Unpacking the Trans-Pacific Public Health and an insidious doctrine that Partnership. The first,Bait- Preventive Medicine, limits the responsibility and-Switch by Jacqueline and The School of of the federal government Wilson, finds that, despite International Development for overseas Canadians New from official assurances to the Studies. Videos of all and forces many people to contrary, the environmental the presentations can seek redress through the the CCPA protections afforded by be viewed at www. courts. Canadians Abroad: the 12-country free trade policyalternatives.ca/big- A Policy and Legislative deal are weak and generally deal. Agenda, co-published by unenforceable whereas the CCPA and the Rideau AFB helps Canada corporate protections Institute, analyses 14 major move on are strong and easy to CCPA, Oxfam Canada issues associated with access for investors. Then, target economic the provision of consular e shouldn’t let the in The TPP and Cultural inequality assistance to Canadians “Widea of federal deficits, Diversity, Alexandre L. travelling and residing even relatively large ones, Maltais, international aking Women Count: abroad. Pardy details a scare us off making needed trade specialist at Quebec- M The Unequal Economics set of recommendations investments in Canada,” based IREC, questions why of Women’s Work, a joint to improve the assistance said CCPA economist Canada agreed to weaker report by Kate McInturff Canada provides and David Macdonald at the protections for culture and (CCPA) and Brittany the international legal launch, in March, of the cultural industries in the Lambert (Oxfam Canada), environment generally for 2016 Alternative Federal deal than in other trade looks at how women in consular services. Budget. This year’s AFB, treaties. His study finds Canada and around the titled Time to Move On, that the TPP enshrines a world are affected by rising proves we can fight climate neoliberal interpretation inequality, including the Pushing reset on change and create jobs of culture at odds with burden of unpaid work, Prairie funding at the same time, reduce Canadian and international the undervaluing of work poverty and grow the standards for the promotion in predominantly female y 2013, the federal economy responsibly, of cultural diversity. Finally, fields, and the unspoken B Conservative and that there is more Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood social norms that see government had cut overall than enough fiscal room examines the likely effect men offered higher wages federal taxes and other to ensure everyone has a of the TPP on Canada’s and rates of promotion revenues to the lowest better future. “What we labour force in his report, than women. The report, rate seen in more than need now is growth that Migrant Workers and the released on International 70 years. Reversing the raises everyone’s standard Trans-Pacific Partnership. Women’s Day (March 8) at a Damage: How the Federal of living, rather than more Forthcoming reports in the Hill Times–sponsored event Liberals Can Restore Hope savings for the wealthy series will cover investor in Ottawa, offers a number on the Prairies, by CCPA- few,” said Kate McInturff, rights (by Gus Van Harten, of solutions to help make MB researcher Lynne CCPA senior researcher, at Osgoode Hall Law School), women count, including a Fernandez, details the the press launch. The AFB trade and tariffs (byJohn shift toward policies that impact of these cuts in plan would lift 1.1 million Jacobs, Carleton University) support better wages and the Prairies, and makes people out of poverty, and labour rights (by access to employment for recommendations on how reduce income inequality, Angella MacEwan, CLC, and women, better financial funding and programs can boost economic growth Laura Macdonald, Carleton support of public services be restored. and, at its peak, result in University). On April 1, (like health and child care) 520,000 new jobs, bringing Sinclair participated in a to reduce the care burden Canada’s unemployment one-day conference on the on women, and a greater rate to 6.0%. TPP in Ottawa alongside government focus on Dr. Joseph Stiglitz, Meghan prioritizing women’s rights. Sali (OpenMedia.ca), Pia TPP fails the Eberhardt (Corporate For more reports, environment, Europe Observatory), Van Travel warning commentary and culture, workers Harten and others. The infographics from the event, titled Making Sense new report by Gar Pardy, CCPA’s national and ince the last issue of of the TPP, was hosted by A former ambassador provincial offices, visit S the Monitor, the CCPA the Trade Justice Network, and long-time head of the www.policyalternatives.ca. 11 In the news

Exceptional(ist) company: Prime Minister ROB MASON Trudeau dines with former and current U.S. secretaries of state Colin Powell (left), John Kerry and Henry Kissinger on March 10. The chilling effects of UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT “sunny” diplomacy with the United States

rime Minister Justin Trudeau Canada’s policy options in the future. Secondly, like many prime minis- brought his “sunny ways” to In other words, a warmer relationship ters before him, Trudeau has already PWashington this March in a main the short term may have a chilling faced pressure to satisfy or even pre- jor charm offensive that aimed to rein- effect on the long-term exercise of Ca- empt U.S. security concerns in order vigorate Canada’s most important bi- nadian sovereignty. to maintain an open border for trade. lateral relationship. Although histor- Firstly, Obama is currently try- This growing imperative in Canadi- ically the two nations have gone so ing to persuade Canada to ratify the an public policy stems from Canada’s far as to spill blood in order to remain Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agree- economic dependence on the United distinct from one another, according ment (TPP), which would further ex- States. It threatens to negatively im- to U.S. President Barack Obama they tend the power of multinational cor- pact the Liberal government’s review are now not only partners, but “more porations to sue governments, in- of national security legislation (Bill closely aligned than ever.” cluding Canada, when they enact C-51), as well as its approach to refu- The ideological overlap and per- unfavourable (for business) laws or gee and immigration policies. sonal rapport between Trudeau and regulations. If the TPP is ratified, the Such disturbing possibilities were Obama undoubtedly present oppor- number of multi-million-dollar law- predicted and fiercely resisted a gen- tunities for progress on a range of is- suits Canada already faces annually eration ago by Pierre Trudeau’s gov- sues relating to trade, security and under the North American Free Trade ernment. In 1972, Canada’s Depart- the environment. However, the dan- Agreement (NAFTA) is bound to pro- ment of External Affairs took the posi- ger for Canada is that this temporary liferate, putting a chilling effect on -ef tion that further economic and cultur- personal alignment will take us even forts to regulate for environmental al integration with the United States further down the path toward per- protection, public health or higher la- should be avoided, as it would inevita- manent economic and security inte- bour standards at the federal and pro- bly lead to greater integration of oth- gration, which would ultimately limit vincial levels. er sorts, including political, and was 12 thus a threat to Canadian sovereign- increasingly viewed as a component take on a greater economic presence ty. With these concerns in mind, the of fair and equitable treatment. in all TPP countries, dramatically lim- elder Trudeau oversaw the establish- Two current cases demonstrate the iting the scope of Canadian political ment of the Foreign Investment Re- problem with this unnecessarily ex- decision-making. Just as was predict- view Agency, which sought to pro- pansive approach to protecting for- ed more than 40 years ago, economic tect Canada from domination by foreign investors. In the United States, integration will have led to increasing eign corporations. TransCanada is currently using NAF- levels of political integration, reducing By 1994, these concerns were re- TA’s ISDS process to sue the U.S. gov- the ability of the Canadian public to soundingly rejected in NAFTA. The ernment over its rejection of the Key- decide, through our democratic pro- binding multilateral treaty phased out stone XL pipeline. In Canada, Lone cesses, the scope of our own environ- tariffs on Canada–Mexico trade (Can- Pine Resources is challenging Que- mental, public health and labour pro- ada–U.S. tariffs had been almost en- bec’s decision to place a moratorium tections. tirely eliminated by the earlier bilat- on fracking pending an environmen- All of this is to say that a close re- eral free trade agreement), but more tal impact assessment. In both cas- lationship between Trudeau and Oba- importantly addressed so-called reg- es, foreign corporations are seeking ma will have a lasting cost to Canadi- ulatory barriers to trade throughout to tie the hands of governments as an sovereignty if it leads to ratification North America, theoretically produc- they attempt to set a high bar for envi- of the TPP. ing aggregate economic gains for the ronmental stewardship. Whether suc- continent as a whole by increasing cessful or not, even the potential loss competition and allowing for the “cre- of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dol- The North American ative destruction” of less competitive lars ($15 billion in the Keystone case) security-trade nexus businesses and industries. Though will undoubtedly weigh heavily on fu- Unfortunately, threats to Canadian trade flows increased substantial- ture governments contemplating tak- sovereignty are not limited to this one ly, the economic returns were not re- ing bold action on the environment. decision and may in fact permeate a flected in real wage growth, particular- With the benefit of hindsight, the broad range of issues facing the new ly in the manufacturing sector, which drafters of the TPP could have craft- Liberal government. Most notably, re- has slowed nearly to the point of stag- ed much narrower language to protect cent history strongly suggests that nation in the decades since NAFTA foreign investors. Instead, they have further economic integration with the came into force. essentially replicated and extended United States will drive political inte- this needlessly troubling component gration in the context of national se- of NAFTA to corporations in each of curity and immigration policies. The TPP and the 12 states that are parties to the Ultimately, this trend also stems the expansion of agreement. Accession to the treaty is from NAFTA. By further integrating corporate rights automatically open to all members of the North American market, creat- Probably the most troubling effect APEC, as well as to other countries by ing the assumption of minimal trade of NAFTA on Canadian sovereign- agreement, which makes the scope for barriers, NAFTA has altered the foun- ty has been the increased standing ISDS challenges potentially limitless. dations upon which many success- that foreign corporations achieved The TPP, like a pending free trade ful businesses are built, and created through Chapter 11 (Investment) and deal with the European Union (CETA), an imperative for Canada to maintain the agreement’s investor–state dis- also obligates Canada to extend the the openness of our southern border. pute settlement (ISDS) process. The term of patent protections on brand Reducing the economic benefits of investment chapter precludes NAFTA name drugs by up to two years. This an open border would jeopardize this governments from putting conditions will ultimately increase health care foundation, and therefore carry heavy on inward investment (e.g., the use of costs domestically and in the devel- economic costs, rendering NAFTA minimum amounts of domestic con- oping world, and will do so at a time binding both legally and practically. tent or services, or other performance when drug prices are already dispro- However, the economic costs of any requirements designed to improve the portionately high in Canada. For phar- increased border controls would not be domestic economy). At the same time, maceutical companies, many of them evenly distributed across North Ameri- the ISDS process allows foreign inves- based in the U.S., this means more ca: integration through NAFTA has cre- tors and corporations to challenge money, which theoretically could pro- ated a disproportionately strong incen- new government laws or regulations vide an incentive for them to innovate. tive for Canada to keep the border as as being tantamount to expropria- However, these largely corporate ben- open for trade as possible. As of 2014, tion and/or in breach of guaranteed efits would be gifted at great cost to total trade between the two neigh- “minimum standards of treatment.” Canada’s publicly funded health care bouring countries amounted to $751 These clauses have been interpreted system. billion, which represented 42% of Can- so broadly by arbitration panels estab- If Canada ratifies the TPP, it will be ada’s GDP, but a mere 4% of the U.S. lished under NAFTA and other inter- at once a stunning rejection as well economy. This disparity explains why national investment agreements that as a vindication of Canada’s concerns the border is a much more significant the expectations of corporations are in the 1970s. Multinational capital will 13 consideration in Canadian political de- porters.” The report went on to criti- of our GDP dependent on access to cisions than it is in the United States. cise Canada for neglecting to pre- the U.S. market, it is imperative that Since the terrorist attacks of Sep- vent Ahmed Ressam, the “millennium our shared border be kept open.” He tember 11, 2001, the threat of border bomber,” from remaining in Montreal went on to expressly acknowledge restrictions has loomed large over se- and obtaining a Canadian passport af- that “concern for public security is… curity and immigration policy chang- ter being denied asylum. These criti- intrinsically linked with our concern es in Canada. At times, the threat was cisms echoed an earlier report by the for economic security.” made clear by the United States. In U.S. Federal Research Division that In other words, the sovereignty con- 2006, in the midst of the scandal sur- linked Canada’s refugee and asylum cerns of the 1970s were realized, as rounding the extraordinary rendition policies to its status as a nation hos- close economic integration with the and torture of Canadian-Syrian dual pitable to terrorism. United States created an imperative citizen Maher Arar, the U.S. State De- In the face of this rhetoric, satisfy- for other types of integration, particu- partment characterized international ing and even pre-empting U.S. secu- larly in the realm of national security, outrage as a mere distraction from the rity concerns became crucial for the in order to maintain existing econom- “greater concern for the United States: Canadian government. John Man- ic benefits. the presence in Canada of numerous ley, then deputy prime minister, as- This imperative to pre-empt securi- suspected terrorists and terrorist sup- serted in 2002 that “with almost half ty concerns manifested itself in many

1999 Canada and the U.S. confirm the Shared Border Accord’s guiding principles for border KEY DATES IN CANADA– co-operation as follows: 1) “Streamline, harmo- U.S. INTEGRATION nize and collaborate on border policies and management”; 2) “Expand co-operation to increase ef- ficiencies in customs, immigration, law enforcement and environmental protection at and beyond the border” (emphasis added); and 3) “Collaborate on common threats from outside Canada and the 1994 United States.” These tasks are to NAFTA establishes a con- be carried out by a new Canada-U.S. tinental free trade zone, eliminating 2001 Partnership Forum, with a role for the Immediately following the terrorist most tariffs while committing Canada, provinces, border communities and attacks of September 11, and fuelled by fears of Mexico and the United States to ongo- private stakeholders. U.S. border closures, the Liberal government passing working group discussions on how es controversial new anti-terrorism legislation sim- to manage integration. ilar to the USA PATRIOT Act. In December, Canada and the U.S. sign the Smart Border Declaration and 30-point action plan charting a common understanding of what constitutes a threat to national 1995 security and how to address those threats. The plan President Clinton and Prime Minister Chrétien sign the involves high-technology border infrastructure, the Canada–U.S. Accord on our Shared Border, which aims to promote trade, broad sharing of personal information on travellers facilitate the legitimate movement of people (while “providing en- to both countries, the development of “compatible hanced protection against drugs, smuggling, and the illegal and irreg- immigration databases,” etc. ular movement of people”), and reduce costs to government.

FRED CHARTRAND (CANADIAN PRESS) ways. In 2002, Canada and the United Believing this to be merely a first prosperity.” The unspoken cost was States began implementing elements step, Obama and former prime min- an even greater erosion of privacy and of the Smart Border Declaration and ister Stephen Harper announced, mobility rights. Action Plan, which included sharing in 2011, that Canada and the United passenger information on flights be- States intended to “pursue a perime- tween or through each country, joint ter approach to security, working to- Why history is training and operations of border gether within, at, and away from the repeating itself and national security enforcement borders of our two countries.” The Trudeau and Obama’s recent agree- teams (with bases in both countries), joint statement emphasized at length ment to share even more information and immigration information sharing the importance of NAFTA in increas- on border-crossers fits easily with- through the development of compat- ing trade and investment flows be- in this recent history and can hard- ible databases. Together, these meas- tween the two countries. ly be seen as a major departure from ures put the personal information of The overarching purpose of this the approach of previous Canadian Canadian residents in the hands of a perimeter approach, which would in- governments. The Beyond the Bor- foreign government on an unprece- clude an integrated entry-exit system, der Action Plan has already resulted dented, ongoing basis. was purportedly to “support econom- in the automatic sharing of all infor- ic competitiveness, job creation, and mation relating to the identity of ref-

2011 President Obama and Prime Minister Harp- er issue a joint declaration called Beyond the Border: A Shared Vision for Perimeter Security, which largely 2005 adopts the shelved SPP plans, but with an even more mil- U.S. and Mexican presidents itaristic flavour implied by the termperimeter . “Through Bush and Fox and Prime Minister Martin the perimeter approach, Canada and the U.S. commit- sign the Security and Prosperity Partner- ted to working together at, and beyond the border, to ship (SPP), an attempt to expand the “smart enhance our security and accelerate the legitimate flow border” concept to the whole continent. In of people, goods and services,” 2006, a trilateral big business committee said a 2012-13 Department 2016 is incorporated into the inter-government of Public Safety performance Canada and the U.S. dispense with the discussions and eventually tasked with pri- report. name “Beyond the Border” but continue the gener- oritizing efforts for security and regulatory al program. “Both countries will fully implement a harmonization. The SPP is dropped in 2008 system to exchange basic biographic entry informa- 2016 by incoming president Obama. tion at the land border. This builds on the process already in place for third-country nationals, and al- 2007 lows Canada and the U.S. to enhance border security Canada’s Passenger Protect pro- in an effective and responsible way,” says a March 10 gram (“no fly” list) comes into effect. While joint fact sheet. A new Canada–U.S. group is “tasked billed as a Canadian response to U.S. pressure to generate and implement regulatory co-operation for more information on passengers flying to initiatives between the two countries on an ongoing or over North America, it soon becomes clear basis, and for the first time this will include senior Canadian residents are being unfairly harassed officials of regulatory departments.” A Canada-U.S. by airport officials or blocked from flying by Redress Working Group is also struck to sort out the Canadian airlines based on their inclusion on growing number of complaints against both coun- the lengthy U.S. “no fly” list. tries’ “no fly” lists.

