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October 5, 2000
Growing Together:
Priorities for the 2001 Federal Budget
Introduction
The Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) is an independent, national, non-profit organization specializing in research and advocacy on issues of economic and social security.
Our most recent research work has addressed poverty and income inequality (The Canadian Fact Book on Poverty 2000), child development (The Progress of Canada's Children), barriers to the full participation of persons with disabilities and visible minorities in Canadian society, labour market issues, and the development of measures of social progress and security to qualify and supplement economic measures such as the GDP (The Personal Security Index). We have a large and growing membership base of organizations and individuals who help inform and direct our research, notably through our volunteer Board of Directors.
In this brief, we will draw out some of the policy implications of research and reflection conducted by the CCSD and by others, and we will address five key issues: a National Children's Agenda; a National Disability Agenda; a Fair Tax Agenda; an Affordable Housing Agenda; and Measuring and Monitoring Social Progress.
The development of social and economic policies which will promote the shared progress of all Canadians demands a high level of co-operation between the federal and provincial governments. Unfortunately, federal-provincial conflicts have been and remain a major obstacle to progress, and these conflicts have served to unduly exclude non-governmental and other important organizations from the policy-making process. The CCSD supports the broad objectives of the Social Union and the principle that effective national social programs require broad partnerships between all levels of government, and between governments and non-governmental organizations. We also recognize that national social programs should take into account the specific circumstances of Quebec.
The CCSD believes it is critical that we invest the fast-growing federal fiscal surplus in Canada's social programs and infrastructure if we are to 'grow together' and build a more inclusive foundation for future human development and well-being. The size of the surplus and the healthy prospects for continued growth and job creation provide Canada with a major opportunity to move forward in this area.
Social investment, in combination with an improving job market, has enormous potential to reverse some of our more dismal trends - including rising inequality and exclusion, and falling real incomes and security for many middle- and lower-income families. There is ample opportunity now to finance significant social investment and targeted tax relief towards social objectives, without compromising the continued decline of federal debt as a share of GDP, and without compromising future growth and job creation.
We need good social policies to advance the cause of social justice, because good social policy is also good economic policy. No country can truly advance if it turns its back on the needs of its citizens or fails to ensure the full participation and inclusion of all of its citizens.
Canada's accelerating economic recovery since the mid-1990s has resulted in progress for some, but also growing income inequality and deepening social cleavages. A significant portion of our citizens are at risk of being left behind, including lower-income families with children, single-parent families headed by women, persons with disabilities, many visible minority immigrants, and older single persons. Canada does not have a large "underclass" of citizens, but we risk creating one as more and more households experience long-term and deep poverty. And although employment has grown - and this is certainly welcome and is having a real impact - the labour market alone has not provided sufficient employment opportunities at living wages.
This raises the question: How can we provide security to all in a rapidly changing economy? There is a need to expand - rather than make further cuts to - income supports such as social assistance and EI, and there is a need to expand the social safety net to cover not just those outside the labour market, but also to support labour market participation and supplement often inadequate wages. There is a need to increase the provision of social security outside the market through new programs and services. Social investment now is critical if we are to create a more inclusive and more prosperous society.
To this end, the CCSD recommends the following program initiatives, building on priorities set out in previous federal budgets:
A National Children's Agenda
Additional federal funding should be set aside in Budget 2001 to support the National Children's Agenda. Ongoing federal funding should be designated for the National Children's Agenda in order to sustain the Year One commitments and finance much-needed programs for school-aged children and youth in subsequent years. The federal government should advance its timetable for increases to the Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB) and phase out benefits more slowly as family income rises. The federal government should consider the plight of the very poorest children in Canada and prohibit the clawback of the National Child Benefit Supplement from families on social assistance.
A National Disability Agenda
The federal government should move forward, with the provinces, to create a national network of supports and services to assist persons with disabilities in their daily activities. The federal government should move immediately to offset the extra costs related to living with a disability by substantially improving the existing disability credits as an interim step, then work towards a new refundable disability tax credit.
A Fair Tax Agenda
The federal government should immediately increase the basic tax exemption to $8,000 and maintain full indexing to inflation. The federal government should increase the GST Tax Credit by $70 per adult and by $30 per child. The federal government should work towards a universal child tax credit program which would recognize the costs that all families face when raising children. The progressivity of the personal income tax system should be retained and improved.
An Affordable Housing Agenda
The federal government should take a leadership role in developing a national housing strategy in conjunction with the provinces, municipalities and non-government housing associations, under the auspices of the Social Union Framework Agreement. The federal government should develop financial instruments - including tax measures and capital pools - to assist with the construction, financing and long-term maintenance of affordable housing stocks. These efforts should be done in partnership with community and private sector partners, and build upon the many constructive proposals being advanced by municipal, voluntary and academic housing advocates.
Measuring and Monitoring Social Progress
The federal government should devote $50 million in Budget 2001 for the development and implementation of a national strategy to chart social progress and monitor the health and well-being of Canadians, in consultation with federal, provincial, and non-governmental organizations. The federal government should bring together the expertise of the government, academics and the voluntary sector to further develop and implement the concept of social monitoring. $15 million annually should be administered by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), in partnership with the voluntary sector and the federal government's Policy Research Secretariat.
Section 2: Will We Grow Together or Grow Apart?
Canadian Council on Social Development,
190 O'Connor Street, Suite 100,
Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 2R3
Tel: (613) 236-8977, Fax: (613) 236-2750, Web: www.ccsd.ca, Email: council@ccsd.ca
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