Are Canadians ready for the more just, green future Freeland will frame in next week’s budget?

OTTAWA—No one would have wished the COVID-19 epidemic on any country, and Canadians have paid a heavy price, in terms of illness, lives lost, postponed opportunities, and many other sacrifices during the pandemic. But crises open the way for change, and it’s possible Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s budget next week will mark an opportunity to reshape Canadians’ overall approach in ways that will better correspond to the urgent demands of the 21st century. Certainly, the governing Liberals have that in mind. “Together, we get to grab hold of a once-in-a-generation moment to build the kind of tomorrow we all want to see,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told his party during the April 10 wrap-up of its virtual convention. The budget will redouble the federal government’s role as the financial driver of the country’s pandemic response and likely provide some of the $70-billion to $100-billion in stimulus spending Freeland has promised for economic recovery. Having left Canadians with a new reliance on, and appreciation of, government, the virus has, at least for now, moderated the long-prevailing obsession with government deficits foisted on the world by austerity-minded right-wingers over the years. And there’s no doubt the devastatingly unfair impact of the pandemic on women and low-income workers has set the stage for a national rethink of what kind of socio-economic programs can best address outrageous, and still growing, income inequality. At the same time, the country faces serious challenges. Canada has deeply ingrained, systematic shortcomings when it comes to the maintenance of the globally competitive economy needed to support a desirable standard of living. And the environmental emergency is only getting worse. Some of the answers are obvious. In response to the COVID “she-cession” and to build economic productivity by giving women better opportunity to work, Canadians need to throw aside their backward ideas and work together on a shared national basis to establish a high-quality system of early learning and childcare. The Liberals set this up before, but it was dismantled by the Harper Conservatives. Freeland will provide more funding next week to try to get it up and running again. The budget also has landmark potential as the day that Canadians came to embrace the post-carbon future as both a response to the gathering world catastrophe of climate change and the key to a forward-looking strategy for economic growth and green tech prosperity. This is the future, and anyone who questions that notion need only look to the international financial and manufacturing community for clues as to how fast this shift is coming. Unlike some politicians, people managing billions of dollars in investments can’t afford the luxury of inaction and fantasizing about past glory in the face of obvious, overwhelming evidence. The budget will likely include a range of green measures to encourage household conservation and economy-wide innovation for the long term. Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney used his comments at the Liberal policy convention to endorse green measures to encourage household conservation and economy-wide innovation for the long term. Screenshot courtesy of CPAC Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney used his comments at the Liberal convention to endorse just that. “Once we exit COVID, we will need broad-based growth driven by investments in the digital and sustainable engines of our future and policies that support the full participation of all Canadians in our economy,” he said. Whether Canadians are ready for this reimagined socio-economic vision will be a major political story going forward. For one thing, the success of progressive programs like national childcare and pharmacare of course hinges on the co-operation of the provinces. Six of the premiers are conservative and are unlikely to welcome systemic, results-based intervention by Trudeau on social issues. And the current state of childcare shows just how difficult it can be for Ottawa to abet reforms of this kind. Despite many years of federal efforts to improve national standards and the existence of recent federal-provincial funding deals in this area, childcare remains a dismal mixed bag across most of the country. And, as for climate action, conservative leaders still generally refuse to recognize that a market-based price on carbon is the most cost-effective means of reducing greenhouse gases. Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole is sticking with his party’s vow to scrap the carbon tax and most conservative premiers remain opposed to it or may try to defeat its purpose through the tax juggling invented by New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs. Conservatives have been clear that they will oppose new non-COVID spending by Freeland on what they see as Trudeau’s progressive pet projects. As for NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, he seems to have wilfully forgotten that Canada is not a unitary state run out of Ottawa. So, he is likely to view any new social spending next week as inadequate. All this will of course factor into the political manoeuvring in coming weeks. Either this spring, or more likely in the fall, Canadian voters will arrive at the historic crossroads this budget will prefigure. Les Whittington is a regular columnist for The Hill Times. The Hill Times

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Are Canadians ready for the more just, green future Freeland will frame in next week’s budget?

Whether Canadians are ready for this reimagined socio-economic vision will be a major political story going forward.

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