TOM HANSON (CANADIAN PRESS) U.S. GOVERNMENT ugee claimants as well as informa- enced past Canadian governments, 2006 agreement. Trudeau and Obama tion related to any decision to grant, particularly in the wake of terrorist at- claim to be on track toward resolving deny or terminate their refugee status. tacks. Trudeau seemed to acknowl- the issue, but they have not yet offered The fact that Canada has chosen the edged this in Washington when he de- any details. As the world’s largest net United States as its exclusive partner fined one of his primary goals of his trader of forest products, Canada has in this program is no doubt influenced meeting with Obama as “making sure a disproportionate interest in creating by the importance Canada places on there is a smooth flow of goods and market certainty. This can easily lead the border. people across our shared border that to a lopsided negotiation in which the After 9/11, Canada undertook isn’t putting our security at risk.” U.S. secures concessions from Cana- changes in immigration law and made It was straight out of Manley’s play- da unrelated to forestry. enormous steps toward security inte- book from his days in government, gration with the United States to reas- and mirrored his request of the Lib- sure its neighbour about the security erals now that he helms the power- Friends without of the shared border. While this may ful Business Council of Canada. “Giv- benefits? have temporarily satisfied the U.S. ad- en the international security envi- Following the D.C. trip, media and polit- ministration, history appears to be re- ronment, governments are natural- ical commentators seemed convinced peating itself. Just as the explicit and ly concerned about nefarious actors that a new era in U.S.–Canada relations implicit threat of border controls af- using international trade and trav- had begun, and that it could only be ter 9/11 led Canada down a path of di- el networks to advance their objec- beneficial for Canada. Just getting -Ca minished rights, particularly in terms tives,” Manley wrote in an Ipolitics.ca nadian issues on the agenda is a coup, of privacy, the 2015 terrorist attacks in column in February. He called for the said Manley in one interview, while the Paris may already be leading the Liber- conclusion of a preclearance agree- television news broadcasted clips of al government to backtrack on nation- ment for Canadian factories and the Mulroney and Reagan singing “When al security and refugee policy changes. expansion of a bilateral “trusted trav- Irish Eyes are Smiling,” as if their still As much as Obama appears to be eller program” for business travellers contested trade agreement represent- satisfied with Trudeau’s approach to at the border. “Canada and the Unit- ed the pinnacle of the bilateral relation- Canadian security, the U.S. Senate has ed States should develop a protocol ship. The fact is good relations can lead already used the implicit threat of bor- for the sharing of key data, including to bad policy no matter which party der restrictions to put pressure on Ca- our respective ‘no-fly lists’,” he added. forms government. nadian decision-makers. U.S. pressure on Canada extends be- The final months of the Obama ad- In February, a U.S. Senate Home- yond the refugee, border security and ministration present opportunities for land Security Committee held a meet- TPP fronts. Trudeau’s promised review Canada, but also serious long-term ing titled “Canada’s Fast-Track Refugee of the 2015 Anti-Terrorism Act (C-51) risks. Ratifying the TPP would certain- Plan: Unanswered Questions and Im- could be influenced by pressure from ly please the current U.S. administra- plications for U.S. National Security,” the United States to retain problemat- tion, but also permanently undermine in which Chairman Ron Johnson, a Re- ic provisions, such as increased shar- the ability of future Canadian govern- publican from Wisconsin, expressed ing of sensitive personal information ments to contain the cost of drugs, or concern over “the porous nature of the between government agencies, and set higher environmental, health and U.S.-Canada border” and the pace of the new right of the Canadian Secu- safety standards. The government has refugee resettlement under the new rity Intelligence Service (CSIS) to dis- promised to review recent national se- Liberal government. This pressure is rupt what it believes to be potential curity legislation in order to safeguard likely to continue on a range of issues, threats to national security. Under the security and civil liberties of Ca- particularly if Obama is succeeded by C-51, personal information held by 17 nadians, and ensure greater account- a Republican president, or even if the federal Canadian institutions can now ability to Parliament and the public. GOP simply retains control of Congress. be accessed by the RCMP, including in- But these hearings should be guided After the Liberals formed govern- formation held by Health Canada and by human rights concerns, not the ef- ment, Prime Minister Trudeau extend- the Canada Revenue Agency. Whether fect of policy reform on trade flows. ed a self-imposed deadline to admit Trudeau’s commitment to even great- Finally, Canada’s response to the 25,000 Syrian refugees and decided er information sharing with the Unit- largest refugee crisis in human history not to admit straight, unaccompanied ed States will ultimately include this should continue to reflect our nation- males as part of the program. We may highly sensitive personal information al values, rather than the suspicions never know the extent to which these is now an open question. and fears of a powerful neighbour. Dis- decisions were influenced by the ad- Such concessions may be tempting pelling these fears must be done with vice of the Canadian security establish- for Canada if they lead to a closer rela- the power of rhetoric and example so ment, a desire to pre-empt U.S. securi- tionship in which trade benefits can be that we might stop trading away our ty concerns, or simply the better optics further secured. For instance, the long- sovereignty, piece by piece, to foreign of welcoming families with children at standing issue of Canadian softwood governments and corporations. M the airport. We do know, however, that lumber exports has re-emerged with fear of U.S. reaction has strongly influ- the recent expiry of a comprehensive 16 214,488 companies of Ukraine, Petro Poroshen- year to 3,000 per year. The incorporated in 21 differ- ko. Other prominent figures agency will also hire 100 ent offshore jurisdictions, include sports stars like new auditors to investigate including Canada. Lionel Messi, entertainers “high-risk” multinational like Jackie Chan, and 29 corporations. In total, the ax havens are billionaires. CRA expects these and T jurisdictions with very other new measures will low tax rates and strong here are at least 350 recover $2.6 billion in protections for financial T Canadians connected unpaid taxes. Index secrecy. The most popular to the Panama Papers. tax havens revealed in They are mostly lawyers, he new money in the the Panama Papers are businesspeople and T federal budget exceeds The Panama Papers the British Virgin Islands, resource sector executives the Alternative Federal Panama, the Bahamas rather than prominent Budget’s spending on tax Compiled by Hadrian and the Seychelles, which public figures. enforcement, but it will Mertins-Kirkwood together account for more only be effective if CRA can than 90% of the offshore s of 2014, Canadian improve its currently poor n April 3, the Interna- companies appearing in A corporations have record in tax avoidance O tional Consortium of Mossack Fonseca’s records. admitted to stashing $199 cases. Other measures to Investigative Journalists billion in tax havens. The crack down on tax evasion published 11.5 million ore than 14,000 banks, actual amount of Canadian as outlined in the AFB leaked documents, known M law firms and other money hidden abroad is include a 1% withholding as the Panama Papers, intermediaries collaborat- likely much larger when tax on Canadian assets held emanating from the ed with Mossack Fonseca to the assets of wealthy in tax havens and improved Panama-based law firm establish offshore corpora- individuals and unreported country-by-country Mossack Fonseca, a world tions for their clients. The corporate money is reporting of corporate leader in the creation of most common homes for included. According to profits and taxes paid. shell companies and other intermediaries are Hong Canadians for Tax Fairness, offshore entities. Kong, the United Kingdom Canada loses at least $7.8 and Switzerland. In Canada, billion in taxes per year ndividuals and corpora- RBC is connected to 378 as a result of offshore tax British I tions often use offshore of the offshore companies avoidance. Virgin corporations to hide assets named in the Panama Islands from tax authorities and the Papers. n Budget 2016, the Liberal 113,648 legal system in their home I government committed jurisdiction. Although the eople in more than 200 an additional $444 million creation of offshore entities P countries are connected to the Canada Revenue is not illegal, offshore to the leaks. At least 12 Agency over five years to corporations can be used current or former world combat tax evasion and for illegal purposes such as leaders and 140 politicians $351 million over five fraud, money laundering or or public officials are years to enforce domestic tax evasion. implicated, including the corporate taxation. The CRA prime minister of Iceland, will use the new money he Panama Papers Sigmundur Davíð Gun- to increase the number of T include nearly 40 years nlaugsson (he was forced examinations of “high-risk” Panama of records documenting to resign) and the president taxpayers from 600 per 48,360

The 10 Most Popular Tax Havens in the Panama Papers Seychelles Bahamas British Niue 15,182 15,915 United Hong Samoa 9,611 Kingdom Kong Nevada Anguilla 5,307 148 452 1,260 3,253

SOURCES Alternative Federal Budget 2016, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives; Bruce Campion Smith and Marco Chown Oved, “‘High-risk’ taxpayers, offshore tax havens part of Ottawa crackdown,” Toronto Star, April 11, 2016; Robert Cribb and Marco Chown Oved, “How offshore banking is costing Canada billions of dollars a year,” Toronto Star, April 4, 2016; The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and Frédéric Zalac, “Panama Papers: Document leak exposes global corruption, secrets of the rich,” CBC News, April 3, 2016; The Panama Papers, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists; Canadians for Tax Fairness, “Stiffed: Tax Havens Fact Sheet,” July 2015. 17 Armine Yalnizyan THE MEANING OF SLOWTH

An introduction to the new Canadian economy

ANADA’S ECONOMY HAS served up “serial disap- pointments” since 2012, as Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz puts it. We are not alone. Forecasts Cfor global growth have been continuously down- graded over the past four years. Current private sector estimates for Canada in 2016 range from 0.9% to 1.5%, essentially a stall. Forecasters are promising better years ahead, but with every new Department of Finance or International Mone- tary Fund assessment the economic turnaround gets pushed further into the future.

18 Welcome to the New Abnormal. A fixation on balancing the books Slowth (my term for slow or no at this stage would almost certainly growth) is not going away anytime trigger a recession. But while a gov- soon, and it is changing both our ernment willing to tax and spend can prospects and our politics. For the make a big difference, it’s unlikely to first time in a generation, a growing spur the pace of growth in a $2-tril- chorus of voices say it is time to re- lion economy in the near term. Sim- duce poverty and inequality. In re- ply put, government actions matter, sponse, most Canadian governments, but macroeconomic realities can at every level, have started to act. swamp even the most progressive Never has it been more satisfying to policies. say the words: better late than never. But even with increased political willingness to follow the crowd Where the loonie fits in (rather than the lobbyists), redistri- his spring, I was asked to com- bution gets harder to accomplish as T ment on these issues before a Sen- the rate of growth declines. New ate committee on banking, trade and policy initiatives are reduced to commerce. While much of the news ever more challenging trade-offs lately considers the size of the feder- in what increasingly looks like a al budget or whether oil prices will zero-sum game. pick up, my presentation looked at Let’s be clear: slow growth need how a low Canadian dollar interacts not be a bad thing, particularly when with slow growth to make matters you consider that cleaning up after even more complicated. oil spills, selling arms to Saudi Ara- The loonie was at par with the bia, and expanding state surveil- U.S. dollar when the 2008 crisis hit. lance technology in response to Two-and-a-half years later, it had unspecified terrorist threats will returned to this level, primarily re- add to a country’s GDP. Slow flecting a renewal of global demand growth can reflect new supply for Canada’s natural resources, par- chains and technological im- ticularly oil. As oil prices plummet- provements leading to cheap- ed last year and again early this year, er costs of production and low- the loonie tumbled in value against er prices. the U.S. dollar, unleashing a host of Unfortunately, when it comes issues that are associated with slow to a progressive agenda of public growth, and eclipsing most effects of solutions to public problems, slow public policy. growth also means the public purse Why is the loonie so low? First, de- will shrink. clining global demand, driven by the One of the unavoidable drivers of slowest growth in China in 25 years, slowth is population aging. Seniors is propelling a downward growth spi- have lower incomes and spend less ral as companies respond to slowing money than the working-age popula- sales with further cuts to costs. Sec- tion. As seniors make up a larger share ond, oil and commodity supply gluts of the population than ever before, we continue to get bigger. Demand is ris- can expect that less income and sales ing for these products but at a slower tax will be collected. In other words, rate than supply growth, which low- as the working-age population drops, ers commodity prices. Third, a rel- we will have to tax ourselves more if atively stronger U.S. economy has we want to collectively do more. That dulled some of the loonie’s lustre. has never been an easy sell. Unemployment south of the bor- While many progressives turn to der is below 5% and the central bank government as Option #1 when some- raised the benchmark interest rate in thing needs fixing, we cannot ignore December for the first time in almost the health of the private sector. To a decade, triggering capital flight to put it another way, though growth the U.S. may not be the only or best fix for in- Now, a low Canadian dollar has its equality and poverty, the alternative benefits, and has triggered more eco- (recession) only makes things worse. nomic activity in non-resource sec- 19 ILLUSTRATION BY LUKE RAMSEY tors than virtually any public policy in recent memory. pacts on the restructuring of our industrial base and the Consider the following examples: health of the economy. Will the loonie stay low for long? More exports: Things produced in Canadian dollars Countervailing factors are at play. and sold in U.S. dollars (e.g., commodities like oil and beef, For example, Iran is aiming to add one million barrels but also autos and services) will enjoy higher margins a day to global oil production in 2016, which will put fur- and profits. ther downward pressure on oil prices and the Canadian More U.S. consumers: The loonie currently offers al- dollar. Globally, producers are already pumping 1.5–2 mil- most 40% more purchasing power for Americans. Expect lion barrels more a day than is being consumed. At over more tourists in Canadian vacation spots, at sports tour- nine million barrels a day, U.S. production has not yet re- naments, or enjoying events like Pride and the Toron- sponded to lower prices. These factors mean the loonie to International Film Festival. The low Canadian dollar stays lower for longer. reverses the direction of cross-border shopping, which A hard cap on Alberta’s greenhouse gas emissions and strengthens retail and may lead to some repatriation of an international commitment to limit global tempera- the capital that migrated south with the snowbirds (who ture increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius will produce more purchased $92 billion in U.S. real estate from 2009 to 2015). aggressive policies to conserve and generate more ener- Greater investment potential: A lower dollar means gy from renewable sources. Europe’s environmental ini- lower relative wages, so we can expect some U.S. busi- tiatives have resulted in 1.5% less demand a year, a plau- nesses will produce more in Canada. Hollywood North sible scenario for Canada. This too would put downward expands when the exchange rate falls. The film indus- pressure on the value of the loonie. try was worth about $1.5B in Toronto alone in 2015, with Upward pressure is also possible, however. We’re hear- foreign productions doubling since 2014. Advanced man- ing about asset bubbles in China. Globally, corporations ufacturing is already seeing a boost (thanks to numer- owe $29 trillion, with a third of companies failing to gen- ous innovation clusters throughout Canada). If the dol- erate high enough returns on investment to cover their lar stays low, reinvestments in our auto manufacturing cost of funding. Tensions are escalating in the Middle facilities may be worth another look. East (now potentially between Turkey and Russia). The Canadians import one-third of GDP, largely from the acceleration of any of these concerns could make the Ca- U.S. (China is in a very distant second place, account- nadian economy look like a safer bet, leading to an influx ing for 7% of Canada’s merchandise imports). A low-for- of capital. That would strengthen the dollar. long loonie could trigger import substitution (i.e., invest- Similarly, weaker than expected job growth in early ments that result in Canadians producing more of what 2016 forced the U.S. Federal Reserve to signal it may de- they consume). On the other hand, a low dollar entails lay its plans to raise interest rates. If recent slowdowns in a number of serious economic negatives that can easily manufacturing activity continue, there is even a possibil- cascade, offsetting public policy efforts to boost growth. ity that the December rate hike could be reversed. Ratifi- For one thing, with lower purchasing power, consum- cation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (TPP) ers are paying more for imports, notably food. Low-in- could further slow U.S. manufacturing and job growth, come households are hit the hardest, since fresh fruit making the Canadian economy look stronger relative to and vegetables are mostly imported from the U.S. Busi- the U.S. than it otherwise would, and leading to a high- nesses that import intermediate goods are paying more, er value for our dollar too. The lower loonie is like a pay/profit cut. Acknowledging these realities are beyond our control, Slowing demand has also changed the retail land- what should be done? What can be done? scape—think of the high-profile closures of Target, Fu- First, we need to recognize that monetary policy has ture Shop and many smaller players. Expect more cor- limited impact on the value of the loonie, and fiscal policy porate consolidation as retailers struggle to absorb costs that stops short of a $30-billion deficit to finance stimu- (instead of passing them on) to minimize falling sales. lus for a couple of years can have little impact on a $2-tril- Stranded assets are another Canadian problem. Capital lion economy over the long term. Public policy that is spending (capex) in oil and gas fell by more than 30% in truly concerned about slow growth—and putting Cana- 2015 compared to 2014 and is forecasted drop at least an- da back on an expansionary path—must look past this other 19% in 2016. Moody’s estimates oil capex will fall 25% year’s GDP and deficit to develop long-term strategies globally this year. Should demand continue to fall, up to $2 for building future potential based on ecologically sus- trillion in scheduled projects may become stranded assets. tainable growth that delivers good jobs and good pay. Finally, a lower dollar means bigger deficits. Govern- It’s the kind of thinking (see Seth Klein’s article on page ment budgets are being pressured more directly by fall- 30) that is beginning to take place at the highest levels ing oil prices than the low dollar, but the two are inter- of policy development. twined regionally and nationally. Whether we figure out how to speed it up, or learn to adapt to it, slowth will challenge our way of thinking about the world and what makes it go round. It will Global forces at play force us to find ways to unlock its opportunities and to t is often said that markets don’t like uncertainty—as rethink how governments can be a catalyst to succeed I if people do! Where the loonie lands has profound im- in the New Abnormal. M 20 New Economic Directions Trish Hennessy Ontario’s $15 minimum wage campaign just got a boost

HAT A DIFFERENCE two years ward to April 1 of this year, however, annual Progress Summit in Ottawa make. and the conversation is shifting rap- where she promised her party would In February 2014, while idly. Horwarth may even find herself raise Ontario’s minimum wage to $15 gearing up for a provin- back at the centre of it. an hour if elected in the next provincial election, Ontario NDP Since securing a majority in the cial election (2018). “The time for talk leader Andrea Horwath spring of 2014, Wynne’s Liberal gov- is over. It’s time for Ontario to show Wannounced that, if elected, her government has steadily increased the leadership and will—and to make ernment would raise Ontario’s min- minimum wage in small increments sure no one working full time is imum wage to $12 an hour by 2016. to its current $11.25 an hour. The only stuck living below the poverty line,” It fell considerably short of the $14 remaining commitment is to index she said. a grassroots workers campaign was that rate to inflation each year. For “It’s time for a $15 minimum wage. demanding at the time. “We know instance, on October 1, 2016, the min- And if the Liberal government won’t that the minimum wage needs to imum wage will go up by 15 cents to do it, then Ontarians will have an op- increase,” Horwath explained. “We $11.40 an hour. At that snail’s pace, portunity in two years to elect one want to make sure that those increas- Ontario would finally achieve a fair that will.” es don’t come at too sharp or steep of $15 minimum wage in the year 2040. Horwath talked about income in- a rate so that small businesses will be With a steadfast, well-organized equality, about the rise in precari- negatively impacted.” grassroots campaign pushing for a ous work facing people with disa- Not surprisingly, the NDP’s de- $15 minimum wage in Ontario now bilities, single parents and youth, cision to put concerns about small (not in 24 years), there is clearly some about “people too young to retire, too businesses ahead of the working political space to be taken up. Enter old to start over.” She cited research poor didn’t sit well with many pro- Horwath, whose party has been un- by CCPA-Ontario Senior Economist gressives in Ontario. It contributed, dergoing public scrutiny since its Sheila Block showing that people in part, to Premier Kathleen Wynne’s 2014 electoral showing. who are racialized are dispropor- ability to gain ground in the election On April 1, Horwath delivered a tionately represented among low- as an “activist” alternative. Fast-for- speech to the Broadbent Institute’s wage workers.

SELECTED FOOD PRICE INCREASES BETWEEN AUGUST 2014 AND AUGUST 2015

Fresh Fruit Cereal 6.7% increase 1.9% increase

Fresh Dairy Vegetables and Eggs 6.4% increase 2% increase

21 In short, Horwath changed her par- deering my money for its purposes. I BRITISH COLUMBIA ty’s tune about the minimum wage call that a tax.” and low-paying work in Ontario. She Sounds like a great line to drop over put a new policy “in the window,” as bourbon and steaks at the country WORKERS FIGHT political strategists like to say. What club, but it is a distortion of reality. impact might this new conversation While it may reflect the business es- FOR $15 have? With an opposition party final- tablishment’s fixation on hyper-valu- ly ready to take on the $15-an-hour ing business owners and CEOs while fight, it could push the governing Lib- devaluing the rest of workers, even LABOUR GROUPS AND ALLIES in British Co- erals to do more than settle with an- in Canada the conversation is shift- lumbia are challenging the province’s ap- nual inflationary increases. ing, as are public expectations of em- proach to the minimum wage, which will not Right now in Ontario, like the rest ployers. reach $15 until 2034 under current plans. of Canada, the minimum wage de- It’s hard to watch major jurisdic- “The picture of a low-wage worker isn’t what bate is trapped in a conceptual cage tions like Seattle, New York, Califor- you would expect. They aren’t all teens liv- built by well-funded business lob- nia and the U.K. embrace a $15-an- ing in their parents’ basement,” explains a bies, which trot out the archetypal hour minimum wage without won- BCFED fact sheet. Consider this: small-business owner whenever po- dering why our own governments litical leaders come under pressure to would embrace a low-wage strat- raise rates. The small entrepreneur egy in this country. It’s hard not to just can’t afford it, we’re told; it will be be moved by U.S. service and retail bad for business. The problem with workers picketing outside of Wal- 82% this story is it’s heavily one-sided in mart and McDonald’s stores demand- of workers earning less than favour of business owners while dis- ing a $15 minimum wage. $15 an hour are 20 years or missing the value of low-wage work- It’s hard to continue to ignore the ers. reality of low-paying, precarious older. In March, I was on CBC’s The Ex- work when you see bright young peo- change talking about the $15 min- ple with PhDs joining the new pre- imum wage being implemented in carious workforce. They have over- the United Kingdom. A spokesper- flowing skills to offer but are being son for the Canadian Federation of devalued in the labour market. 60% Independent Business (CFIB) coun- If Ontario decided the lowest-paid of workers earning less than tered that minimum-wage workers’ workers in the province should earn $15 an hour are women. pay is simply “a reflection of the val- within 60% of the average wage, as ue of that task to the organization,” the CCPA-Ontario recommended claiming “they can’t offer the same in 2013, it would set a benchmark degree of value to employers” as oth- that served as a legitimate ration- er workers. ale for wage increases into the fu- It was an astounding claim—espe- ture. No more arbitrary political de- 59% cially when you consider many mini- bates about who is more valuable— of minimum-wage earners mum-wage workers are actually the the business owner or the low-wage have been on the job for at public face of a business: the server worker. least a year. who brings your food and drinks at If Horwarth sticks to the narra- the restaurant, the cashier at the cor- tive she laid out in her April speech, ner store, the retail worker helping she could end up pushing the Wynne you find a flattering dress in a cloth- government to revisit the ques- ing store. Without them, you have no tion of how to set a minimum wage 53% business. That sounds like value-add- benchmark. Tying minimum wages of minimum-wage earners ed to me. to the average wage would make it have some post-secondary When the arguments against rais- possible to use the former as one of course work. ing wages don’t demean the work- several tools in the policy toolkit for ers, they are about putting a strain reducing income inequality and in- on business. The Macdonald-Lau- troducing fairness into the labour rier Institute’s Brian Lee Crowley market. What is 60% of the average “If a $15-per-hour wage were achieved, it called minimum-wage policy a “tax Ontario wage? You guessed it: $15 an would put B.C. workers 10% above Statis- on jobs” in a recent Globe and Mail hour. tics Canada’s low-income cut-off and give column: “Please, if the government If Seattle can do it, so can we. It’s them a fair chance to cover the cost of the forces me under pain of legal pen- fair, it’s affordable and it’s about most basic necessities.” alty to do something with my mon- time. M MORE INFO: WWW.FIGHTFOR15BC.CA ey, then the government is comman- New Economic Directions What’s Left Against a basic income guarantee

