On June 2nd, Vote As If the Future of Your Family and the Planet Depend On It
The pandemic has revealed the tears in our social safety net and the growing inequality that leaves too many people behind. Too often the most vulnerable among us are being ignored or neglected. The time has come to focus on reducing inequalities, on human health and on creating the foundation for an economy that strengthens communities and protects our environment.
It is time to end warehousing our elders in private, for-profit institutions. It is time for a renewed public investment in non-profit and affordable housing. It is time to move forward on both a livable income and a jobs guarantee. It is time to strengthen our investments in child development and early learning. It is time to begin the transition from an economy fueled by fossil fuels and endless growth, to one embedded in communities and focused on meeting human needs. It is time to time to strengthen local democracy and to create a more cooperative democratic culture.
In short, it is time for a major course correction. Many of our current institutions still operate within a neo-liberal framework of extraction, externalizing risks, internalizing rewards, and putting social and political capital at the service of large multi-national corporations. A framework that is increasingly at odds with the directions for change so essential to our future health, prosperity and survival.
The burden of risks and the sharing of rewards must be turned on its head and that requires citizen led community action and demands for deeper democracy and social change. It also requires cooperation across party lines and a willingness to put personal gain within the broader context of community building and public purpose. The future isn’t about big government versus big business. It is about embedding government and business, in partnership with civil society and non-profits, within re-imagined community-centric local economies designed to meet human needs while living in harmony with the ecological systems of which they are a part. Think in terms of the circular economy and of doughnut economics.
The principles and practices to support this re-imagining are already well underway in hundreds of communities around the world. During this election, ask your candidates where they stand on each of the seven issues outlined below.
Issue One: Creating A Future We Want To Leave to Our Elders and Grandchildren
Getting things back to the way they were is not going to deal with the problems we face. On many of the most urgent concerns, Ontario governments since the 1990s have continued to embrace policies that aren’t working, that leave many people without adequate incomes, with limited job prospects, and without access to affordable housing. We continue to perpetuate growing income and health inequalities and have failed to reverse the tide of ecological destruction. This is not the future we want to leave to our grandchildren.
Obsessions with endless economic growth, balancing government budgets, and measuring human progress through the limited prism of corporate profits are not the way forward. We need to shift our focus to policies rooted in improving human health, and creating caring and sustainable economies. We need to make all our towns and cities child friendly and age friendly places to live, work and thrive. So, in this election, lets get started? We need bold leadership to reverse a generation of austerity and under-investment in social protections. This involves putting human health and well-being at the centre of our thinking about economic progress. It requires a renewed focus on adequate incomes, meaningful work, a right to safe and affordable housing, and a transition away from institutionalizing the elderly.
