What will Canada look like in 5-10 years? What investments and changes will we see in our institutions? What will our politics look like? How will Canadian lives change for the better or worse? These questions are what I and many of my fellow Canadians think about. More so now than ever during the midst of a pandemic. Our future as Canadians remains uncertain under the threat of future pandemics, climate change, economic inequality, and regressive social politics. What is our response to these issues and what are we willing to do?
One thing that comes to mind right away is Trudeau’s $15 billion historic public transit investment with permanent funding starting in 2025 of $9 billion. We must reduce our dependency on cars: cars take too much space, are large emitters of greenhouse gases to both manufacture and run, and are simply inefficient modes of transportation. More buses, trains, and rail systems are all better ways to transport more people with less automobile space while at the same time producing fewer emissions. In terms of cost to the consumer, bus fares are much much cheaper than buying a car. This $15 billion public transit will be massive for Canada’s dire public transit system. Young people, seniors, and low-income earners will benefit most from this policy as these demographics are least likely to own a car. Public transit for these demographics is a god-send.
What about housing? To be honest, the prospects of housing in any country in the G7 is not looking too good. Trudeau’s policy on building 1.4 million new homes in this mandate alone is not enough supply to stabilize prices for housing in Canada. Other policies like the ‘Home Buyer’s Bill of Rights’ should’ve been done long ago, as blind bidding has been an issue plaguing buyers for years. The ban on foreign nationals buying homes in Canada for two years is decent, but again, should've been done years ago. The effects of foreign buyers driving up property prices have been observed for years and only now are we having any policy response to this issue. Better late than never I guess? The rent-to-own program seems to be interesting but nobody really knows how it will work as of yet so we can rule that out. And the 1% tax on vacant properties will do little to adjust housing prices as long as you don’t limit the root cause of why those vacant properties exist in the first place. On the other hand, the tax just seems to be another way to raise tax revenue for the feds, which is good.
The goals that the Trudeau government has set forth for reducing emissions is around 40-45%. For Canadians concerned with climate, this number seems good enough. Although, many Canadians can’t help but feel that more should be done for a greener future. Fewer cars, fewer oil subsidies, more funding for renewable energy, phasing out coal production are some policies people what to see as well. But the climate crisis is one that we should not scoff at, preparation is key. Just as we weren’t prepared for a pandemic, we likely may not be prepared for a pending climate crisis either. More action against climate change is good both economically and environmentally.
Labour movements in Canada seem to have halted entirely since the 80s with a small uptake in strikes and unionization efforts as of late. Labour laws in Canada will likely not change much for two reasons: (1) as long as unionization does not increase, I don’t believe there will be enough pressure from workers for labour law reform, and (2) no provincial or federal government has made amending labour laws in Canada a priority (outside of the paid sick leave promise that Trudeau would negotiate with the provinces). The only hope I have for improvements in working conditions for Canadians is if the US goes through a mass labour reform from strikes and political pressure. In other words, the future for better labour conditions in Canada is looking grim for Canadians.
On a positive note, child care is something Canada will become a world leader in and is something that Canadians will take full advantage of in the coming years. Young working women will no longer have to sacrifice years of their careers to care for children, which ends up benefiting the economy due to more productivity and an increase in tax revenue. It’s beneficial for women’s careers, children’s education, and helps alleviate family burdens as a whole. As a result, I predict Canada (in 5 years) will likely have one of the highest participation of young women (18-34) working in the world. Akin to the employment rates of women in the social democratic Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland). I view child care to be a no-brainer policy, pass it and you will reap the benefits in due time.
Healthcare is another big issue Canadians very much care about. Healthcare is the pride and joy of our country. Proud of our predecessors and Tommy Douglas for implementing healthcare, making it part of our identity. But, however much proud we are of this system, we must be willing to safeguard it against politicians and corporations that seek to privatize our healthcare system. We cannot take healthcare for granted, we must protect it just as we protect any other part of our individual identities. Although, we can be rest assured that Trudeau’s government will not be privatizing our healthcare system any time soon. In fact, they’ll likely be strengthening it: more funding for healthcare, ensuring quality and accessible abortion services across the country, a new dedicated Mental Health Transfer for publicly funded mental health services in Canada, vaccine mandates/passports, provide funding to hire more doctors.
Unfortunately, more work needs to be done for Canadian healthcare, federally subsidized pharmacare to lower the cost of prescription drugs has still not been addressed by the Trudeau government even though it was a big policy for the Liberals since 2015. Lowering wait times is a classic problem of Canadian healthcare that we haven’t addressed systemically as of yet. And of course, including dental care as part of our healthcare system is ever more important for Canadians as it always has been. For the future of healthcare, there is still much to do in Canada.
Honestly, I’ve written enough for now. If there are some other policies I think of that will affect Canada’s future. I’ll write about them in another article.
Thanks for reading.