HE ONTARIO LIBERAL govern- ingless, exploitative tasks for some- for decades, just as waves of industri- ment announced in its Feb- one else’s profit. Fundamentally, hu- alization did in the 19th and 20th centu- ruary budget that it would be man self-worth is connected to the ries. However, employment displaced testing the idea of a Basic In- ability to contribute meaningfully by automation was eventually reab- come Guarantee (BIG), or guar- to society through our labour. That sorbed into the economy as different anteed annual income as it is good feeling you get after a day of jobs. It is disputable how many of the Tsometimes called. Ottawa is report- productive work is not accidental, it jobs currently being lost to automa- edly considering how to support the is inherent in the human condition. tion should be considered personal- project, which has been cautiously If the idea of a guaranteed annual ly rewarding work; mostly, they are applauded by conservative and pro- income (the BIG plan in Ontario) is probably just a means to an income. gressive voices. The BIG concept gen- back in fashion it is only because the Meanwhile, there are important, ar- erally involves direct payments from economy is once again in crisis with guably more meaningful jobs that government to citizens that are not high levels of unemployment and un- need doing now. tied to participation in the labour deremployment. Add to this a project- The role of the government (the force. They can be distributed to ed period of global slow growth, along state)—for example, in mediating everyone equally, or else clawed back with widespread anxiety about au- employment—is important to con- from those earning higher incomes. tomation and cheap “foreign” labour sider when we think about tran- We argue even more caution is taking all the jobs, and the idea of pay- sitions through mass automation needed from those of us on the left. ing people to stay home starts to look or other disruptions to patterns of As wealth redistribution goes, basic refreshingly simple. In actuality, the work. Most political ideologies call income is inherently conservative: scaremongering about robots and on government to support workers it does not seek to improve employ- temporary foreign workers is rooted when they become unemployed. ment prospects, is generally fund- in a misunderstanding of how jobs This can be done through regulation ed through cuts to social services are created and our relationship to (e.g., through a central bank), train- (privatization), and does little to ad- the economy more generally. ing, subsidies for new employment dress inequality. For these and oth- Robots and computers have been creation, and “social safety nets” to er reasons—including how expensive drastically increasing productivity catch those workers who still “fall it would be relative to its impact— through the cracks.” Without this we believe the Ontario government mediation from our social institu- should drop the idea and invest the tions society does not function well. money in public services instead, It is in how a government performs since these can be provided at a low these mediating tasks that the right cost to everyone while creating more and left diverge. jobs in the process. For socialists, the fundamental The human ideal form of social support is democratic, state-mediated production and redis- Work and need is not a life of tribution. This position is based on ork is fundamental to human de- pure leisure, but the belief that the economy is a tool W velopment and personal fulfil- for maximizing human development, ment. This is not to say that people an escape from and that it is partly through the la- should be forced to work at all times having to perform bour of workers that we can build a for their own good. But there is a vast just and equitable world for all. body of research showing the con- meaningless, Since we are a long way from this nection between mental health and exploitative tasks ideal—economic and social devel- work. It suggests the human ideal is opment continues to be a lesser pri- not a life of pure leisure, but an es- for someone else’s ority, in most states, to the accumu- cape from having to perform mean- profit. lation of wealth—socialists have 23 guaranteed income are animated by particular views of so- So what is the cial justice, equality, and freedom. A guaranteed income, by providing a core income for all, is seen to promise equali- general appeal of an ty of opportunity in society. A guaranteed income, at an ad- equate level, allows an individual to realize for herself or idea of a guaranteed himself the promises and opportunities that society offers. income? A MEANS TO SOCIAL The following arguments AND DEMOCRATIC are made. 3 CITIZENSHIP Excerpted from the 2009 CCPA report, Possibilities and A guaranteed income is also touted as a way to ensure cit- Prospects: The Debate Over a Guaranteed Annual Income, izens can fulfil the civic duties we all carry as citizens. We by Margot Young and James P. Mulvale. The authors could cannot aspire to civic virtues when we are preoccupied with not agree on whether a guaranteed annual income should mere survival. Thus, an American political theorist, Carole be implemented or under what conditions. Pateman, argues that the economic security a guaranteed income provides is instrumental to self-government in in- timate spheres (the family), the labour market, and, more A FIX TO broadly, in democratic mechanisms of political government. 1 POVERTY A KEY TO First, and most powerfully, a guaranteed income holds out GENDER EQUALITY the promise of alleviating (and perhaps even eradicating) 4 poverty—at least poverty understood simply as lack of income. This helps to explain the attractiveness of guaran- Poverty often means reinforcement of discriminatory social teed income in times of growing economic inequality and and economic relations for women. For example, lack of in- persistent poverty amidst affluence. come can force women to stay in abusive, unhealthy relationships with men. As well, the gendered division of labour, reflected in women’s disproportionate caregiving re- A MEASURE OF FORMAL sponsibilities, results in women’s more vulnerable status in LIBERTY AND INDIVIDUAL the labour market. Income support programs that are con- 2 OPPORTUNITY ditional on specific patterns of (typically male) labour force involvement disadvantage women (and mothers, in particu- A guaranteed income proposal is not only and simply about lar). A guaranteed income, it is argued, encourages recogni- ending poverty. The most powerful political arguments for a tion of the full range of human activities, including unpaid

called on government to support work. The response from a good In reality, there is no shortage of those who cannot work through ser- part of the left is to defend existing work that needs doing: ugly spaces vices financed by those who can, as universal, free public services deliv- that could be beautified by employ- well as those who extract profit. In ered by (real) people, and to call for ing an artist; elderly who need care this context, the battle between left the creation of new public services that cannot be delivered by robots and right comes down to how much to fill gaps in welfare delivery. (not yet at least); buildings and oth- wealth should be distributed (from The difference is all the more im- er infrastructure that need to be up- the owners of production to anyone portant during an employment cri- graded; land that could produce food; who needs it) and the process by sis like the kind we are told to expect and the provision of useful services which this happens. from the new wave of automation— that don’t exist yet. In other words, In general, right-wing parties want in services as much as, and possibly there are plenty of needs the private people to pay for most things, includ- more so than, manufacturing. Sup- market has not and probably cannot ing services, in a commodified mar- porters of the BIG concept assume, meet, but that could be met if we col- ket economy in a way that can un- incorrectly, that this time these jobs lectively decided to employ workers dermine the redistribution system cannot be replaced. They are simply to provide these services. workers rely on when they cannot not thinking “big” enough. 24 caregiving work, that are key to a cohesive and rich socie- well-being independent of involvement in the paid labour ty. An individual could make “real choices with reference to force. This might mean a number of positive things. For ex- economic and non-economic activities.” Moreover, the uni- ample, workers with a guaranteed income in hand could versality and conditionality that a guaranteed income offers choose to start up a business, work part time, job share, can make traditional scrutiny of welfare recipients unneces- take a sabbatical, or take an interesting but lower-paid job. sary. The income security provided by guaranteed income, A guaranteed income would “decommodify” labour by pro- it is argued, could advance women’s economic and social viding individuals with the ability to devote their energies to citizenship and equality. socially necessary and valuable forms of work that are not paid. It might also enhance the power of labour to bargain effectively with capital. For low-wage, unattractive work, A RECOGNITION OF this may mean that workers will be able to leverage bet- CITIZENS’ SHARED SOCIAL ter working conditions or better pay. Thus a guaranteed in- 5 OWNERSHIP come could prevent “desperation bidding” by workers with no other economic options. Many see a guaranteed income as recognition of individual citizens’ shared ownership in the resources of a society. Fairness, it is argued, requires that a portion of the goods of A MORE a society—its collective wealth and resources—be shared ENVIRONMENTALLY with all who make up that society. The Alaska Dividend, for 7 SUSTAINABLE WORLD example, is paid out of the Alaska Permanent Fund, a fund created out of a percentage of the proceeds of mineral sales Perhaps a system of income security with guaranteed in- or royalties, and thus recognizes the ultimate “ownership” come as its centrepiece could challenge conventional wis- by residents of the products of the state. Closer to home, dom on the need for never-ending economic growth as the the one-time Alberta Prosperity cheque, paid out in Janu- precondition of general prosperity and income security. ary 2006 to every resident of Alberta over 18 years of age, Guaranteed income could ensure a modest but sustainable was billed as a “resource rebate” to Alberta residents from standard of living for all, in the context of a more “steady the budget surpluses accumulated from the province’s re- state” economy with lower levels of consumption but great- source-fuelled economy. er economic redistribution. This scenario challenges the ob- session in capitalist economies with open-ended accumula- tion and ever-rising levels of earned income and consump- A MORE FLEXIBLE tion of material goods. It also undermines “wage slavery” AND JUST LABOUR that has been central to the historical development of cap- 6 MARKET italist economies.

Proponents argue that a guaranteed income gives workers flexibility more suited to the new global market. A guaranteed income gives an individual a level of basic economic

Income support veloping a social economy: it is the needed for those at lower income lev- versus guaranteed income laissez-faire alternative to a work-fo- els or who cannot work. he Basic Income Guarantee be- cused “welfare state” model. Instead For example, even free post-sec- T ing considered in Ontario com- of mediating and facilitating work ondary education is out of reach for plements the right-wing attack on and human development, the state those unable to afford the time off people-delivered public services. By is actually structurally supporting work to study. This is why the stu- decoupling income from employ- unemployment while encouraging dent movement demands needs- ment, you reduce the need for gov- the opening up of social services to based grants to cover living and lei- ernment to deliver universal public profit-making. sure costs, affordable housing and services, since even those who can- Socialists do advocate for a specif- food. The idea is to even out the uni- not work could, theoretically, afford ic type of income supplement in the versity experience between students to pay out of pocket from their gov- current economy, but it is very differ- from low- and high-income families ernment cheque. ent from the BIG. The socialist ap- so as not to further entrench the lat- More broadly, a guaranteed in- proach acknowledges that even free ter’s privilege. come abandons the notion that the services are not equally accessible to Likewise, free health care is out of government has a role to play in de- all and so additional support will be reach for those who are not able to 25 get to the hospital. This is why free ambulance services, SUPPORTERS OF A GUARANTEED home care and personal support workers are needed to bring people to the hospital or vice versa—to bring care ANNUAL INCOME CAN BE FOUND ON to the home. In both the health and education examples, THE RIGHT AND LEFT public funding does not replace the actual workers who support access to these free services, it simply allows for additional support to expand and equalize access. Finally, consider that Canada’s Old Age Security program and the Guaranteed Income Supplement, both funded out of general government tax revenue, were never intended to be a replacement for high quality public services for the aged, nor do they replace the call from socialists for quality public housing. The same applies to child care: the federal government’s new low-income subsidy is generous, but from the perspective of access and reducing inequality, the money would clearly be better spent funding a national child care plan that is accessible, at low cost, by everyone.

Questioning Ontario’s BIG plan he socialist alternative to a guaranteed annual income T is the welfare state model—a mixed system of income supplements for those who cannot work, short-term unemployment support, universally accessible public services, a public job guarantee for those who cannot find work, and regulated wage and job security for workers Martin Luther Friedrich in the private sector. The welfare state model contains some of the goals of a guaranteed annual income, but King, Jr. Hayek goes much further to include a holistic and democratic civil rights libertarian view of the economy. This is clearly not the model on offer in the Basic In- activist “The assurance of a come Guarantee. The Ontario Liberal government is pro- certain minimum income moting its BIG idea as a way to replace universal services “The contemporary for everyone, or a sort (for the underemployed and/or precarious workers) that tendency in our society is of floor below which it says are too expensive or not “innovative” enough. This to base our distribution nobody need fall even narrative, which is also endorsed by conservatives, re- on scarcity, which when he is unable to moves the burden of supporting employment from the has vanished, and to provide for himself, state while further empowering the private sector. compress our abundance appears not only to Progressives will fall into a trap by trying to make the into the overfed mouths be a wholly legitimate flawed BIG model work; they should propose alterna- of the middle and upper protection against a tives instead. The socialist vision of work, expressed by classes until they gag risk common to all, but poverty activists, labour and students alike, involves a with superfluity. If a necessary part of the more fair distribution of work across society, and some democracy is to have Great Society in which democratically planned production that meets the needs breadth of meaning, it the individual no longer of society. is necessary to adjust has specific claims on While the allure of a life without work is strong—es- this inequity. It is not the members of the pecially for those who currently have no control over only moral, but it is particular small group their work or the profits that result from it—the BIG also intelligent. We are into which he was born.” is a utopian illusion. Individual human development, wasting and degrading like society and the economy, is an active process built human life by clinging to through our collective labour. In reality, we all have to archaic thinking.” contribute our fair share to building the future we desire and deserve. M WHAT’S LEFT IS A WEEKLY DIGEST OF CURRENT EVENTS, COMPILED BY CITIZENS’ PRESS, FOCUSED ON LEFT-WING ISSUES IN CANADA, IMPORTANT INTERNATIONAL STRUGGLES, AND USEFUL ANALYSIS FOR WORKERS AND ACTIVISTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

26 New Economic Directions Iglika Ivanova Child care: Booster seat for the economy

ANADA IS ONE of the few ad- a national early education and child ter and stay in the labour force or to vanced economies without a care program in Canada. But, until re- pursue further education. national child care system. We cently, it had failed to move our fed- Research from Quebec, led by econ- invest less in early childhood eral or provincial governments (out- omist Pierre Fortin, found large and programs than any of our peer side Quebec). almost immediate economic benefits countries and fall far short of Things seem to be changing in Ot- from the province’s child care pro- Cmeeting the minimum public invest- tawa. The Liberal government’s first gram, launched in the late 1990s. In ment benchmarks recommended by federal budget allotted $400 million a study published last summer I es- UNICEF and the OECD. Simply put, next year for the development of a timated that, if B.C.’s experience were our fragmented patchwork of child national framework on early learning similar, $10-a-day child care would care programs across the country, and child care with the provinces, and significantly increase the number with fees that exceed university tui- another $100 million for Indigenous of women in the workforce, boost- tion in some provinces, fails to meet child care and early learning on re- ing the provincial economy by $3.9 the needs of Canadian families. serves. It’s now up to the provinces to billion per year. This would lead to This is more than just an afforda- help design, implement and support higher tax revenues, fewer families bility problem. Faced with long wait community-driven programs that with children needing social assis- lists and exorbitant costs, many par- reflect local needs within a national tance, and reduced reliance on other ents, especially mothers, are forced framework. Viable models already ex- income-tested transfers. The provin- to choose between abandoning paid ist. For example, child care experts in cial and federal governments would work—often risking their family’s -fi B.C. have developed a plan that would see benefits to the tune of $1.3 billion, nancial security and their own finan- reduce fees to $10 a day, create enough split roughly 50/50 between them. cial independence—and relying on spaces for all families who want them, In other words, the direct returns unregulated care, where there are no and increase the quality of care in reg- to government from investing in the training requirements, safety stand- ulated programs. This $10-a-day child $10-a-day plan would almost entire- ards or monitoring. These problems care plan has support from business- ly cover its $1.5-billion annual cost. are magnified in B.C., where child es, local governments and academics While my study was B.C.-specific, the care fees are the second-highest in across the province. key findings extend to Canada more the country and where one-third Publicly subsidized child care is broadly. The economic benefits of of children arrive in kindergarten entirely affordable. In fact, it would more women re-entering the work- not meeting all early developmental be largely self-financing and create force after having children would benchmarks, which puts them at risk thousands of sustainable, communi- be large, and governments at all lev- of not reaching their full potential. ty-building jobs for early childhood els would immediately see returns Studies show that society as a educators who will finally earn a liv- in higher tax revenues and less de- whole benefits when parents have ing wage. It would make it possible mand for social assistance. easy access to affordable, quality for parents, especially mothers, to en- Families that directly benefit from child care. High-quality early child- child care would still contribute a hood education promotes healthy large share of the program costs, but child development and increases ed- it would be through a combination ucational achievement for all chil- of affordable fees and the income dren, with particular benefits to the tax system instead of exorbitant up- most vulnerable. It also promotes so- $10/day child care front fees. For the rest of us, pitch- cial inclusion, advances gender equal- ing in a little is a bargain for what ity by allowing mothers to return to would significantly we’d get with universal quality child work, and strengthens the econo- increase the care: healthy child development, im- my. The weight of the international proved social inclusion, more gender evidence has fuelled broad support number of women and income equality, and economic across many sectors for investing in in the workforce. prosperity. M 27 New Economic Directions Martin Adelaar The power of energy efficiency A re-manufacturing strategy would drive economic renewal

