MONITORCanadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, September/October 2015 THE ELECTION ISSUE Nominations for the CCPA Members’ Council Every CCPA supporter is now eligible to nominate another individual supporter in good standing to sit on the CCPA’s Members’ Council for the two-year term 2016–18. The four incumbents previously elected to represent individual CCPA supporters are Tony Clarke, Brigette DePape, Paula Mallea and Steve Staples. In addition to the names of both nominator and nominee, your nomination form must also verify the willingness of the nominee to stand for election. Ballots for the election will be mailed separately to all eligible CCPA contributors following receipt of the nomination forms. Results of the election will be reported in the December 2015/January 2016 issue of the Monitor. The deadline for receiving nominations is October 15, 2015. Please either mail, scan and email, or fax all nominations to: Larry Brown, President, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives 251 Bank Street, Suite 500, Ottawa ON K2P 1X3 Email: [email protected] Fax: 613-233-1458 NAME OF NOMINEE MUST BE A CCPA CONTRIBUTOR Address Telephone E-mail address CONSENT OF NOMINEE Signature I hereby consent to allow my name to stand for election to the CCPA Board of Directors. I am familiar with and support the aims of the CCPA. I understand that I will forward to the CCPA a short (100 words maximum) biography for the benefit of my fellow voters, and that, if I choose to supply this information about myself, it will be attached to the ballot form. NOMINATED BY MUST BE A CCPA CONTRIBUTOR Address Telephone E-mail address September/October 2015 NAVIGATING THE 2015 ELECTION A special feature on the issues framing the October 15 federal election, the Conservative government record, and the state of Canada's democracy. DOING IT ALL FOR YOUR BABIES The gaps in Canada's social safety net for parents and children are easily plugged 30 HELENA TOWLE & ANN DOUGLAS MEXICO’S HUMAN RIGHTS 52 CRISIS AND CANADA’S SILENCE ASAD ISMI 2 /CONTRIBUTORS 3 /EDITORIAL 4 /LETTERS 5 /THE GOOD NEWS PAGE 6 /NEW FROM THE CCPA 8 /BEHIND THE NUMBERS 33 /INDEX 54 /BOOKS Contributors VOL. 22, NO. 3 Kelly Carmichael Fiona Jeffries ISSN 1198-497X is the executive director of is the author of the 2015 book CANADA POST PUBLICATION 40009942 Fair Vote Canada. Nothing To Lose But Our Fear: Resistance In Dangerous Alisha Davidson CCPA MONITOR IS PUBLISHED 6 TIMES Times (Between the Lines, is a freelance Illustrator A YEAR BY THE CANADIAN CENTRE Zed Books). Follow her on originally from Vancouver and FOR POLICY ALTERNATIVES. Twitter @fionajeffries. currently living in Toronto. Her THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THE CCPA illustrations deploy narrative Rob Jowett MONITOR ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS to move the viewer through is a student in the media AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT the work in a schematic way, studies program at the into a place of questioning University of Guelph-Humber THE VIEWS OF THE CCPA. and speculation, and are in Toronto. He has been PLEASE SEND FEEDBACK TO strongly influenced by working with the CCPA at [email protected]. folklore, scientific renderings, its national office over the the natural world and the summer. EDITOR: STUART TREW patterns around us. SENIOR DESIGNER: TIM SCARTH Jessica McCormick Ann Douglas is the former president of LAYOUT: SUSAN PURTELL is the author of numerous the Canadian Federation of EDITORIAL BOARD: BRUCE CAMPBELL, books about pregnancy and Students. KERRI-ANNE FINN, SETH KLEIN, KATE MCINTURFF, parenting including, most Fenwick McKelvey ERIKA SHAKER, EMILY TURK recently, Parenting Through is an assistant professor the Storm (HarperCollins CCPA NATIONAL OFFICE: in the department of Canada, January 2015). 500-251 BANK ST., OTTAWA, ON K2P 1X3 communications studies at More about Ann at www. Concordia University. He TEL: 613-563-1341 | FAX: 613-233-1458 anndouglas.net and www. studies algorithmic media— [email protected] having-a-baby.com. WWW.POLICYALTERNATIVES.CA the intensification of software TWITTER: @CCPA Lisa Forbes within communication is a volunteer voting educator infrastructure—with a focus FACEBOOK.COM/POLICYALTERNATIVES with Winnipeg Indigenous on advanced Internet traffic CCPA BC OFFICE: Rock the Vote. management software and campaign management 1400-207 WEST HASTINGS ST., Jessica Fortner software. VANCOUVER, BC V6B 1H7 is an illustrator from Toronto TEL: 604-801-5121 | FAX: 604-801-5122 focusing on editorial, Karl Nerenberg [email protected] advertising and children’s is the parliamentary illustration. She works in both correspondent for Rabble.ca CCPA MANITOBA OFFICE: traditional and digital media. and the author of the book UNIT 205-765 MAIN ST., WINNIPEG, MB R2W 3N5 Jessica's illustrations have Harper vs. Canada: