SWLF 3105 (Week 6) Public expenditures II: Alternative Federal and Ontario Budget

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SWLF 3105 (Week 6)Public expenditures II
Alternative Federal and Ontario Budget

• Two important thoughts as we begin
• What is the point of drafting alternative
  budgets? Does the very name suggest failure?
• If drafting alternative budgets is important, how
  can they appeal to the Canadian public?

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Agenda for this week

• Web site is up! Go to www.nipissingu.ca/faculty/
  joelh/jhhome
• Please attend a guest lecture in SWLF 1005!
  October 25th, 630pm, Mary Laronde and Karen
  Linklater, Union of Ontario Indians.
• Analysis of course readings (Course pack, pp.
  18-40)

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Key themes/ideas from last week

• Brooks
• Why do we need government? Why is the left
  right and the right wrong?
• If the left is right and the right is wrong,
  why isnt the left (for the most part, anyway) in
  power?
• Do most Canadians, as Brooks claims, take public
  services for granted?

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Key themes/ideas from last week

• CCPA
• What is participatory budgeting? How might this
  process work in Canada?
• Can participatory budgeting eliminate all
  inequalities in a given society?
• McQuaig
• Where did the federal debt/deficit come from?
  What does this reading reveal about the interests
  of the Canadian state?

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Small group activity the Potlatch in perspective
as deliberative public policy

• Background
• Aboriginal peoples on the what is now the West
  Coast of Canada used to engage in the ritual
  known as the potlatch.
• The potlatch was a practice where members of one
  tribe (or even different tribes) would share
  resources to ensure against hunger and poor
  living conditions.
• In your small groups, imagine a circumstance
  where members of your community would engage in a
  potlatch for certain resources. What would you
  share, and why?

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1. What is a social debt?

• Consider these examples
• When a student is saddled with debt payments of
  300-500 per month, what are the potential
  consequences beyond her/his own financial health?
• When a former welfare recipient (turned homeless
  person) in downtown Toronto suffers an epileptic
  seizure, what are the costs beyond her/his
  medical health?

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2. Tax cuts and Canadas social debt

• Consider these questions
• Why do you think the federal government
  introduced the largest tax cuts in Canadian
  history in 1997?
• Are tax cuts popular? Why or why not? What
  does this AFB (federal or provincial) say about
  this?

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3-5. The AFB in practice, proposed improvements
to social welfare

• Again, in small groups
• What are economic assumptions of the AFB? (pp.
  47-54)
• What are the National Investment Funds proposed
  by the AFB how might they work? (pp. 62-66)
• What are the AFBs proposals around tax
  fairness? (pp. 67-68).

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6. Poorer Ontarians post Tories?

• Clearly, the authors are making this case, but
  would everyone agree with this statement? Why or
  why not?
• Was there was a contradiction between the
  Tories statements about cutting red tape and
  their actions in practice?
• During their nine years in power, were the
  Tories effective in polarizing public opinion?
  If yes, why?

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7. OAB and education

• Why is funding so crucial an issue in discussions
  around post-secondary education?
• What are the authors concerns about the Rozanski
  report? Are these concerns well-founded?
• The OAB makes a case for a system of needs-based
  grants in addition to student loans. Why?
• What is the factual discrepancy the OAB raises
  about PC policy on tuition fees?

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8. OAB and early childhood education

• Why is early childhood education a foremost
  priority?
• What are the social costs of not having
  affordable child care programs in place?
• What measures does the OAB propose for child care
  workers?

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9-11. The OAB on homelessness, poverty, and
social assistance

• Why are the OAB authors alleging that Ontarios
  social assistance programs are broken?
• What proposals do they suggest to reverse current
  trends of homelessness and poverty?
• Would any of these proposals be widely popular
  among Ontarians? Why or why not?

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12. The OAB and health care

• What is Ontarios hospital crisis according to
  the OAB?
• What are the costs for health care workers if
  funding levels are unpredictable, or predictably
  worse?
• What is the Primary Care Reform the OAB
  proposes? Is this a viable solution?

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13. The OAB and taxes

• How significant were tax cuts in Ontario under
  the Tories in fiscal terms?
• What is the bone the OAB picks with the Tories
  handling of federal transfers destined for health
  care?
• Why are tax cuts called upside down equity at
  work?

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For next week

• Readings Week 7 (Public expenditures II).
• See you next Monday? Please?