HE INTERNATIONAL ENERGY Agen- cal and risky thinking is not support- of technological and management in- cy refers to energy efficiency ed by third-party evaluations and novation can mine even greater sav- as the “first fuel” for decarbon- overlooks the historical role of gov- ings resulting in larger economic ben- ization. Broadly, the strategy ernment in fostering energy efficien- efits. taps the overwhelming poten- cy and concomitant GHG emissions In 2014, the U.S. not-for-profit Aca- tial to deliver the heating, cool- reductions. dia Centre estimated that, over a 28- Ting, lighting, travel, motive power and In virtually every jurisdiction in year period, future energy efficiency other energy services we need using the world, where some form of car- in Canada could generate $230–$580 less input energy. It means highly bon pricing has been introduced, the billion in net GDP and 1.5–4 million insulated, airtight homes and build- economy had been, and continues to additional job-years. The Ontario En- ings, highly efficient equipment and be, “conditioned” by an assortment of ergy Board recently approved $700 vehicles, and use of information tech- long-running energy efficiency pol- million for gas utility energy efficien- nology to drive the smart manufac- icies and program interventions. A cy programs running to 2020. turing and smart grid systems of the federal office of energy conservation Finally, energy efficiency contin- future. Energy efficiency works best was launched in 1973 and, since then, ues to be undervalued. With a few ex- when it combines these technical a broad range of government policy ceptions, governments, utilities and solutions with an array of behaviour- and program initiatives have evolved industry have largely failed to cap- al and management best practices at to target a myriad of market barri- ture the full social value of energy ef- home, at work and on our highways. ers. For instance, federal leadership ficiency in their analyses, hence en- A raft of studies have shown that has led to energy performance stand- ergy efficiency continues to be under- energy efficiency can be delivered ards and labelling requirements that valued. Through the energy efficien- at a cost less than the energy sup- now cover more than 40 energy-us- cy services/goods supply chain, and ply it displaces, and that it will en- ing products, as well as state-of-the- the re-spending of savings, energy ef- able economies to decouple energy art benchmarking and training. ficiency increases business produc- consumption from GDP growth. The Today, electric and gas utilities are tivity, competitiveness and employ- savings are huge—about $27 billion the main energy efficiency delivery ment; generates incremental tax rev- in Canada between 1990 and 2009, ac- agents in most provinces and terri- enues; increases property values; re- cording to Natural Resources Cana- tories where innovative policies have duces emissions; and lowers health da, and $800 billion in the U.S. from helped to align energy efficiency with costs. In a rare retrospective anal- 1980–2014, according to the American utility business interests. Regula- ysis of these benefits, Navius esti- Council for an Energy Efficient Econ- tors and/or provincial governments mates that energy efficiency in Can- omy. Nevertheless, energy efficiency have mandated utilities to pursue all ada between 2002 and 2012 incremen- has never made it to the front burn- cost-effective energy efficiency pro- tally increased GDP by roughly 1%, or er as a strategic national policy pri- grams, setting a framework for recov- nearly $16 billion per year. ority. A certain narrative has evolved, ering investments and lost revenues, in the media and elsewhere, which and earning incentives by hitting tar- hile carbon pricing will enhance needs to be recognized for the chal- gets. Accolades for B.C.’s carbon tax W the already robust business case lenges it poses. conveniently overlook this historic for energy efficiency, it will not ad- Much of the policy narrative dwells role of government in creating the dress the significant market barri- on carbon pricing as being able to do conditions for successful emissions ers that still impede optimal levels the heavy lifting for greenhouse gas reductions. of energy efficiency. This is where (GHG) emissions reductions. There A second narrative suggests ener- federal leadership is required, ideally are those who advance the notion gy efficiency is getting close to the through an integrated platform that that, under carbon trading and end of the line, that we’ve done all we addresses multiple policy objectives. many carbon pricing schemes, gov- can do. Despite the impressive gains For example, Canada could adopt ernment can largely step aside and to date, energy efficiency is the gift a national “re-manufacturing” strat- let the market do its work. This magi- that keeps on giving, as the evolution egy, with energy efficiency as a core 28 component, to help Canadian indus- partisan work of U.S. Senators Jeanne sibility approach to the delivery of try and manufacturing compete suc- Shaheen and Robert Portman, who the program. Borrowing from Effi- cessfully in the global economy. An laboured tirelessly to advance legis- ciency New Brunswick’s Large In- aggressive energy efficiency push lation that explicitly places energy ef- dustry Energy Efficiency Program, would boost employment through ficiency as an economic driver. The the first Canadian program awarded job retention, as plants across the government could also borrow from the Alliance to Save Energy’s Interna- country improve productivity, and the Europe 2020 Strategy for gener- tional Star Award for energy efficien- job creation in the energy efficiency ating growth and jobs, specifically its cy, the scope of any company/facili- supply chain. flagship “resource-efficient Europe” ty program support must be deter- Industry represents nearly 40% of initiative to shift the continent to- mined through a negotiated “partic- total energy consumption in Canada. ward a low-carbon economy. ipation agreement” that lays out the Despite significant performance im- mutual roles and responsibilities of provement there remains considera- hatever the inspiration, the pro- the program provider and the partic- ble potential for Canadian industry W cess and substantive elements of ipating companies. Typically, the in- to increase energy efficiency. The in- a Canadian re-manufacturing strat- itial step will be an integrated base- dustry target market includes over egy and intervention should reason- line and gap assessment encompass- 33,000 small to large establishments ably include the following elements: ing, among other things, production within the manufacturing sector process, energy, waste, pollution, in- Consolidate and rationalize, per- alone, so the impact and benefits will ͸ formation and communications tech- haps under a U.S.-style Advanced be enormous. nology, and staff and system compe- Manufacturing Office, Canada’s myr- For example, Canadian industry tencies. iad support programs and funding could do better to maximize the ben- sources for industry and manufac- Establish a National Network for efits of intelligent efficiency, smart ͸ turing. Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) manufacturing and the “internet of to bring together innovative manu- things,” which all drive innovation Establish a permanent high-level ͸ facturers, engineering schools, com- using information and communica- forum in which labour, government, munity colleges, government agen- tions technology. Canadian manu- industry and utility leaders can con- cies and non-profits to invest in facturers could also more aggressive- sult and share ideas to advance Ca- unique, but industrially relevant, ly adopt the management best prac- nadian manufacturing as an eco-sus- manufacturing technologies with tices necessary to foster a culture of tainable leader. The forum could broad applications. continuous improvement and quali- build from the approaches used by ty production the Canadian Industry Program for ͸ Finally, the government should To illustrate this, consider ISO Energy Conservation (CIPEC), a suc- work with financial institutions 50001, an international energy man- cessful government-industry collab- and investment funds to establish agement standard (adopted as a Ca- oration that happens to be the long- the conditions under which private nadian national standard) that cre- est running energy efficiency pro- capital can be more aggressively and ates a unifying quality management gram in the world. effectively mobilized to energy effi- framework to improve energy per- ciency investments. Taking such ac- Establish a program that provides formance and foster energy man- ͸ tion would be timely given that, dur- Canadian industry with the tools to agement best practices. As of 2014, ing COP 21, over 100 banks managing leapfrog over its international com- there were a total of 6,778 ISO 50001 a total of $4 trillion in assets called petition in all aspects of performance. certifications issued worldwide; Ger- for a doubling of energy efficiency Such a program would necessarily man plants held 50% of these certi- by 2030. encompass financial support, train- fications. ing, tools, research and development, An effectively resourced and designed In contrast, as of March 2015, a to- and other assistance to help shepherd national re-manufacturing strate- tal of 17 Canadian plants, represent- companies through the often chal- gy and intervention, with energy ef- ing 11 companies, were listed as ISO lenging process of making the busi- ficiency as a core element, would do 50001 certified. Research suggests ness case for energy efficiency -im more than help Canada catch up to the low take-up in Canada reflects provements and then acting on the our global competitors; it would cre- relatively poor implementation of identified opportunities. The pro- ate the conditions to help Canada be- productivity- and performance-en- gram would also need to bring togeth- come a global leader in eco-sustaina- hancing manufacturing process up- er all of the aspects that advance ener- ble production and competitiveness grades (e.g., lean manufacturing, val- gy efficiency performance (e.g., waste- while retaining and growing employ- ue stream mapping, etc.) even where heat recovery, process re-engineering ment. Let’s not allow a myopic focus investments in this direction have and the adoption of advanced contin- on carbon pricing to obscure the eco- been made. uous improvement practices). nomic and carbon benefits of an ag- For policy advice toward a nation- gressive national energy efficiency -in al re-manufacturing strategy, the fed- Establish, at the most senior deci- ͸ tervention. eral government could look to the bi- sion-making levels, a shared respon- M 29 New Economic Directions Seth Klein We know what we’re against, but what are we for? Advancing a progressive jobs agenda

HRISTY CLARK TOOK British Columbia’s 2013 election B.C. Jobs Plan isn’t working; its focus on resource extrac- based largely on a few outlandish promises about tion is just too risky, as it ultimately puts investment deci- a single non-existent industry: liquefied natural sions outside our control. The push for LNG in particular gas (LNG). In a context of economic insecurity, will ensure we keep riding that rollercoaster we call the the premier convinced a lot of voters she would B.C. economy, whose chaotic ups and downs are closely be able to convert the province’s overstated (and tied to global commodity prices that have plunged rap- Cmostly fracked) natural gas reserves into liquid form— idly over the last year. an extremely expensive and energy-intensive process— But we can’t stop there—at challenging a bad jobs pol- then ship it by tanker to new Asian markets, apparent- icy that takes the province further away from meeting ly at a premium. Clark said LNG would generate 100,000 the climate change imperative. In our call for papers for new jobs, and $100 billion in new public revenues, allow- the conference, the CCPA challenged authors to focus ing the province to become debt free—all while helping on solutions. As a public policy institute, we were espe- the planet lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It was cially interested in the role of the state. In other words, an attractive proposition. Completely unsubstantiated, what can governments do directly to create jobs, or indi- but attractive. rectly to foster job creation, in key sectors that are com- Since the election, the CCPA’s B.C. office has produced mitted to the province? The conference also sought to a series of reports debunking each of the government’s answer the following more specific questions related to claims about LNG. We’ve argued that, as we wrestle with financing, industrial strategy, employment equity and the realities of climate change, now is hardly the time to what constitutes a “good” job. sink a lot of money into building infrastructure for a new 1. How can we finance or capitalize alternative job-cre- fossil fuel industry. Yet, people want and need well-pay- ation ideas? It’s not hard to demonstrate that most green ing jobs; their feelings of economic insecurity are real and infrastructure and green-tech industries produce more legitimate. If we are to oppose carbon-economy develop- jobs per dollar invested than the fossil fuel industry. It’s ments like LNG—as we must—we also have a responsibil- even easier to make the employment case for investment ity to propose an alternative economic plan in its place. in public services. As usual, the problem for us—the el- In November 2014, the CCPA-BC, with support from ephant in the room—is where to find the money. Fossil the B.C. Federation of Labour, the Centre for Global Po- fuel companies come to the table with billions of dollars litical Economy and the Progressive Economics Forum, to invest in new infrastructure; there is much less for the took an important step in this direction by hosting a solu- alternatives. So how can we change that? How might we tions-oriented conference entitled A Good Jobs Econo- marshal new sources of investment capital for more sus- my in B.C. Attendees considered 15 papers outlining more tainable, good jobs? than 50 proposals for a vibrant, sustainable good jobs 2. What does a modern industrial policy look like? We’re agenda—more than enough ideas for any interested gov- often told such thinking is passé (though this happens ernment or political party to choose from. The one-day less often since the economic crisis of 2008–09). Clearly, conference acknowledged that the government’s official the status quo isn’t working. Corporate Canada has had its way on the policy front for decades now: in exchange for dramatic reductions in federal and provincial corporate tax rates, big business promised to invest in new production and job creation. Yet, over half a trillion dollars of corporate “dead” money is sitting idle. How can we leg- It’s not hard to demonstrate that islate some of that capital back to work? How are other countries, like Finland, Denmark and Germany, outper- most green infrastructure and forming us on many measures of economic performance, green-tech industries produce employment and diversification? 3. Finally, our conference participants were asked to more jobs per dollar invested than consider how to ensure that training and employment the fossil fuel industry. opportunities are more accessible to traditionally exclud- 30 ed populations. And, fundamentally, how might we guarantee that existing work, and the new opportunities we are striving to create, in fact qualify as “good” jobs—i.e., they pay well, offer benefits, provide the core elements of economic security that most of us need, and (dare we even consider it) are rewarding and meaningful?

The conference papers nswering these questions was no small challenge, but A conference participants rose to it. I couldn’t possibly list all of their 50–70 ideas for a progressive jobs agenda in this space—conference submissions can be read at www.policyalternatives.ca/offices/bc/goodjobspapers— so I’ll highlight just a few examples here. Some presenters focused on the need for a bold “green jobs” plan consisting of major investments in building retrofits, public transit, high-speed rail, renewable energy, zero-waste initiatives, value-added forestry and re- forestation, and clean technology. Here, some innovative partnerships between First Nations and Crown utilities have led the way toward what we might call green economic development. For example, the T’Sou-ke First Nation on Vancouver Island is Canada’s first Aboriginal solar community, producing enough solar electricity to power local homes and meet local agriculture, greenhouse and shellfish industry needs, while selling surplus power to the B.C. Hydro grid. In the process of becoming solar leaders, the T’Sou- ke have trained their youth so well they are now the “go- to workforce for the region’s solar projects,” according to Jonathan Kassian, former co-ordinator of Green Jobs BC. In her contribution to the conference, the CCPA-Man- itoba’s Lynne Fernandez wrote about a similarly innovative partnership between Aki Energy, an Aborigi- nal-owned social enterprise, and Manitoba Hydro. Aki Energy trains young Aboriginal people in the installa- tion of geothermal heating and cooling systems—a highly portable and in-demand skill—in northern First Na- tions communities. Given Manitoba’s cold winters, geothermal heating lowers energy bills dramatically, alleviating energy poverty in low-income communities. The initiative is also easing power demands on Manitoba Hy- dro, in some cases displacing GHGs if the previous heating source was oil or gas. Other participants to the jobs conference spoke of the need to get local and provincial governments, as well as large local businesses, to do more of their purchasing in-province. Simply put, when governments and businesses prioritize purchasing supplies, products and infrastructure (e.g., ships and buses) locally, more money circulates within the province and more jobs are created. In his presentation, Internet start-up entrepreneur Matt Toner discussed the Finnish model for incubating and nurturing new tech companies. He explains:

the government has carved out a series of public-pri- INSTITUTE PUBLIC BANKING vate mechanisms that have created a range of globally competitive technology companies to anchor their

31 innovation industry and economy at large…. Finland ͸ Government should expect and receive “healthy roy- has opted for direct up-front investments [in] new in- alties” from applied technology breakthroughs—returns tellectual properties wholly owned by Finnish compa- that could be re-invested in “innovation funds.” nies. This approach has been underpinned by a gov- Our university research institutions need resources ernment-controlled investment fund known as Tekes, ͸ to carve out “world class” expertise. But much better fol- the Finnish funding agency for investment. Of the 600 low-through is needed, or homegrown innovations will million euros invested annually, Tekes sets aside 70 end up leaving the province (as has often occurred in million euros for the computer games industry: over the past). the years, it has invested in more than 100 Finnish games companies through either loans or direct in- ͸ A future-oriented government should focus on the op- vestments.… Tekes makes rather large investments portunities that will come with the advent of 3D printing, in these new companies, which gives them the cap- nanotechnology and biotech. If a government can give ital needed to succeed on the world stage. Up to 1 companies that seek to adopt these technologies room million [euros] are made available per project as ei- to fail, perhaps by sharing some of the risk, we are more ther investments or loans: companies can apply for likely to find ourselves home to factories for those efforts several projects to make up a slate that can amortize that succeed. technology and talent in the most efficient ways. The There is a core need for government planning, particu- model is dynamic and flexible, allowing companies ͸ larly in the form of identifying the crosscutting challeng- to come forward with project proposals at any time. es and needs manufacturers will face with respect to in- Toner concludes, “It is time to re-examine the potential frastructure, human resources and skills, technology pri- role Crown partners can play in creating a made-in-B.C.- orities, etc. Undertaking such planning would be a source for-B.C. industrial strategy, one that favours the develop- of job growth. ment of local innovative companies.” As a major co-own- McFarlane proposes that state support of this kind can er of these companies, the public (as government) would and should come with a clear quid pro quo: companies have more control over their ultimately remaining in that benefit from government investment and infra- Canada and employing people here. structure should expect to pay reasonable taxes and roy- Entrepreneur Kenneth McFarlane shared his ideas for alties, and public support should be linked to the achieve- fostering local manufacturing. McFarlane is drawn to the ment of collective economic, social and environmental ideas of economist Mariana Mazzucato in her book The objectives, such as demonstrable job creation and the Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Sec- provision of higher wages. He warns, however, that B.C. tor Myths, which highlights the key role of government may lack the necessary pool of companies, venture cap- and public universities in driving such innovations as italists and entrepreneurs willing to foster an advanced the Internet, biotechnology, breakthrough pharmaceu- manufacturing sector as envisioned. Given this limita- ticals, the iPhone, nanotechnology and renewable ener- tion, and in line with Toner’s exploration of the Finnish gy. In most of these examples Mazzucato finds that the model, McFarlane recommends creating a new Crown public has borne (socialized) much of the risk while pri- corporation (or multiple new public enterprises) to help vate interests realized the profits. Clearly, the state needs lead the endeavour. to gain more from its stake and achieve a better return “Public enterprises are the most reliable means to en- on the public’s collective investment. sure that manufacturing operations remain in the prov- McFarlane proposes the following in his conference ince once they are established and that corporate earn- paper: ings are used for human resource development and local ͸ Use of a public development bank to directly invest in public services rather than primarily for the enrichment new enterprises, particularly “early-stage ventures” that of private owners,” he writes. A few key new Crown cor- normally have difficulty finding financing due to risk- porations would allow for better long-term planning, en- averse private lenders. sure the downstream benefits of risk-taking investments return to the public, and be in a position to anchor new clusters of private firms. Environmentalist and futurist Guy Dauncey is keen on the need for a particular kind of new state enterprise: public banks. The institution would likely not engage in Government should expect retail banking in the same manner as a regular bank or credit union (though it could), but would instead focus healthy royalties from applied on business development/investments and other policy technology breakthroughs— goals. In his paper for the conference, Dauncey notes that public banks are common throughout the world for their returns that could be re-invested many benefits, which include the following: in innovation funds.

32 ͸ When a public bank creates money (via the provision A public infrastructure bank of credit), the interest earned is returned to the public rather than to shareholders. offers an attractive vehicle ͸ The public Bank of North Dakota has a loan portfolio for financing badly needed of US$2.6 billion, has allowed the state to be debt free, government projects. and is credited with helping North Dakota maintain the lowest unemployment rate in the U.S. ͸ A public bank can support (with low-interest loans) community development funds, First Nations business development initiatives, social enterprises, community tax to $50 per tonne could raise $2.2 billion annually, half forestry initiatives, co-op start-ups, 100% renewable ener- of which could go to rebates for low-income families and gy projects, local farms, home and building energy retro- the other half to funding new public transit or building fits, and various other initiatives related to climate action. retrofits that bring down GHG emissions. Third, a public investment bank, as exists in North Da- A public bank could give low-interest or even inter- ͸ kota and elsewhere, offers an attractive vehicle for financ- est-free loans to students. ing badly needed (and climate-positive) government pro- ͸ A public bank would be able to offer financing for projects. It would also make sense for government to bor- vincial and municipal infrastructure projects, significant- row money and debt-finance such spending, amortizing ly lowering their interest costs. the cost over time. Even if our governments merely main- tained current capital spending as a share of GDP, bil- A public bank could issue low-interest loans to the ͸ lions of dollars in the coming years would become newly kinds of sector clusters described above by Toner and available for jobs- and development-oriented investment. McFarlane. All of which is to say, there is nothing tying us as a A new public bank could be capitalized from the reserves province to LNG and other fossil fuel projects. We have of existing Crown corporations and, once established, much better options—lots of them. We just need govern- quickly set to work undertaking the ideas above. ments prepared to be ambitious. Most importantly, we We also need to re-assert the role of public services— need our public leaders to recognize that many of these including new public services—in job creation. Lynell An- ideas—like a bold public transit or building retrofit plan, derson described to the CCPA conference how a compre- and capitalizing a public investment bank or innovation hensive public child care plan would have a number of fund—constitute elements of what should be an ambi- economic and employment spinoff benefits. For example, tious social and green infrastructure investment plan. it would lead to many more jobs with better pay for child They are also core elements of the Leap Manifesto, a care providers (and in a low-GHG service sector), signif- high-employment agenda for quickly transitioning the icantly boost women’s labour force participation, and Canadian economy away from fossil fuels (see the No- provide benefits to employers from reduced staff turno- vember-December issue of the Monitor). The alterna- ver to improved work-life balance. tive (i.e., status quo) on offer, which is to sink our money into new carbon infrastructure, is dangerous from the perspective of climate Paying for the plans change and unable to s mentioned, this is just a smattering of the more than address real job insecu- A 50 proposals explored during our one-day B.C. jobs con- rity. With all-time low ference in 2014. As a final word, let me return to the im- prices for oil, renewa- portant question of where the money would come from bles and borrowing, all to implement all of them. the prices are right to First, in some cases the initiatives pay for themselves make the leap to a new over time. When more people are working and earning economy today. M a good income, government will see a boost in tax rev- FOR MORE ON THE JOBS IDEAS DE- enues, making the up-front investments—think of the VELOPED HERE, SEE THE CCPA’S B.C. GOOD ECONOMY PROJECT AT child care example—well worth it. A Good Jobs Economy in BC WWW.POLICYALTERNATIVES.CA/ IDEAS FROM THE CCPA–BC'S JOBS CONFERENCE PROJECTS/GOOD-ECONOMY-PRO- Second, there are many ways a government could raise By Seth Klein FEBRUARY 2016 JECT. additional income, as the CCPA has proposed in the Al- ternative Federal Budget and as I outlined in my CCPA- BC paper with Iglika Ivanova, Progressive Tax Options for B.C.: Reform Ideas for Raising New Revenues and En- hancing Fairness. For example, increasing the B.C. carbon