Five TEL: 204-927-3200 | FAX: 204-927-3201 appeared in publications Ways of Looking at the [email protected] such as Juxtapoz, Digital Arts, Conservative Regime. Harvard Business Review and Dylan Penner CCPA NOVA SCOT IA OFFICE: The New York Times, and she is the democracy campaigner P.O. BOX 8355, HALIFAX, NS B3K 5M1 has been considered one with the Council of TEL: 902-240-0926 of HOW's Top 10 Sites for Canadians. [email protected] Designers and featured on Communication Arts: Fresh. Helena Towle CCPA ONTARIO OFFICE: She is co-founder, editor and is an Ottawa-based disability 10 DUNDAS STREET EAST, designer of the online arts rights advocate and author of P.O. BOX 47129, TORONTO, ON, M5B 0A1 magazine Squidface & The the June 2015 CCPA report, TEL: 416-598-5985 Meddler. Disability and Inclusion [email protected] in Canadian Education: Remie Geoffroi Policy, Procedure, and CCPA SASKATCHEWAN OFFICE: has been working as a Practice, available at www. professional illustrator for 2ND FLOOR, 2138 MCINTYRE STREET policyalternatives.ca. REGINA, SK S4P 2R7 over 15 years with high- TEL: 306-924-3372 | FAX: 306-586-5177 profile international clients Simon Tremblay-Pepin and publications, including [email protected] is a researcher with IRIS, a Billboard, ESPN, GQ and the Montreal-based progressive Wall Street Journal. think-tank. Editorial Stuart Trew Really real change. Know what I mean? HE PODIUMS OF the three major ucation affordable; and breaking up If the future is precarious for Can- federal parties tell us this elec- Wall Street firms that “are too pow- ada’s younger workers—and most tion is a choice between LEADER- erful to be reformed.” of the evidence suggests it is—they SHIP, change and Real Change. In the U.K., where Labour will soon do not appear to be all that worried (Fonts are approximated, and replace Ed Miliband, who resigned about it. (Though a recent CIBC sur- I’ll let you figure out who owns as leader after the party’s disastrous vey found that half of university stu- Teach slogan.) Obviously there will showing in the May elections, the top dents worry they won’t have enough be more to the party platforms than contender is similarly widening the money this year to cover tuition and this—and there is only so much space parameters of mainstream political living expenses.) Is it any wonder that on a lawn sign or the side of a cam- debate. Jeremy Corbyn, an MP since instead of grand proposals for elimi- paign bus—but considering the more 1983, was relatively unknown before nating poverty and inequality we get interesting, more ideological debates he jumped into the Labour leader- sloganeering about who will do the driving electoral politics elsewhere, ship race. Like Senator Sanders in the most good for “working families” or I can’t help but feel Canada is being U.S., Corbyn has been drawing large the middle class? Electoral campaigns short-changed by a rather hollow crowds to hear him speak against aimed solely at unseating the Con- continuity-versus-change dichotomy. war and austerity, and for national- servatives play into this by painting Electoral politics doesn’t have to be izing the banks. His slogan: “Prioritiz- all non-Conservative candidates as so milquetoast. In the United States ing the needs of the poor and the hu- automatically progressive—another and United Kingdom, the Democrats man rights of all.” word, like “change,” that should have and Labour Party are soul-searching In comparison, Canadian federal more meaning than it does in the Ca- for new leaders, with self-declared politics is not just bland; it can feel nadian context. socialists posing credible challeng- almost detached from reality. We ask The economy is not doing well, not es to the safer establishment candi- ourselves, through polls, is the econo- here or anywhere. “Slow growth is on dates. Long-serving Vermont Demo- my doing well or is it heading for the the menu for as far as the eye can see,” crat Bernie Sanders has more Face- rocks? The answers gauge the mood writes CCPA economist Armine Yal- book “likes,” and regularly draws big- of the public and could determine nizyan in a recent article about how ger and younger crowds, than the how people vote in the next election. the Conservative government rode likelier presidential candidate, Hillary But how do we begin to understand the commodity boom for too long, Clinton. Cornel West backed Sand- where economic policy is failing us while Canada’s non-resource sectors ers on CNN in August, calling him when our would-be leaders and a good struggled or fell apart. “It’s not enough a “prophetic politician” for speaking part of the national media are satis- for Harper to boast about his record, “the truth about working poor peo- fied with talking points about stabil- or his opponents to fret about it… The ple being afterthoughts” to a ruling ity versus change? job situation is tenuous, even more so U.S.