33 New Economic Directions Jim Stanford Is slow growth inevitable? No way.

HE GLOBAL ECONOMY cannot seem likely, they will make things worse. I ty and quality of the goods and ser- to regain any sustained mo- think we should expect, and indeed vices we collectively produce. mentum, even eight years after demand, more—from our economy, Conventionally, economic growth the financial crisis and world- from employers and from govern- refers to an expansion in the value wide recession that broke out ment—not less. By advancing and of real (or inflation-adjusted) GDP. in 2008. Economic growth con- winning concrete demands for more In terms of its impact on the labour Ttinues to underperform and fore- incomes, more services and more sus- market, real GDP needs to grow by casts are continually revised down- tainability we can simultaneously fix 2% per year or more just to keep up ward. Government budgets around the stagnation, unemployment and with normal population and pro- the world, including in Canada, are underemployment that are damag- ductivity growth. Any slower than undermined by the stagnation in out- ing communities across the country. that, and unemployment will grow, put, incomes and tax revenues. Much whether reflected explicitly in official of the blame for this year’s expect- data or unofficially in underemployed $30-billion federal deficit, for ex- Growth and work ment, precarious work and non-par- ample, is due to the fact that, in the art of the issue here is understand- ticipation. wake of last year’s recession, Cana- P ing what we mean by growth: what In terms of its impact on living dian economic growth is so much is it and where does it come from? In standards, the effects of growth de- weaker than predicted in previous my book, Economics for Everyone (a pend totally on how new GDP is pro- forecasts. second edition was recently co-pub- duced and what it is used for. If higher Many economists have conclud- lished by the CCPA), I actually try to GDP is associated with higher profit ed that this sluggish state of affairs dispense with the term “growth.” I margins, which in turn are accumu- is somehow a “new normal” for the prefer to discuss “work.” Because it lated in undistributed corporate cash economy. They argue that slow is ultimately productive human ac- hoards or paid out in fat dividends to growth (and the fiscal pressures tivity (a.k.a. work, in all its varied well-off investors, then growth may that result) is more or less inevita- forms) that determines the quanti- accomplish nothing. And if high- ble, reflecting a range of supposed- er GDP is generated through exten- ly rational causes including slow- sive resource exploitation, sucking er population growth, sluggish pro- more value out of a non-renewable ductivity, weak investor confidence, resource base and ignoring the need etc. Their policy conclusion is dismal: for conservation and amelioration, we all must ratchet down our expec- then it will certainly be associated tations, including what we expect There are many with continued environmental deg- from government, to reflect this grit- radation. ty reality. Even some progressives other ways an On the other hand, there are many seem to accept that slow growth is economy can other ways an economy can “grow” an inevitable feature of the econom- and a country’s real GDP increase. It ic outlook. Some with an environ- “grow” and a could happen, for example, through mentalist perspective may actual- country’s real a major expansion in human servic- ly welcome it, since they associate es delivery (e.g., child care, elder care, economic growth with ecological GDP increase. It education and culture). Proper pro- destruction, and hence less growth could happen, for grams in these areas would create must mean less destruction. hundreds of thousands of new jobs, I disagree on all counts. I do not example, through tens of billions of dollars in new in- think that slow growth is natural, in- a major expansion comes, and many billions in reve- evitable or desirable. I do not think nues for government—not to men- that stagnation and recession will in human services tion delivering services that are valu- fix environmental problems; more delivery. able and life-enhancing in their own 34 regard. GDP might also grow because During the Second World War, new sources ral environment: we need access to of huge investments in public capital of labour supply were identified and natural resources as inputs for all the and physical infrastructure—things mobilized—women in particular, whose work we do, and we need a sustain- like utilities, affordable housing, ed- formal paid work now supplemented the able, healthy environment in which ucation and cultural facilities, and unpaid work they were doing at home. to live and work. So our economic re- parks. covery plan has to value the environ- Properly managed, these types of vironment. And there is no shortage ment and its resources, and regulate growth are largely benign in their en- of people who want—and need—to both production and consumption vironmental impact. Even better, real perform that work; people who are decisions to reflect and preserve en- GDP could also be increased through hungry for decent jobs and the eco- vironmental wealth. environmental enhancements such nomic security, self-worth and social The other constraint is our willing- as energy-saving building retrofits, connection that good work brings. So ness and availability to work. We are renewable energy supplies, clean- let’s imagine an ambitious economic more educated and productive than ing up pollution and creating or ex- recovery plan predicated simply on ever before. But counting underem- panding public transit. These activi- matching unmet needs with our ca- ployment and hidden unemploy- ties generate “value-added,” employ- pacity to work and produce. If we do ment, there are at least 2.5 million ment, incomes and taxes as surely as that, the economy (measured by real people unemployed in Canada today. any bitumen mine or smoke-belching GDP) will “grow,” but growth will be Giving them productive, useful jobs factory would, yet they leave the en- a side effect, not the motive, for the would power a 15% increase in total vironment in better shape, not worse. work we are doing. employment, generate around $300 There is no shortage of work to Ultimately, there are only two con- billion per year in extra value-add- do in our society, a lot of it related straints stopping us from achieving ed, and add around $100 billion per to caring for each other and the en- that better future. One is the natu- year to government revenues. We are 35 miles away from a situation where our capacity to produce is truly constrained by a shortage of labour. THE AFB CASE FOR Modern-day capitalism is certainly not managed in order to maximize growth—quite the opposite. The top goal of current economic gov- JOBS-LED GROWTH ernance is to reinforce the wealth and power of well-off people, and the companies and institutions they own. In fact, “growth” has been consistently sacrificed to those other priorities since the The macroeconomic goal dawn of neoliberalism nearly four decades ago. of the AFB is to drive Interest rates are cranked up whenever growth gets “out of hand,” workers are structurally dis- employment growth. empowered through de-unionization and precari- At its peak, the Alternative Federal Budget will result in ous work, and endless austerity is imposed in the 520,000 new jobs, leading to wage-led nominal GDP growth public sphere. These are all anti-growth policies. of 5.4% in 2017. Unemployment will drop to 6% and the Our response to the resulting hardships and employment rate will surpass 63% for the first time since outrages should not be to reify “growth” or seek the Great Recession. expansion for its own sake. Instead, we should simply demand our right to work for the things The strength behind the AFB recovery in 2016 is much we need in life: the goods and services we need to higher government expenditures targeted to have the consume, the services and facilities we need in our most impact. Major investments in physical infrastructure communities and public spaces, and the sustain- and support for social programs and low-income ability we need in our environment. households form its basis. In total the AFB increases There is an apt historical precedent for the type federal expenditures by $74.4 billion, raising the total of recovery plan I am imagining. The last time expenditure-to-GDP ratio to 17.1% in 2016–17. This level the whole world was engulfed by a breakdown was previously seen in 1999. of speculative finance, the global economy limped To pay for these new expenditures, the AFB proposes through what would have felt like an endless dec- measures that would increase revenues to 16.5% of GDP ade of painful recession. That was, of course, the in 2016–17, comparable to where they were in 2000 1929 stock market crash and subsequent Great De- and before. Additional revenues are raised by closing pression. Conventional policy responses repeated- tax loopholes for the wealthy, taxing tax havens, raising ly failed to rekindle economic momentum. A dec- corporate taxes, introducing a national carbon tax and ade of hopelessness and hardship produced polit- ceasing subsidies to the energy industry. Increasing GDP ical polarization, intolerance, and ultimately war. through targeted expenditures will put more people to work (This is sounding frighteningly familiar to any- who, in turn, will pay more taxes back to the government. one who has been following the U.S. primaries.) The AFB raises an additional $4.2 billion in 2016–17 as a Ironically, and tragically for the millions of sol- result of this virtuous cycle. diers and civilians killed, the outbreak of world war actually led to an improvement in incomes, While new tax measures help buffer the cost of new living conditions and health for average people program spending, the AFB books a deficit of $37.9 billion back on the western home front. How? Govern- in 2016–17, declining to $23.6 billion by 2018–19, to ment sidestepped the normal logic of economic put people back to work and grow the economy. This decision-making under capitalism: namely, that is not far from $29.2-billion deficit for 2016–17 that is something should be done only if it is profitable expected in the 2016 federal budget (it was $29.4 billion for a private company to do it. Instead, things were – ed.), including Liberal platform measures. To put the AFB being done because they were considered to be deficit into perspective, it amounts to 1.8% of GDP, which essential. The overarching importance of defeat- is relatively smaller than any federal deficit between ing fascism created a political consensus that all 1972 and 1996. possible resources had to be directed to the war At the same time, the AFB generates growth sufficient effort. Need, not profit, guided production deci- to offset the increase in federal debt. By growing the sions. (Of course, the Second World War was prof- economy and employing more Canadians, the AFB can itable for many private businesses—in both the enhance public services and offer additional help for the fighting and the subsequent reconstruction—but most vulnerable while maintaining Canada’s debt-to-GDP that is not ultimately why that war was fought.) ratio at 31%. Government planners threw every resource available at the war effort. Unemployment disappeared within months. New sources of labour supply were identified and mobilized—women in 36 particular, whose formal paid work now supplemented the unpaid work they were doing at home. Despite the taxes and rationing associated with the wartime economy, incomes grew, nutrition improved and life expec- tancy (again, for non-combatants) grew. Money was never a constraint on what could be done. Innovative financing methods were developed to pay the bills. The only factor limit- ing production was the availability of labour. Far-reaching economic planning and regulations (encouraged by feisty trade unionists, women, workers of colour, and other traditionally exploited groups) helped to distrib- ute incomes fairly, and to allocate both scarce resources and consumer goods.

Financing new growth oney is no constraint on what our M economy could accomplish today, either. We have learned, in recent years, that private financial institutions create unconstrained amounts of credit money out of thin air, whenever it suits their profit-driven lend- ing business to do so. Under quanti- TONY BIDDLE (PERFECT WORLD DESIGN) tative easing, it was proven once and for all that public credit institutions es would be paid, the environment wage-led nominal GDP growth of can do the same thing. (As yet, that would be protected, and real GDP 5.4% in 2017,” says the 2016 report. public credit-creating power has not would grow rapidly, though, again, All of these measures are motivat- been applied in truly democratic or that’s not the point. ed by our common goals of creating productive ways, probably for fear Of course, there are many prob- jobs, fostering work, generating in- of offending traditional sensibilities lems and challenges associated with comes, and wisely using the wealth about private property rights and an all-out economic mobilization of that we subsequently produce to “hard budget constraints.”) the sort associated with the Second improve human and environmental New talk of “helicopter money” World War. But the basic point, that well-being. strategies—whereby a central bank every economic resource, and every In sum, demanding our right to would create new credit and direct- willing worker, can be put to work work, to produce valuable goods and ly inject it into the real economy to when society decides it’s important, services, to generate incomes and pay support investment, government is valid in every economic context. our taxes, fundamentally challeng- programs or consumption—con- And short of a desperate national ef- es the failures of the current econ- firms that if we collectively decide fort like the war, there are many in- omy—and the current economic de- we need it, and enforce our will on cremental ways in which economic cision-making process—to mobilize our political and monetary leaders, policy could be reformed to prioritize resources and meet our human and we could create all the money need- job creation and the mobilization of environmental needs. The prevailing ed to finance real, productive work. idle resources, thus giving unem- pessimism of existing economic fore- So long as millions are languishing ployed and underemployed people casts can and should be rejected. We without a job, there does not appear in Canada the opportunity to work don’t need to accept a world in which to be a good argument against doing and produce to their fullest possible unemployment, underemployment so. To the contrary, if it helps us put extent. Many of them can be found and stagnation are the norm. They an end to pollution (including green- in the Alternative Federal Budget (see certainly are not inevitable. And we house gases) and poverty, an all-out sidebar). “At its peak, the AFB will re- can expect more from our economy, mobilization seems like a no-brain- sult in 520,000 new jobs, leading to and the elites who are running it. M er. Living standards would grow, tax- 37 Pop culture

FRACKING

Chris Lackner A worthy Enterprise ILLUSTRATION BY REMIE GEOFFROI At age 50, Star Trek plots our course toward a better tomorrow

O BOLDLY GO where no one has manity could use a healthy dose of Generation Companion and the pop- gone before.” It’s the mission the space saga’s idealism. The origi- ular blog Trekland. Steeped in the statement of the starship nal series’ tenets of social justice feel gospel of multiculturalism and lib- Enterprise, part of a pledge just as relevant as they did in 1966— eralism, Blackmore calls the show a to “explore strange new at the height of the Vietnam War and much-needed “peace thought exper- worlds.” But on Star Trek’s civil rights movement. iment.” Case and point, the series “T50th anniversary, the franchise’s opti- “Star Trek articulated social ide- catchphrase: “set phasers to stun.” mistic vision for the future could help als of tolerance and equality, of un- Even when force is required, it’s re- us plot a course correction on Earth. derstanding and negotiating differ- strained, and only a tool for negotia- Here and now. ence instead of war…where the solution and settlement. “Star Trek was an attempt to say tions were usually divided between When it debuted on September 8, that humanity will reach maturity the head and the heart—you know, 1966, Star Trek was a landmark for ra- and wisdom on the day that it begins Spock and Kirk,” says Tim Blackmore, cial and cultural diversity. For start- not just to tolerate, but take a special a professor of information and media ers, despite Cold War tensions, Cap- delight in differences in ideas and dif- studies at Western University. Star tain Kirk’s crew included Russian Pav- ferences in life forms,” series creator, Trek subtly used sci-fi to explore the el Chekov (played by Walter Koenig) the late Gene Roddenberry, wrote in era’s hot-button issues. and an Asian helmsman named Sulu The Star Trek Philosophy. The show’s United Federation of (George Takei). Then there was Uhu- The daily headlines—from Trump Planets is essentially a utopic, “glo- ra (Nichelle Nichols), the Enterprise’s to terror, refugees to xenophobia— rified, galactic United Nations,” says black lieutenant, who would make would suggest our species is a long Larry Nemecek, a Trek historian and history with Captain Kirk (William way from that kind of maturity. Hu- author of both Star Trek: The Next Shatner) in the medium’s first inter- 38 racial kiss. (The episode was blocked Kirk serving as a reluctant peace en- ending hunger, poverty and consum- from the air in parts of the Ameri- voy between humans and Klingons, erism. The envelope of tolerance was can South.) Roddenberry deftly com- whom he blames for the death of his also pushed. A cognitive being was a mented on real-world inequities from son. “They’re animals.... Don’t believe cognitive being, whether human, ma- the safety of the 23rd century. them. Don’t trust them,” Kirk says of chine, crystal or hologram. The franchise’s gizmos, from com- his sworn enemies. “Let them die!” he Nemecek also singles out the im- municators to wireless data pads, rages at one point, before asking his portant addition of a ship’s counsel- influenced the design of everything audio journal, “How on earth can his- lor on the bridge, an advocacy for the from flip phones to tablets. But it tory get past people like me?” importance of mental health. And used the soft power of culture to But, of course, Kirk does get past the ship’s new civilian saucer section open people’s minds. “The stories his own history, and helps usher in an stressed family; officers no longer had were about the human pursuit for a era of peace. “It’s easy if nobody has to choose careers over loved ones. better world, a better way of being, been hurt, it’s easy to say we’ll all just Clearly Trek has a lot to teach us. the next step up the ladder of sen- get along,” Blackmore says of Kirk’s Fittingly, the franchise is the subject tience,” former Trek writer David Ger- sacrificial position. “War is easy, but of a new, interactive museum exhib- rold wrote on Facebook in 2015, hail- it costs a lot to make peace.” it in Ottawa. The Starfleet Academy ing Roddenberry as “one of the great And when Star Trek: The Next Gen- Experience debuts May 13 at the Can- social justice warriors.” eration (TNG) bowed in 1987, a Klingon ada Aviation and Space Museum. It Watching an inclusive, fiction- was now serving on the Enterprise. Co- finds patrons playing cadets as they al space vessel from the comfort of incidentally, two years later, the Ber- learn the ropes in departments like their own homes helped some peo- lin Wall fell. “The stories weren’t about science, engineering and command. ple grapple with changing work- who we were going to fight, but who But not everyone is a good student. places, Blackmore explains. “It of- we were going to make friends with,” The new J.J. Abrams Trek films, while fered a model to understand work- Gerrold explained. “It wasn’t about de- popular at the box office, have relied ing through difference.” Aliens and fining an enemy—it was about creat- heavily on action—straying from androids become metaphors for hu- ing a new partnership.” Roddenberry’s emphasis on social manity’s own diversity. On TNG, Roddenberry pushed his justice. That’s why CBS’s new, un- One of the franchise’s most in- universe ahead 80 years, showing named Star Trek series, set to launch structive lessons occurs in Star Trek even more progress. Replicators cre- in 2017, holds such promise for true VI: The Undiscovered Country, with ated food and clothing, ostensibly fans. It can right a wrong. Nemecek

Jarrah Hodge To go a little more boldly

In 1975, New Jersey resident Roddenberry’s response making the captain’s secre- sity in Infinite Combinations. Margaret M. Bailey wrote to Star to Bailey’s letter (their corre- tary-valet (the yeoman) a wom- But as Roddenberry acknowl- Trek creator Gene Roddenberry spondence can be found in Su- an. I think if we did begin to- edged, he and others were to outline her concerns about san Sackett’s 1976 book Letters day we would start off more ad- working from the standpoint the representation of wom- to Star Trek) acknowledged The vanced than we were able to at of 20th and 21st century humans en on the show, then in syndi- Original Series could have done the time.” living in a society and working cation. “It is not very pleasant better when it came to wom- Trek’s creators, producers, in an industry where diversi- to see one’s sex portrayed as en. “We didn’t use women as directors and writers gave us ty and equality were definite- weaker and less reliable, always strongly as we might have,” he more than 700 hours of TV ly not the norm. relying on the other sex, which wrote. “We did have women and film about a future where Fortunately, Bailey was not is strong, dependable and al- lieutenants, women attorneys. humanity embraces the Vul- the only viewer to express how ways professional,” she said. We often fell into the trap of can philosophy: Infinite Diver- she loved the show but wished 39 it would do better at includ- Racial representation also im- dering if the franchise had sold Star Trek up to speed in this re- ing everyone in its utopian vi- proved, particularly with Deep out its social conscience. spect. sion of the future. Star Trek fan Space Nine’s Captain Benjamin Had fans not discussed the Star Trek also needs to do bet- critique has existed for almost Sisko, who not only command- show’s progressive vision at ter at discussing mental health. as long as the franchise itself, ed a space station and ship; just conventions, and in letters, fan- Though Star Trek had counsel- and producers took many of as importantly he was shown to zines and online, it’s possible lors, the patients they treated the concerns to heart. There be a loving, single father to his the franchise would not have (e.g., TNG’s Barclay) and their were three women in the main son. Even in the 1990s, it was evolved and endured as it has conditions were often played cast of Roddenberry’s Star Trek: a rare, positive representation over the past 50 years. A new for laughs. When the issue is The Next Generation (TNG), of black masculinity. Star Trek TV series, coming in handled seriously, as with Cap- launched in 1989, including a Unfortunately, Voyager’s at- 2017, is a chance to get back tain Janeway’s depression, it is doctor, counsellor and securi- tempt to create an Indigenous on track. neatly wrapped up by the next ty chief. Gone were the girl-Fri- main character was less suc- To start, Star Trek needs LG- episode. Star Trek has an oppor- day-esque yeomen—you could cessful. First Officer Chako- BTQ characters. Although a few tunity to help fight stigma by even see both men and wom- tay was played by a non-Na- past episodes have addressed more accurately and respectful- en in the background wearing tive actor and mainly embod- the themes of sexual orienta- ly depicting what it’s like to ex- dresses as a uniform option! ied well-intentioned but inac- tion and gender identity, Star perience mental health issues. Later, in Deep Space Nine and curate Hollywood stereotypes. Trek has never had an openly If Star Trek can go more bold- Voyager, women took on even Further progress stalled in the gay, lesbian or trans main char- ly than it has in the past, if it can more significant roles, both as early 2000s with the whiter, acter. They haven’t even shown reaffirm its core progressive heroes (from First Officer Kira maler prequel series Enter- two men or two women hold- values by better representing Nerys to Chief Engineer B’Elan- prise. Most recently, the ac- ing hands in the background! our society’s diversity, there’s na Torres and Captain Kathryn tion-packed reboot movies Star Many fans expect that new se- no question that new genera- Janeway) and villains (Kai Winn Trek (2009) and Star Trek: Into ries showrunner Bryan Fuller, tions of fans will be celebrat- Adami and the Borg Queen). Darkness had many fans won- himself openly gay, will bring ing Trek’s 100th in 2066.

is encouraged that Bryan Fuller has Star Trek’s power is best expressed overpopulating it, racial strife…that taken the captain’s chair as show- in the profound global reaction to the we would just kill each other.” runner. Acclaimed for artistic, intel- 2015 death of Leonard Nimoy, the ac- Sound familiar? On its 50th birth- ligent series like Hannibal and Push- tor who played Spock. The media al- day, the franchise may again offer a ing Daisies, Fuller earned his stripes most treated it like the death of a safe point of entry into discussing as a writer on Star Trek: Deep Space great humanitarian; the outpour- vital issues. To properly re-launch, Nine and Voyager. ing of loss from fans was palpable. the series must again push buttons “He is a push-the-envelope kind of “It was like we lost Spock, too,” Black- on gender, religion, race, politics and guy,” Nemecek says. “He is not afraid more explains. “Leonard turned out military action. to take on issues and to tell great sto- to be a very thoughtful, good human The key to Roddenberry’s success ries.” Speaking of new frontiers, the being. It was a case of life mirroring was never preaching. Values were franchise has never had a main char- art. The two became one.” taught via homily and fairy tale. “Star acter that is openly gay, lesbian, bi- Having appeared in two series, and Trek can get back to what it did first sexual or transgender. So, there’s one even Abrams’ movie reboot, Spock and best—serve as a beacon of hope barrier Fuller can shatter at warp was the soul of the franchise. He for a better future in a dark time,” speed. “I’d love to see the show push embodied Roddenberry’s call to our Nemecek says. “And show the possi- back from capitalism and turn away better selves. “He’s sort of the better bilities of technology and rationality from consumerism,” Blackmore adds. us, the person who we wish we could over myth and fear.” In a pop culture laden with zombies be—who is a rationalist, but at the No one puts it better than Rodden- and dystopias, a little hope goes a long same time has a human part of him berry himself: “If we cannot learn to way. “Post-apocalyptic storytelling is that knows the right thing to do,” actually enjoy those small differenc- dramatic, but it isn’t giving anything Blackmore says. People somehow es, to take a positive delight in those for people to hold on to,” Nemecek took comfort in “a living Spock.” With small differences between our own explains. “Star Trek offers a different luck, the new series can find anoth- kind, here on this planet, then we do kind of future. People can take hope er similarly transcending character. not deserve to go out into space and that we will not only survive, but Star Trek was born in a time when meet the diversity that is almost cer- thrive…and go to the stars and meet “we all worried that the human race tainly out there.”. M others. Underlying everything is the wasn’t going to make it,” Nemecek idea that we don’t just tolerate diver- says. “People worried about nuclear sity, but we celebrate it.” holocaust, or poisoning the planet, or 40 History and politics Christopher Schultz and Jonathan Weier Putting the past to use The First World War, active/ist history and political partisanship

URING THE 2015 federal election, al-conservative binary that is too eas- have known for a long time. But they Winnipeg NDP candidate Matt ily adopted in public discourse. are perhaps taking it more serious- Henderson posted a series of These, at least, are the observa- ly today as their venerable practice pictures of supporters holding tions of two Canadian historians. is repeatedly disparaged and deval- up signs expressing their pri- What follows are their reflections on ued through draconian budget cuts, orities and desires for the com- a conference on history and its politi- a focus on STEM disciplines (science, Ding vote. In one of them two school- cal implications, a disappointing elec- technology, engineering and mathe- age girls, Marie and Dasa Silhova (pic- tion campaign, and a vision for the matics), and the priority on revenue tured), hold a sign that reads: “Histo- future of Canada’s political left and generation among university admin- ry Matters: I stand with Matt.” its (historical, and hopefully histor- istrations. Like in other academic dis- As a history teacher at St. John’s-Ra- ically informed) allies in the future. ciplines, history’s desire to reinvig- venscourt School in Winnipeg, Hen- orate itself, to make itself relevant derson has long advocated for the again, has become a central preoc- meaningful participation by histo- Public versus active history cupation of the practice. rians in Canadian public policy and istory is a political act. This is We can see one avenue for this re- through active engagement with Ca- H something historians in Canada invigoration in the modest prolifera- nadian society more broadly. His run for office was a self-conscious act of public engagement—a political act— with repercussions well beyond the classroom. His campaign centred on the idea that to truly put today’s pressing social, economic and political concerns in context we need historical knowledge. The Hendersons of this country are increasingly hard to come by. Historians have retreated from major public debates or else couched themselves in the cool detachment of objective fact-finding. Rare are the occasions when a historian recalls to us the forgotten potential of yester- day and why it might matter today; rarer still is the politician who adopts with fidelity the historical lens. History and politics are due for realignment, but in a new—or rather, old—way. A third way combining a marked return to principles with an eschewing by practitioners, both political and historical, of the liber-

Marie and Dasa Silhova hold a sign during the 2015 federal election. PHOTO COURTESY MATT HENDERSON 41 tion of “public history” programs—a prevailing ideologies where histories German prisoners at one of Canada's term that speaks volumes about the of war and conflict in Canada are con- First World War internment camps. degree to which history has retreat- cerned. ed from public discourse. These pro- We were invited to help celebrate grams tend to be practical and job-ori- our series, which was positively re- ented, focused on curating, museolo- ceived, at this past October’s Active- from being the subject of too many gy, digital history and the like. A par- History.ca conference, called “New myths, too little context, and not allel movement in the discipline has Directions in Active History” and enough harsh criticism. Our co-pan- seen emerging scholars using history conveniently timed with a federal ellists, representing the Great War as a means of shaping and providing election looming. We accepted and Centenary Association of Brant- deeper meaning to today’s politics. made our way to Western Univer- ford, Brant County and Six Nations, This practice, known as “active his- sity in London, Ontario, where his- agreed wholeheartedly with our as- tory,” has found an important home torians—professional and amateur sessment. They illustrated how a sin- at ActiveHistory.ca, the website of a alike—gathered to answer the impor- gle region contained many compet- loose group of historians dedicated tant question: What is active histo- ing interests, and how they had in- to making history relevant to today’s ry? For us, being “active” historians corporated the resulting complex political landscape. is synonymous with being “activist” web into a high school curriculum We come into this discussion as cu- historians. to great success. rators, editors and occasional con- We argued there is nothing fun- tributors, along with Sarah Glass- damentally untrue or even neces- ford and Nathan Smith, of a series Myths and whispers from time sarily morally wrong in presenting of articles and essays hosted on Ac- he conference was enlightening the First World War as an important tiveHistory.ca called “Canada’s First T and in many ways validated our point in Canadian national history. It World War.” From its outset, the se- feelings about histories of war and was. It had a profound effect on Can- ries was explicitly political—not in conflict in this country. As we told the ada’s future trajectory, both from the the sense of addressing politics, spe- gathering, our public understanding traditional statehood perspective of cifically, but rather as a response to of the First World War has suffered Canada asserting itself internation- 42 ally, and from the progressive stance Worse still, descendants of German rediscover the values that informed of the evolution of a more encom- and especially Austro-Hungarian set- the democratic socialism and politi- passing and compassionate welfare tlers of Ukrainian descent were har- cal radicalism of the immediate post- state. However, we added that the assed, had their businesses shunned war period. event had become mythologized to or vandalized, and were arrested and The success of our series on the the point of oversimplification. interned. First World War, which has attract- On the one hand, nationalists We have also largely forgotten that ed nearly 40 contributions and an ex- trumpet the patriotic fervour of a the First World War was a major cat- tensive readership, shows there is a nation coming into its own, usually alyst for the 1919 Winnipeg Gener- hunger for these stories. Our “active” through bloody perseverance. This al Strike, while inspiring the politi- or “activist” history appears to have is where one encounters conserva- cal activism of J.S. Woodsworth and been embraced by many in our field tive myths about Canada “punching other early leaders of the modern of study in Canada and internation- above its weight,” or being a “warri- Canadian left. The general unrest in ally. Adherents of the political left are or nation.” The flipside of that coin is the wake of the war was essentially evidently as tired as we are with the the more liberal stance, which speaks about civil liberties such as freedom simplistic narratives of a progressive of the reluctant civilian-soldiers who of association, assembly and expres- nation we call Canada. persevered, in spite of the tragedy of sion, as well as collective bargaining Complexity and variety enrich- warfare, to liberate the victims of tyr- rights. These, the cornerstones of es Canadian history. At the October anny and produce a more caring Can- most democratic nations, are now conference we learned that the split ada in its aftermath. It was a steep enshrined in the Canadian Charter of the Thames River in southwest- “learning curve,” as the story goes, of Rights and Freedoms. When peo- ern Ontario was an important his- but our liberal ways triumphed over ple write of veterans preserving our torical territory for the Indigenous the rigid systems of our despotic en- rights and freedoms they usually Anishnabeg peoples. Some local rep- emies and our imperial allies. omit that it did not happen by fight- resentatives welcomed us, taught us Forgotten in both interpretations ing tyranny “over there.” It happened their prayers for the health of the of the Great War is a landscape of right here in Canada, after the war, as Earth, and provided very practical tragedy it produced far from the a result of concerted social struggle. suggestions on how to be allies in a Western Front, and of winding roads Politicians, including those on the global environmental struggle. Alli- not taken. It is easy, for instance, to left of the spectrum, rarely tell these ance and solidarity were key themes point to women’s suffrage as a pro- histories. At the ActiveHistory.ca of the conference. gressive institution emerging from conference in October we argued the Perhaps the most recurring theme the war, until one realizes that the principles of social justice, equity and was how to listen to the murmur of vote for women was introduced in or- solidarity, which formed the basis for those quieter, historically forgotten der to gerrymander an election. So the political left, have been forgotten. or ignored voices, and to help amplify did (some) women get a foot in the To remember them we would need to them in their own words. Some told door? Yes. Was it done in the name of delve deeply into our collective his- stories of buried generational trau- equality? Absolutely not. At the time, tory, put Canada in a global context mas; others of the greater construc- the decision preserved the status quo of imperialism and colonialism, and tions of race, gender and class. We interests of Borden’s Conservative, were asked to listen well, and we did. white, male government. This complexity is lost in mythologized ver- It is easy to point sions of Canadian history. History by majority The same can be said of the First to women’s t the same time, the question inev- World War role of black and Indige- suffrage as a A itably arose: we may be listening, nous veterans, many of whom were but is anybody else? Are we merely left in abject poverty by the state progressive preaching to the choir? Have we al- they had served loyally. Black veter- institution ready ceded too much of the public ans, mostly descended from Loyal- discourse to others such that they ists of the previous century, suffered emerging from take extreme liberties with the mes- a particularly stinging ignominy. In- the war, until one sages and the media for transmitting digenous vets were rewarded with them? the loss of their treaty rights and In- realizes that the We faced that dilemma when, after dian status. vote for women conceiving our project for the war’s Very little of the official liber- centennial, we proposed it to a ma- al-conservative narrative touch- was introduced jor national newspaper. While the es on the widespread vilification of in order to editors liked the idea of a series on pacifist minorities like the Doukho- the complexities of the First World bors, Mennonites, Quakers and un- gerrymander an War, there were concerns the public affiliated conscientious objectors. election. would find it too challenging—not in 43 the sense of writing style, but rather We risk gambling ing both the warrior and peacekeeper in content. They worried their audi- myths of liberal-conservative inter- ence would not be receptive to some away our past, pretations. The Co-operative Com- of the materials we hoped to present. and our future, monwealth Federation (CCF), the pre- The circular logic in that line of cursor to the NDP, was founded on thinking bothered us. If a news agen- by reducing pacifist principles—not tough talk, cy takes its cues from the public on history to popular ultimatums and interventionism. what it reports, is it not reinforcing There is nothing inferior or flawed in and systematically narrowing the entertainment. this idea, but somehow we have let scope of what is publicly deemed to ourselves believe the former is par- be important, thus creating a mutu- imperialist purposes. They are also tisan and the latter objective fact. In ally reactionary system? We suggest- widely viewed as important com- other words, that peace is too ideo- ed to the October conference this is ponents of the educational institu- logical while Liberal and Conserva- exactly what is happening. And so tions of any country, alongside public tive narratives are more practical. It we were naturally surprised to find libraries, community resources and is time to embrace the fact they are that several attendees, most of them public education. Our universities all partisan positions. from the museum sector, shared the are currently drowning in this kind The Vermont Senator Bernie Sand- news editors’ ideas about historical of marketplace doublespeak. Grants ers has run a successful presidential knowledge. and scholarships are increasingly campaign based on strong princi- Public consultation has become being given only to projects with an ples and a clear message about the a central preoccupation of Canadi- immediate, tangible—insert “finan- values inherent in democratic social- an museums. Visitors are polled and cial”—impact. Student evaluations ism. Whether or not he becomes the re-polled on their opinions to inform and other metrics only reinforce this Democratic Party’s nominee for U.S. the creation of exhibits, displays and quarterly mentality ripped from the president, he has forced his party to even whole venues. This approach business world. reconnect with issues long ignored in can yield results, especially when his- Public history can be an important national elections. In contrast, dur- torian-curators are too cautious and step in a process by which history being the Canadian elections last year, the public craves more challenging comes more accessible, more mean- the NDP presented voters with a con- materials. Catering to the majority ingful and more responsive to the voluted platform designed to appeal also comes with severe limitations. needs of society at large. But it does to the centre rather than stake out a Many at the conference applaud- not necessarily demand a re-exami- position on the left. It is instructive ed these efforts of public history to nation of history in political terms, the strategy failed. connect with the public. As a com- nor does it seek to insert history into One of the most interesting as- pliment to the methodology, we ap- political fora more broadly. This can pects of the October 19 federal elec- plaud them as well. In that it shuns a lead us to the trap of “results-driven” tion is that Canadians expressed a meaningful commitment to the type ideologies that make our work as his- clear desire for change. Yet they em- of listening expected in the interests torians beholden to the status quo braced a status-quo party led by a of a more global solidarity, we are rather than an effort to challenge it. member of one of Canada’s most po- less impressed. This is another form litically and economically elite fam- of populist history, highly suscepti- ilies. When faced with a choice be- ble to complaints of circularity and Finding deeper roots on the left tween the Liberals and the NDP, tautology. here are lessons to be learned from those who wanted change chose the More importantly, one has to pon- T this debate about history for Cana- Liberals, to whom the NDP had ced- der the end game of this approach to da’s political left. We are being lulled ed much left-of-centre territory. The history. In the desperate effort to re- by forces that have absolutely no NDP tried to insert itself into a Liber- invigorate the lost prestige of the hu- sympathy for the historical princi- al narrative. Canadians voted for the manities and social sciences, the rush ples that founded leftist movements. real thing instead. to create a clientele and a product If “history matters,” as both Hender- We do not raise this out of a pre- of our civically oriented disciplines son and ActiveHistory.ca would ar- occupation with winning elections. would devalue them further. If the gue, then the political left needs to That would be the very definition Canadian Museum of History has the reimagine itself in terms of its past of results-driven ideology. Winning Casino du Lac Leamy as its greatest politics and work from there. It’s not comes in time, but only after a long marketplace competitor then we are enough to appeal to populism in the and challenging effort to create a new in the wrong “marketplace” entire- sense of merely saying what people narrative, to show that the system as ly. We risk gambling away our past, want to be told. Just because a cause it exists is not working for most peo- and our future, by reducing history is unpopular does not mean it should ple. Nobody does long and challeng- to popular entertainment. not be championed. ing like historians. In the classroom Museums can be tools of ideolo- In relation to Canada’s histories of and on the street, it’s time for Cana- gy and were frequently created for war and conflict this means eschew- da’s active historians to step up. M 44 International aid Jennie-Laure Sully Canada, Haiti and the Pygmalion complex

HY DID YOU take my in- Haiti that continue to disturb me to- When people in a position of pow- dependence from me? day. er set out to help less fortunate peo- Why did I give it up? In Pygmalion, Eliza’s fate is sealed ple from a different culture, class or I’m a slave now, for all when Higgins and Pickering, two race, are they not a bit like Higgins my fine clothes.” distinguished members of London’s and Pickering, playing with their fa- I often recall those smug upper class, make a bet they vourite toys? “Wtwo questions, their sad assessment, can take the girl out of the gutter and On January 31 and February 1, 2003, when I think back to some of the transform her into a duchess. Wheth- Canadian, U.S. and French govern- women I met in Port-au-Prince, Hai- er or not their intentions are good, ment officials sat down in Ottawa to ti during an international health con- the two men are undeniably preju- discuss the future of Haiti. No Hai- ference in October 2012. It’s not that diced toward the poverty-stricken tian representatives were present. It anyone spoke them directly while I pupil, who has no say in the matter was a bit like a high-stakes game of was in the country (I was on the or- of her own transformation. Eliza be- Risk, with the outcome that, in 2004, ganizing committee for the confer- comes an obsessive project for her 530 real Canadian soldiers would be ence). As a matter of fact, they are self-proclaimed mentors, who are “al- sent to help overthrow Haiti’s demo- from the final act of George Bernard ways talking, teaching, dressing and cratically elected government, led at Shaw’s classic play Pygmalion, spo- inventing” her anew. Another char- ken by Eliza, the flower girl turned acter, Higgins’ mother, perfectly de- Canadian soldiers discuss a civil-military elite socialite of early-20th century scribes their role in Eliza’s life when co-operation project with school leaders in London. It’s the parallels between she compares the men to “two big ba- Port-au-Prince, Haiti, September 2013. Eliza’s situation and that of modern bies playing with their live doll.” MCPL MARC-ANDRÉ GAUDREAULT, CANADIAN FORCES

45 the time by Jean-Bertrand Aristide. al-based Centre for International neault, whose books have denounced In the decade that followed, Canada Studies and Co-operation (CECI), and Canadian companies involved in off- has been involved in Haiti in a variety Dominique Anglade, the daughter of shore tax havens and controversial of ways that have, to some extent, ob- Haitian-born feminist Mireille Nep- mining practices in Africa. scured the coup, but whose effective- tune and ex-Haitian political advisor Dominique Anglade was elect- ness—and legitimacy—can be chal- George Anglade, who both lost their ed to the National Assembly in 2015 lenged in their own right. lives in the 2010 earthquake while va- and appointed Minister of Economy, In 2005, Canada spent $22.5 million cationing in Haiti. Science and Innovation by Premier to establish the country’s post-coup Also at Concordia that September Philippe Couillard. Kanpe, the NGO electoral infrastructure; there have evening was Johanne St-Onge, who she founded in 2010, is well known in been consistent reports of fraud in you could describe as a profession- Montreal for the Haitian-style carni- every election since then. Two suc- al foreign aid worker. In Haiti she val it organizes each February. How- cessive Haitian deputy justice min- would have been referred to as blan, ever, one of its other main activities, isters were ex-employees of the Ca- a word that means white but is also the promotion of microcredit, has nadian International Development used ironically to designate a know- come under fire for several years for Agency (CIDA) and they remained it-all. St-Onge was a human resourc- its ineffectiveness at alleviating pov- on the Canadian government pay- es consultant who had been to Haiti erty or improving lives in developing roll while in office. Canadian money to train Haitian government officials countries. was also used to fund police training in HR best practices. She and St. Vil In Haiti, we hear about the stran- and build prisons, like the high-secu- ended up arguing about the history glehold that banks and NGOs have rity Croix-des-Bouquet’s facility from of slavery in Haiti—St-Onge said the on so-called micro-entrepreneurs which hundreds of prisoners escaped activist’s remarks about the atroci- stuck repaying loans with interest in 2014 (only a dozen were re-incarcer- ties committed by European slave rates as high as 50%. While microcre- ated). More recently, news of Canada’ owners were not “nuanced” enough. dit can be acquired for less, it is not involvement in Haiti has focused on Elaborating on her comment in a uncommon for interest rates to reach several Quebec police officers caught subsequent letter to St. Vil, which she 75% or even 100%. In Latin America engaging in sexual activities with shared with conference organizers, and South Africa, the microfinance Haitian women, against UN rules, St-Onge insisted she was just trying sector has generated an economic cri- while on mission in the country. to understand his point of view. Her sis comparable to the 2007–08 sub- Following the 2010 earthquake in tone was dismissive, as if she, the out- prime crisis in the United States in Haiti, writer and community activist side expert, should naturally have a terms of race-based exploitation and Jean St-Vil, also known as Jafrikay- better grasp of Haiti’s past and cur- a widening of the inequality gap. St- iti, was one of the early voices crit- rent reality than a person who stud- Vil was invited back to Montreal in ical of the role played by non-gov- ied its history and lived in the coun- November 2015 by IRIS, the socioeco- ernmental organizations (NGOs) try. St-Onge’s attitude was not espe- nomic research institute I work for in and their workers in the lives of cially startling at the time, nor would Quebec, to speak about the concept third-world people, Haitians in par- it be today. It is the common view- of dispossession in general and to de- ticular. St-Vil was invited to speak at point of many foreigners who appear scribe how the Haitian people are be- Concordia University on September on a mission to teach Haitians how to ing dispossessed of their livelihoods, 18, 2010, during another conference I be, or not to be, Haitian. The Higgins culture and resources. had helped organize. The topic was and Pickerings of Shaw’s Pygmalion As 2015 ended and 2016 began, I “Helping Haiti: With Whom, With need not always be male. had come to the conclusion that aid What and How?” The Haitian born Nearly six years later, much has from outsiders is frequently laced St-Vil pleased anti-interventionists changed for the djasporas at the with prejudices, weakening rather in the room, and shocked those who Concordia conference. Despite ex- than uplifting those it is intended to had come for answers about where to periencing difficulties at first, -Syl help. Having been involved in sever- donate their time or money, by stat- lion has been to Haiti a few times and al conferences and Haiti-related pro- ing that NGOs were part of the prob- got involved in a project to help build jects (with mixed results), I don’t have lem, not part of the solution, in Haiti. an elementary school in Debussy, a a simple answer to the question of The other speakers at the 2010 con- small town near Port-au-Prince. Rais- how someone who genuinely wants ference were from the djaspora: the ing money remains a challenge. Lam- to help the Haitian people should go sons and daughters of Haitians born our resigned from CECI to focus on about it. I am certain it requires ac- abroad or who left Haiti at a young his social and artistic projects. He knowledging the many failures of hu- age to live lotbódlo (overseas). There grew disillusioned with the interna- manitarianism in general, and a crit- was Alberto Syllion, one of the first tional aid system and expressed it ical stance toward the impact of for- black men hired as a firefighter by in his songs. He also got involved in eign NGO workers specifically. Montreal’s fire department, Ricar- awareness campaigns and university In 2012, writer and historian Teju do Lamour, an artist who was, at conferences with the notable partic- Cole coined the term White Sav- the time, working for the Montre- ipation of Quebec author Alain De- ior Industrial Complex in a series 46 of tweets that went viral, sparking When, in 2013, CIDA completely To be interested in taking com- debate about the harms of western disappeared into the Department mand of a military organization with sentimentality in foreign interven- of Foreign Affairs and Internation- such a questionable track record, the tions. “[T]here is much more to do- al Trade (now Global Affairs Cana- Trudeau government must be quite ing good work than ‘making a differ- da), Fantino described the move as confident in its transformative in- ence,’” he wrote in a subsequent ar- being part of the government’s “ap- fluence. But will a Canadian-led ticle for The Atlantic. “There is the proach to maximizing Canadians’ MINUSTAH one day be facing dis- principle of first do no harm. There development investment by lever- gruntled Haitians, like Pygmalion’s is the idea that those who are being aging private sector dollars and ex- Eliza, asking why Canada took their helped ought to be consulted over the pertise.” Criticism that Canadian tax- country’s independence away? matters that concern them.” Haitian payer dollars would now be garnish- Haiti has been in a deep economic filmmaker Raoul Peck’s 2013 mov- ing the bottom lines of private min- and political crisis since elections held ie Assistance Mortelle (Mortal Assis- ing companies fell on deaf ears. Many in August and October of 2015 were tance in English) is an indictment of in the international development contested and cancelled due to mas- post-earthquake humanitarian inter- sector would have pushed a sigh of sive fraud. At time of writing, a presi- ventions in Haiti. Novelist and polit- relief when the Conservatives were dential run-off vote originally sched- ical activist Arundhati Roy warned, removed from power in the fall elec- uled for December 27 had yet to occur in 2004, against the “NGO-ization of tion. Still, despite a change in style due to allegations of ballot tampering resistance” and its interference with from Prime Minister Trudeau, the and other irregularities. Progressive the self-reliance capacity of social legacy of the Harper government voices in Haiti are calling for an audit movements in formerly colonized appears to live on. of the whole electoral process, asking countries. The new Liberal government an- whether the role of Canada or any oth- The nature of Canadian foreign aid nounced recently its intention of tak- er country is fundamentally anti-dem- in Haiti has been highly controver- ing over the UN’s MINUSTAH mis- ocratic. sial since the 2004 coup against Aris- sion in Haiti from current lead coun- Before going forward with any new tide. But another important shift oc- try Brazil. The possibility of a re- MINUSTAH mission, we should con- curred when the previous Conserv- newed Canadian engagement, which sider auditing the entirety of Cana- ative government appointed Julian could involve 2,000 Canadian soldiers dian involvement in Haiti. Canadians Fantino to helm CIDA. The former being deployed to Haiti, triggered a who genuinely want to help Haitians Ontario police chief disregarded leg- protest letter from Montrealers of should heed the words, Eliza-like in islation from 2008 stipulating that Haitian origin who view MINUSTAH their own way, of Aboriginal activ- the fundamental goal of foreign aid as an occupying force. The protest let- ist Lila Watson: “If you have come to was poverty reduction. Instead, un- ter points out that the UN has been help me, you are wasting your time. der Fantino’s watch, aid would be un- implicated in the spread of cholera If you have come because your liber- apologetically crafted for the promo- in 2010, an epidemic that has killed ation is bound up with mine, then let tion of Canadian private economic thousands, and that MINUSTAH fac- us work together.” M interests abroad. es allegations of rapes and murders.

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RIOR TO THE federal election, Ag- Canada wants to to remove this proved in another market,” explained riculture and Agri-Food Canada economic risk. Under LLP, the safe- the minister recently. “Despite the ab- was working hard to finalize a ty of shipments containing trace sence of safety issues, zero-tolerance radical new policy that would amounts of GM product would be as- for LLP by importing countries can have skipped safety assess- sumed by Health Canada rather than lead to unnecessary trade disrup- ments for some of the genetical- assessed. But to make this case per- tions.” Though this may be the posi- Ply modified organisms (GMOs) we eat. suasively on the international stage, tion of department officials, the fact The file now sits uncertainly with the the government may ask us to accept is other countries still rely on their new federal government, whose deci- the policy here first. own governmental science evalua- sion could have significant impacts on There is a far better solution to tors to make this decision. public health and trade policy. this problem than accepting GM con- Pledges to continue global dis- Currently, the safety of every GM tamination via LLP. If, as the agricul- cussions on LLP are included in the food we eat is assessed (however inad- ture minister says, “Global demand is Canada–European Union Compre- equately) by Health Canada. Agricul- growing for the quality, consistency hensive Economic and Trade Agree- ture and Agri-Food Canada has pro- and value of Canadian agriculture ment (CETA) as well as the Trans-Pa- posed that, for small levels of GM con- products,” the answer is to eliminate cific Partnership (TPP). This is a long- tamination in cross-border food ship- the risk of GM contamination rath- term strategy to pave the way for ments, government regulators should er than pressing all nations to accept global trade in GM grains, like a fu- accept, without review, the approval it. An LLP policy would legalize, nor- ture GM wheat, but it ignores the im- decisions of select countries. While malize and expand GM contamina- mediate economic peril of new GM the new government is advocating tion. Why not focus efforts on pro- crop approvals. For example, if GM al- for global adoption of this approach, tecting trade through enhanced seg- falfa is commercially released in Can- it has yet to pronounce on the status regation of GM and non-GM crops ada this year it will put Canadian al- of a domestic change in policy. and/or by simply ensuring export falfa seed and product exporters at This policy is called “low-level pres- market approvals before new GM immediate risk. ence” (LLP) because it would allow a crops are introduced? Low-level presence is a trade-driv- small amount of GM contamination “Differences in regulatory ap- en proposal that would change how in our food system from GM foods proaches to biotechnology in key ex- Health Canada determines GM food not yet approved by Health Canada. port markets can result in situations safety. It has wide-ranging and seri- For a regulatory system that Canada where a genetically modified crop ap- ous implications for the future of GM insists is “science-based,” the shift to proved as safe in Canada is not ap- crops, the international reputation of relying on the scientific assessments Canada’s agri-food industry, our fu- of other nations is a bold departure. ture ability to segregate GM and non- Canada argues that LLP is a trade GM crops, and, arguably, the confi- issue, not a safety issue. Canada’s dence the public has in government grain trade is either unwilling or un- food safety regulation. able to effectively and consistently For two decades, the biotechnology segregate GM from non-GM grains. Why not focus industry and the Canadian govern- Non-GM grain shipments can become ment have asked the public to trust contaminated with trace amounts of efforts on federal regulation of GM foods. Now dust or other remnants from the GM protecting trade we may be asked to accept an absence corn, canola and soy we export. Such of that safety assessment. If the new shipments are often quarantined at through enhanced government presses forward with a foreign ports and turned away be- segregation of domestic LLP policy, we will know cause so many of our trading part- even less about where GM foods are ners have not yet approved the GM GM and non-GM on grocery store shelves, and less crops that Canadian farmers grow. crops? about how they got there. M 48 International affairs

Asad Ismi Latin American revolution under attack

HE LATIN AMERICAN revolution ers handed 109 of 167 legislative seats Unions and social organizations in Argentina seemed unstoppable until re- to the centre-right Democratic Uni- marched around the congress building in cently. From El Salvador and ty Roundtable (Mesa de la Unidad De- Buenos Aires on March 29 to protest layoffs and Nicaragua in the north to Ar- mocrática, or MUD)—the first time demand a higher minimum wage. gentina in the south, leftists since 1999 that the United Socialists EPA/DAVID FERNANDEZ elected since 1998 have imple- (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezue- Tmented the greatest redistribution la, or PSUV) have not held the nation- of wealth in the region’s history, pro- al assembly. viding millions of jobs, free medical election than in 2010, while about care and education, land reform and two million PSUV supporters chose public subsidies, thereby lifting tens Venezuela’s angry opposition not to vote in protest of the govern- of millions of people out of poverty. everal factors converged to bring ment’s handling of the food short- Now, in Venezuela and Argentina, a Sabout the change in Venezuela. ages. resurgent right is using economic Foremost were the crash of oil pric- “These voters are upset by the way hardship to foment resentment and es, a campaign of economic sabo- the government of Nicolás Maduro secure legislative victories. tage by local business elites (includ- has handled the economy,” says An- In November 2015, after 12 years ing price speculation and the hoard- tonio Garcia, an analyst of Venezue- under a popular leftist government, ing of key consumer items to create lan and Latin American politics who voters in Argentina chose Mauri- scarcity) and a media war carried out recently stepped down as Venezue- cio Macri, right-wing former mayor by the political opposition in league la’s ambassador to the European Un- of Buenos Aires, as their new presi- with Washington. MUD picked up 2.4 ion. “Maduro failed to effectively ex- dent. A month later, Venezuelan vot- million more votes in the December plain to the people how the economic 49 sabotage against Venezuela negative- But winning one election does not ture capitalists, pulling out of Bolivar- ly impacts them and failed to imple- mean the opposition can derail the ian Revolution projects like teleSUR, ment measures to effectively con- profound progressive transforma- and inviting the International Mon- front this economic war. The public tion of Venezuela that the PSUV has etary Fund to audit the public books had the perception that the Maduro carried out. Páez Victor points to a for the first time in a decade. government was not doing enough survey carried out in January by the From 2003 to 2015, under the left- to counter this attack and I believe non-partisan polling company Hin- ist governments of Cristina Fernán- than perception did more harm to terlaces, which showed 79% approv- dez de Kirchner and her husband the PSUV that the economic situa- al of the socialist economic policies Néstor Kirchner, the Argentine econ- tion itself.” of the government. The MUD oppo- omy grew by an amazing 78%, creat- Garcia points out that the econom- sition is made up of 20 parties that ing one of the biggest increases in ic problem in Venezuela is not very are united on only one issue: the re- living standards in Latin America. different from what is happening moval of Maduro from office before Wealth redistribution programs rein other Latin American countries, his term ends in 2019. It is an unlike- duced poverty by 70% and extreme though it is felt more acutely. The ly prospect. poverty by 80%. Unemployment fell Venezuelan economy, and the Boli- While the coalition decried a su- from 17.2% to 6.9%. varian Revolution of Hugo Chávez preme court decision in February to Since 2012, however, growth has generally, were propped up for 15 grant Maduro emergency powers to slowed to an annual average of 1.1%, years by high oil prices. The rout in handle the economic crisis, it has no inflation has been high and the fall the price of oil and other commodi- positive solutions of its own. Even in commodity prices, notably for ties has constrained state efforts to the notoriously anti-Chávez New cash crop soybean, has driven the redistribute national wealth and ex- York Times was still, in March, call- country into recession. More than pand equalizing social services. In ing for co-operation between the gov- a third of Argentine exports are ag- Venezuela, oil revenues—which ac- ernment and opposition rather than ricultural products including grains count for 95% of export earnings and a complicated and potentially violent and beef. 25% of GDP—have been cut by 60% confrontation the latter cannot win. With approval ratings above 50%— in the past few years, leading to infla- despite blurry allegations of corruption of 140%, soaring food prices and tion from opponents—Fernandez currency destabilization. A slick new president in Argentina remained popular into October 2015, According to Venezuelan-Canadi- he fall in commodity prices has but she was constitutionally barred an sociologist Maria Páez Victor, the T also affected political fortunes in from running for another term. Her fall in the price of oil “has been a god- Argentina where a new president is chosen replacement, Daniel Scioli, send to the U.S. attempts to destabi- making good with Wall Street’s vul- ran a lacklustre campaign that failed lize Venezuela politically and eco- to capitalize on her reputation or em- nomically, which have been ongo- phasize the Kirchners’ impressive ing since 2002.” These include U.S. combined record. During the elec- involvement in a military coup and tion, Macri took advantage of this economic sanctions imposed by U.S. situation by positioning himself as a President Obama on state-owned oil moderate who, if elected, would con- company PDVSA based on the prem- tinue some of Kirchner’s progressive ise that Venezuela presented an “un- Since taking policies, even promising “zero pover- usual and extraordinary threat” to ty.” He won by only 3% of the vote. the United States. office, Macri Since taking office, Macri has As I’ve written previously in the moved aggressively to the right, rul- Monitor (April 2015), the U.S. has giv- has moved ing by decree rather than run his pol- en anti-PSUV opposition groups aggressively to icy through the left-dominated leg- more than $100 million since 2002 to islature. The president has devalued undermine and overthrow the Madu- the right, ruling the national currency, the peso, by ro/Chávez governments. Most of Ven- 40% (to increase exports, but with ezuela’s privately owned news media by decree upward pressure on inflation), liber- are also hostile to the PSUV, and their alized the financial sector by remov- attacks on the government are wide- rather than ing capital controls, lifted restrictions ly quoted by the international cap- on imports, eliminated taxes on min- italist press. During the December run his policy ing, ended subsidies for electricity, election, the media blamed only the laid off thousands of civil servants, government for the economic crisis, through the and pledged to finally pay US$4.6 bil- mocking the possibility of a planned left-dominated lion ($6.02 billion) owed to U.S. hedge emergency, and repeatedly predicting funds that gamed Argentina’s 2001 the implosion of the country. legislature. bankruptcy for private gain. 50 For his efforts to reconnect Argen- activist, on charges of fraud—an act tina to the neoliberal global order— Macri’s shock that was criticized by Pope Francis Wall Street in particular—Macri got in February. a special visit by Obama in March af- treatment is Sala is the leader of the Túpac Am- ter the U.S. president’s official trip going to fail aru organization in the poor province to Cuba. “Argentina is re-assuming its of Jujuy. The organization, which is traditional leadership role in the re- “because made up of 70,000 mostly Indigenous gion and around the world,” Obama members, operates schools, health said, referring to Macri endearingly Argentines clinics and textile factories for the as “a man in a hurry.” IMF Managing poor and has built entire neighbour- Director Christine Lagarde is like- are now hoods with subsidies from the Kirch- wise “encouraged” by the new pres- ner government. “What Sala has done ident. The IMF will issue a series of much better is amazing,” says Savone. “Her arrest further economic reform proposals organized than shows that Macri is set on attacking after it concludes its audit of Argen- social movements.” tina’s books. It is the standard “shock they were in Macri’s shock treatment is going to doctrine” at work. fail, Savone concludes, “because Ar- “Macri is a disaster for the econo- 2001.” gentines are now much better organ- my, but he is even worse for human ized than they were in 2001.” On Feb- rights,” says Argentinian-Canadian ruary 24, tens of thousands of public Antonio Savone, who was impris- sector workers launched the first na- oned and tortured by the vicious tional strike against the new presi- military dictatorship that ruled Ar- ing those in Savone’s and Carmen dent with massive protests against gentina from 1976 to 1983. The dicta- Gomez’s cases, in a determined effort layoffs and spiralling inflation. The torship killed 30,000 Argentines in a to bring justice to a traumatized soci- workers blocked the streets in front targeted assault on the left. In 2015, ety. But Macri has dismissed the im- of the Argentine legislature in Bue- Savone returned to Argentina to tes- portance of continuing these trials, nos Aires and the police refused to tify against the military officers who insisting that Argentina deal with face them despite the new powers tortured him, and appeared as a wit- “21st century” human rights issues that Macri has given security forces ness in the case of Rosa del Carmen instead. to suppress demonstrations. Gomez, who was raped repeatedly by According to Savone, the new pres- “The people of Argentina have had officers for months in front of Savone ident has moved to enforce a level of 13 years of successful leftist govern- as they shared the same prison cell. repression in Argentina that “has not ment backed by powerful labour un- As part of a reconciliation project, been seen for 13 years.” This includes ions and they are not going to let some the Kirchner governments have im- suppressing demonstrations with millionaire turn their country back prisoned hundreds of military of- tear gas and rubber bullets, and jail- into a fiefdom for the rich,” says Sa- ficers for murder and torture, including Milagro Sala, a prominent social vone. M

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Send mail to 500-251 Bank St, Ottawa, ON K2P 1X3. FURTHER For more information, contact Jennie at 1-613-563-134151 ext. 305 or [email protected]. in 1986 from the Doris old growth. That’s not lombia might soon be over,” Wiener Gallery in New York going to be enough,” said said Erika Guevara-Rosas City. After learning about Robin Chazdon, an ecology of Amnesty International. its origin, museum officials professor at the University / Associated Press volunteered to give it back. of Connecticut, who is / Associated Press advising Brazil on how to revitalize its decimated Iran bans circus The good Atlantic Forest. / Scientific animal acts Zero-waste grocer to American news page open in Vancouver n 2014, Animal Rights I Watch launched a “No to ero Waste Market plans Circus” campaign against Compiled by Ex-cons excelling Z to open Canada’s first in cuisine wild animal acts that has Elaine Hughes plastic- and packaging-free been credited with several store in Vancouver this fall, high-end French governments and private offering 300 to 400 differ- A restaurant in Cleveland, circus companies banning Renewables beat ent bulk products including Ohio is giving ex-offenders the practice. Ringling Broth- coal, gas for meat, cheese, yogurt and a break. Not only does ers says it will retire all of investment edible liquids like syrups, Edwin’s hire mostly its circus elephants starting oils and vinegars, plus ex-convicts, but owner in May 2016 and SeaWorld nited Nations Environ- a wide variety of home- Brandon Chrostowski runs announced last month ment Program (UNEP) U grown brands. Customers an associated non-profit it would phase-out Orca research shows that, in are encouraged to bring program offering 40-50 shows from all its U.S. parks. 2015, a record $286 billion their own reusable bags or hours a week of culinary Iran is the most recent was invested in clean en- containers and, whenever training in wine education country to ban wild animal ergy: solar was up 12% (to possible, products from lo- and food preparation. Of acts in circuses, joining $161 billion), wind 4% (to cal producers are delivered its 114 graduates so far, Peru, Bolivia, Greece, the $110 billion), and biomass in reusable vessels. / The 90% found employment. Netherlands, Columbia, Slo- increased, too. Meanwhile, Georgia Straight “To have a second chance venia, Paraguay and Cyprus. global investment in is to have a new life. And / Good News Network coal-burning and gas-fired if you’re ready to work power generation fell to hard, you can change the less than half what went Second life for clear- stars,” said Chrostowski, into renewables. “This is cut forest Urban birds liking who avoided 10 years in the direction of travel that colourful condos esearch carried out over jail when he was younger we need to see to have the last two years on thanks to a lenient judge. ince 2007, Copenhagen’s a chance of escaping the R 800 recovering hectares / Good News Network Thomas Dambo has built worst impacts of climate S of Peru’s Manu Biosphere more than 3,500 colourful change,” said Catherine Reserve (a UNESCO bird dwellings in cities from Mitchell, professor of ener- World Heritage site) has Beirut to Berlin. Dambo’s gy policy at the University Colombia, rebels discovered high levels of Happy City Birds project of Exeter. / Guardian U.K. talk peace biodiversity compared to installs the homes, built neighbouring, undisturbed oping to end 50 years of scrap wood, in trees, old-growth forests. The H of political violence in on lampposts and against U.S. returns international study credits Colombia, during which the sides of buildings. As Cambodian statue ideal circumstances (in this 200,000 people have natural settings dwindle, case bans on hunting and been killed, the Colombian Audubon notes that 10th century sandstone logging) for the presence government will soon begin urban birds have grown to Khmer statue, stolen A of 570 species in the Manu peace negotiations with depend on human-built during Cambodia’s civil reserve—87% of what you both the National Liberation dwellings; some species, war in the 1970s and, until would expect to find in Army (ELN) and larger such as bluebirds and recently, on display at the the area. The team said re- Revolutionary Armed Forces chimney swifts, prefer Denver Museum of Art, generating second-growth of Colombia (FARC). “The them to natural roosts. “The was returned to Cambodia forests absorbed about talks between the ELN and birdhouses on the street during a ceremony in 11% more carbon than the government, coupled remind us that we live in a Phnom Penh in March. A old-growth areas, which with an imminent peace world with other species,” spokesperson said the have reached maximum deal with the FARC, bring Dambo said. “We have to museum acquired the carbon sequestration. “We hope that more than half make room for them.” / The statue, a Torso of Rama, can’t stop [at] protecting a century of conflict in Co- Atlantic City Lab 52 Arts Books Reviewed by John Millar Inequality and “the organization of misery”

lack of education, unfavourable liv- ways: through physical and chemi- ing and working conditions, and dis- cal hazards; imbalances in how de- empowerment (lack of control) are manding a job is and levels of con- the underlying “causes of the caus- trol, rewards and job insecurity; and, es” of disease and early death. of course, low pay. Unemployment is From Chapters 4–7, Marmot re- bad for health too, particularly men- views the evidence for action in some tal health. Suicide rates are higher of the key SDOH categories, including among the unemployed. These po- early childhood development (ECD), tential impacts can be mitigated by education, work life and old age. In social policies including employment the first, ECD, the socioeconomic gra- insurance, labour market and family dient affects parenting capacity and support programs, and health care performance, leading to a gradient in Here Marmot draws on economists children’s social, cognitive, emotional Thomas Piketty and Joseph Stiglitz, and physical development, which in alongside others, to get to the “big turn leads to mental and physical in- picture”—the policies needed to re- equities in adulthood. Poor ECD may duce health inequities and support THE HEALTH GAP: THE CHALLENGE lead to poor school performance and his mission to create fairer societies OF AN UNEQUAL WORLD thus to poor jobs, less money, worse everywhere. Broadly, his conclusions MICHAEL MARMOT living conditions as an adult and, sub- are twofold: capitalism often leads sequently, worse health. to inequities of social exclusion and Bloomsbury Press (November 2015), 400 pages, $34 Disadvantaged parents are less poor health; and neoliberalism, by sti- empowered and motivated, and have fling economic growth, causes poor- N HIS RECENT book Sir Michael Mar- a lower capacity to provide good par- er health. mot explores the wealth of evi- enting. While genetics do exert an in- Piketty’s work is presented to illus- dence he and others have accumu- fluence on children’s health, these so- trate how income and wealth inequi- lated over more than 30 years to il- cioeconomic determinants are far ties are likely to continue to worsen luminate health inequities and the stronger (i.e., nurture trumps nature). because of the concentration of cap- socioeconomic determinants of Universal, subsidized, high-quality ital and inherited wealth. Stiglitz is Ihealth (SDOH). Marmot defines the early childhood development pro- referenced for his position that grow- former as systemic health inequali- grams are key to addressing ECD in- ing inequality and concentration of ties that are avoidable by reasona- equalities. wealth in a small, elite population— ble means (preventable) and there- The second category, education, is the infamous One Per Cent—is bad fore unjust, since they are “caused by linked with female empowerment. for the economy and actually slows the inequitable distribution of mon- Empowerment leads to better health economic growth because the money ey, resources and power.” This “social and has a more powerful effect than is not being shared and spent. injustice is killing people on a grand income in explaining health inequi- The key question, according to Mar- scale,” he writes. It is time to “rise up… ties. Marmot concludes that “improv- mot, is this: “What kind of capitalism against the organization of misery.” ing education will take [investments do we want?” The Nordic model is pre- Marmot’s evidence review begins in] good schools [and teachers]…but sented as possibly our best option. In with his own seminal work, the fa- we also need to reduce poverty and the Scandinavian countries, better mous Whitehall study, which estab- socioeconomic inequality and im- and more equitable health status (and lished that observed gradients in prove the family and community happier people) result from progres- health status were caused by gradi- context in which children’s educa- sive policies such as equitable access ents in income, power (control), stress tion takes place.” to ECD, public education and health and the cohesiveness of social rela- With respect to employment, Mar- care, and income redistribution poli- tionships, but not to any great degree mot explains how working condi- cies that produce lower poverty rates. by genetics. Relatively low income, tions can damage health in three In contrast, the U.S. is presented as a 53 poor model of capitalism with some Reviewed by Frank Bayerl of the worst health outcomes (despite the highest per capita health care expenditures) among the developed Remember globalization? countries because of high poverty rates, large income and wealth inequities, and a poor social safety net. Marmot challenges austerity generally, pointing out how Iceland written fourth edition to hisNo Non- made a better recovery after refus- sense Guide to Globalization, include ing to implement International Mon- the belief that economic growth is etary Fund reforms during the 2008– the measure of human development 11 crisis. Iceland did not see the ad- and that the expansion of trade will verse health effects experienced in lead to a more equal, peaceful and Greece, Ireland and other countries less parochial world. Left out of the that implemented austerity accord- picture was the impact the corporate ing to IMF dictates. “It is not too mel- free-market model and its relentless odramatic to say that policies of aus- drive for profits would have on hu- terity are leading people to take their man rights, cultural distinctiveness, own lives, and also to kill each oth- economic independence and politi- er,” he writes. cal sovereignty. As Ellwood points To summarize Marmot’s findings, out, the theory of comparative ad- income and wealth inequities are un- vantage, developed by British econ- just, likely to cause social unrest and omist David Ricardo in 1817, was for a political instability, are bad for the long time the basis of the free trade/ economy, and cause poor health and globalization movement. But its two health inequities for all of us, rich GLOBALIZATION: main principles do not apply in to- and poor alike. A chapter on resil- BUYING AND SELLING THE WORLD day’s economic world order: 1) that ient communities is interesting but WAYNE ELLWOOD trade between two countries must does not present much in the way of be balanced so that one does not be- practical steps for taking local action. Between the Lines (2015), 167 pages, $13.95 come indebted to or dependent on Environmental issues are touched the other; and 2) that investment cap- upon, but unfortunately, as Marmot E HEAR LESS about globali- ital must be anchored locally and not acknowledges, climate change and its zation today than we did allowed to flow from a high-wage to associated health inequities were be- a decade or more ago— a low-wage country. yond his expertise and have not been at least the term is not so Ellwood traces the origins of our discussed. frequently used—but it current global trading regime to Bret- Marmot concludes by promoting remains the subtext be- ton Woods. The conference, organ- his idea of a global social movement Whind some of the hottest debates of ized by the Allied powers in the imme- to reduce health inequities that will our time, such as free trade and in- diate aftermath of the Second World require the combined efforts of gov- come disparities. Donald Trump’s Re- War, established three key bodies to ernments at all levels, knowledge publican campaign for the presiden- govern international economic rela- brokers (academics and profession- cy has tapped into a deep well of an- tions: the International Monetary als) and civil society. A shift in focus ger and disappointment in the U.S. Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the from economic growth to improved that so-called free trade agreements General Agreement on Tariffs and health, reduced health inequities have not improved the lot of work- Trade (later the World Trade Organi- and more equitably shared prosper- ing class voters who have instead zation, or WTO). All three institutions ity will be needed. Stiglitz, Tony At- seen their jobs outsourced and wag- had a strong bias in favour of the in- kinson and Robert Reich have laid es stagnate. Suddenly, all the assump- dustrialized nations, competition out blueprints for such a transition. tions underlying the decades-long and corporate enterprise. The IMF Marmot’s book has provided the push toward globalization and freer was intended to promote balanced evidence and political analysis to trade are up for questioning. Even trade and the World Bank to make support advocacy and action in establishment figures such as Jared low-interest loans for infrastruc- British Columbia and Canada more Bernstein, former economic advis- ture. Both have since become noto- broadly. The Health Gap is a superb er to U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden, rious for the structural adjustment resource and should be foundational has called expanded trade “a dou- measures they imposed on develop- reading for all who have an interest in ble-edged sword.” ing nations as a condition of receiv- improving health, reducing inequal- These assumptions, which Wayne ing international assistance—loans ities and pursuing social justice. M Ellwood summarizes in this crisply that proved very difficult to pay off 54 when IMF- and World Bank–mandat- Consensus has all too often been to Review by Jonathan M. Sears ed reforms threw recipient countries benefit the few at the expense of the into economic chaos. These measures many, the well-off at the expense of typically involve devaluing the na- the poor. Commercial interests and A radical tional currency and cutting govern- values have superseded concerns ment spending, privatizing state- for the environment, democracy, hu- rethinking of owned enterprises, cutting social ser- man rights and social justice.” Jeffrey vices and food subsidies, and reduc- Sachs, a former IMF adviser, has sim- ing trade barriers—in other words, a ilarly disavowed his faith in deregu- humanitarian full-blown neoliberal agenda. “Dec- lated markets and capitalist “shock ades of structural adjustment failed therapy.” assistance to solve the debt crisis, caused untold What, then, is the alternative to suffering for millions of people and the current globalization model? Ell- led to widening gaps between rich wood looks to the World Social Forum and poor,” Ellwood comments. for possible answers (the 2016 gather- Turning from trade to the financial ing takes place in Montreal this Au- sector, the dismantling of barriers to gust). It is not so much an anti-glo- the flow of international capital has balization movement as a pro-peo- resulted in a massive increase in spec- ple’s movement, he says; a network of ulation and profit-seeking such that networks focusing on social and eco- less than 5% of currency trading to- nomic justice, and a counterweight day is linked to actual trade. John to the World Economic Forum of po- Maynard Keynes warned against litical and business elites held each just such a situation when he wrote, year in Davos, Switzerland. The Occu- in 1936, that “[s]peculators may do no py movement was another response harm as bubbles on a steady stream to globalization’s failures, as are the of enterprise. But the position is se- Podemos party in Spain and the elec- rious when enterprise becomes the tion of Syriza in Greece. The popular- bubble on a whirlpool of specula- ity of the issue of income inequali- tion.” The loss of a nation’s ability to ty, highlighted daily by Bernie Sand- control capital flows undermines its ers in his Democratic campaign for ability to shape social policy and puts the presidency, owes much of its res- SPACES OF AID: HOW CARS, economic development at the mer- onance to these earlier movements. COMPOUNDS AND HOTELS SHAPE cy of foreign investors. Former U.S. Ellwood’s diagnosis of globaliza- HUMANITARIANISM trade representative Mickey Kan- tion is not all bad. He recognizes that tor described the standard practice livelihoods in China and India have LISA SMIRL of rich country lenders in unusual- benefited from economic growth, Zed Books (2015), 256 pages, $37.95 ly blunt terms: “when countries seek though neither country has yet fully help from the IMF, Europe and Amer- adopted what we might call the west- ica should use the IMF as a battering ern neoliberal model. He concludes ISA SMIRL’S 2010 PhD dissertation ram to gain advantage.” by suggesting some measures to rec- at the University of Cambridge Ellwood explores other ramifica- tify globalization’s errors and spread was “lightly edited” after her un- tions of the advance of globaliza- its benefits more widely, such as re- timely death in February 2013 by tion such as the environmental dam- placing the Bretton Woods institu- colleagues who are committed to age caused by rapid growth in trade tions with new, decentralized bodies the legacy of her life and work. (and the increased manufacturing less focused on narrow market goals, LThe forward to Spaces of Aid illus- and transportation it promotes) and instituting a tax on financial specula- trates this commitment. Mark Duff- the consequent depletion of natural tion, closing tax havens—all the more ield, a renowned scholar of glob- resources as extraction industries pertinent after the Panama Papers al governance, development and se- expand. After all, a finite Earth can- leak (see the Index in this issue)—and curity from the University of Bris- not sustain the endless growth that breaking up the big banks. The book tol, stresses Smirl’s pioneering spirit is the engine of free trade. Some for- can be recommended to the gener- and “full command” of the spatial mer prophets of globalization have al reader as a well-balanced primer dimensions and built environments turned into its sharpest critics for on why we should question the wis- of humanitarian aid, which point this and other reasons. Among them dom of Canada signing highly ques- toward an “ignored and essentially is Joseph Stiglitz, a former chief econ- tionable “next generation” free trade subversive field of research.” Smirl’s omist of the World Bank who now deals with the European Union and groundbreaking work informs stud- says things like this: “the net effect Asia-Pacific nations. M ies on interactions among local and of the policies set by the Washington external actors in humanitarian in- 55 terventions and peace operations, lived project space, which combine to undermines humanitarian endeav- as well as peacebuilding, risk man- separate humanitarian workers from ours. In Aceh, aid workers viewed agement, post-crisis reconstruction the milieus and viewpoints of their houses as a gift to be given, received and human rights. See, for exam- intended beneficiaries. and appreciated. The recipients, on ple, the Journal of Intervention and Aid workers are often “in-between” the other hand, understood the hous- Statebuilding’s 2015 special issue on places during travel, or are based at es as commodities to be accumulated, “Everyday Life in the Peacekeeping a distance from the target communi- leveraged and exchanged as part of Economy” (Vol. 9 No. 3), and a web- ties. Such separation is spatial, but it larger negotiations and economies. site dedicated to Smirl’s research and also reflects the ways of understand- For Smirl, the lived reality of the in- methods (spacesofaid.wordpress. ing of aid workers. These epistemol- tended beneficiaries does not pene- com). ogies produce a relatively abstract- trate very much the interveners’ re- Monitor readers interested in un- ed grasp of the problems and possi- ality. The resulting inefficiencies and derstanding humanitarian inter- bilities in a post-crisis locale. In Aceh frustrations are only part of the sto- ventions and advocating for their and Louisiana, interventions latched ry. Also glimpsed is the possibility of improvement will find Spaces of onto single-family houses as the ob- doing aid differently if the perspec- Aid rich and stimulating. A 250-ref- vious practical response, and thus tives of interveners and beneficiaries erence bibliography and 700-entry other problems were largely invisi- might come into greater alignment. index suggest the range of materi- ble to interveners external to affect- Possibly most contentious is Chap- al marshalled here: from Italian and ed communities. If the aid workers’ ter 2 (Exploring the Humanitari- Slovenian philosophers Giorgio Ag- understanding and experience forms an Enclave), which interrogates a amben and Slavoj Žižek to Finnish the humanitarian imaginary, then number of security-related aspects architect Alvar Aalto to former In- lived project space is the actual ex- of humanitarian work. Contrary to donesian president Susilo Bambang perience of intended beneficiaries. conventional wisdom, Smirl sees in- Yudhoyono. Indeed, Spaces of Aid is Between divergent epistemologies creasing “compoundization” of inter- deeply learned, methodologically in- lives a disconnect that profoundly vention arising from perceptions of novative, theoretically masterful and insecurity rather than demonstra- empirically detailed. Careful and per- ble risks to international aid work- tinent critiques of international de- ers. While high-profile attacks play velopment and international rela- an important role in triggering or tions are set forth through concepts ramping up risk perceptions, the such as “the field,” the experiences of subsequent retreat behind walls fu- aid workers and the environment of els rather than quells fears of inse- the “humanitarian enclave.” Instruc- curity. Even with events since 2010 in tive, if challenging for non-special- view, Spaces of Aid still instructs us. ists, are the discussions of architec- Fear is increasingly built into the culture, design theory and large-scale ture and environments of aid work, construction projects that frame While high- and interventions shift from build- the accounts of post-tsunami Aceh, ing relationships and acceptance for Indonesia (Chapter 4), and Louisiana profile attacks their activities to separating and se- post–Hurricane Katrina (Chapter 5). curing the spaces of aid work. Spaces of Aid presents a deceptive- play an From the outset, Smirl “challeng- ly simple claim: spaces shape practices…the ability of the aid worker to as- es. In other words, Smirl guides schol- important role sist the beneficiary,” and “calls into ars, practitioners and policy-makers question…that it is possible to ‘do to the spatial considerations and main triggering or no harm.’” In conclusion, she insists, terial culture that impact aid work. ramping up risk “humanitarianism is fundamentally Crucial here is theorizing how “the flawed in its conception.” Thus, “an material” matters. With a nuanced ap- perceptions, urgent and fundamental rethink proach to a wide range of social theo- about the objectives and possibili- ry and philosophy, Smirl transcends the subsequent ties of humanitarian assistance is re- any narrow, reductionist material- quired,” toward “a radical reconfigu- ism. Things such as vehicles and ac- retreat behind ration of the way in which aid is de- commodations are not merely tools livered.” Not explicitly very confident for aid work; they also delimit possi- walls fuels about change, Spaces of Aid ultimate- bilities of practice, thought and rely insists it is possible (and necessary) lationships between structures and rather than to do humanitarianism differently. If human agency. Smirl’s three core el- quells fears of spaces shape practices, then changed ements of analysis are the humani- spaces can foster different practices, tarian imaginary, auxiliary space and insecurity. lives and relationships. M 56 HELP US SHED LIGHT ON THE ISSUES THAT MATTER TO YOU. (we’ve got some bright ideas)

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