Social Enterprise Video

Employees from BUILD and Manitoba Green Retrofit share their experiences working at social enterprises and the impacts this is has in their lives and communities. This documentary short includes highlights of the CCPA Manitoba study “Creating Pride Through Decent Work”.   

Inaction Threatens to Stagnate Manitoba Minimum Wage

First published as an editorial in the Winnipeg Free Press July 18, 2016

By Molly McCracken

Unless immediate action is taken, 2016 will be the first time in a generation that minimum wage workers will see their wages stagnate, which will result in fewer earnings for basics like food and shelter.

The 2016 budget failed to signal even an inflationary increase in the minimum wage. This means these earners will make $400 less in 2016/17 – the first minimum wage freeze in 16 years.

A Ray of Hope for Winnipeg Transit

By Lynne Fernandez

Winnipeg’s public transit system is in great need of improvement if it is to meet the needs of those who rely on it – seniors, low-income people, youth and persons with disabilities who cannot drive. By allowing people to get to work regardless of their schedules, an efficient transit system is one of the best ways to fight poverty and inequality in our city. Affordable transit also gives lower-income families the ability to participate in recreation and education, get to appointments, and to socialize.

Who’s Doing What about Poverty Reduction?

By Shauna MacKinnon

For Manitoban’s concerned about poverty, there will be much to consider when sorting through political party platforms and promises in search of a meaningful poverty reduction plan. Poverty alleviation is a long-term proposition. No provincial political party can end poverty in the short term and certainly not in isolation of a federal government commitment. So beware of those politicians who offer silver bullets and quick fixes. Look to those who offer thoughtful honest responses that demonstrate an understanding that the circumstances for individuals living in poverty can be complicated and breaking the cycle of poverty requires multiple policy responses and a long-term commitment.

Here are some things to look for:

Does the party have a comprehensive plan?

Investing in Social Enterprise to reduce poverty and green house gases

By Lynne Fernandez
A new Errol Black Chair paper explains how a combination of governmental policies and initiatives in Manitoba allows social enterprises to reduce Manitoba’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while training and employing Inner City workers. The provincial government and Manitoba Hydro are supporting social enterprises so they can work in two emerging ‘green’ sectors: building retrofits and alternative energy installations.

CCPA MB research backs social movements, leveraging change

Evidence-based policy research can exert a powerful force for social change, especially when it stands with the community in its actions and organising. The role of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives – Manitoba is to inform social movements and to provide them the arguments they need to advocate for a progressive future. In a world where mainstream media too often takes its newsfeed from corporate spin and government news releases, the work CCPA-MB does in providing non-partisan, community-based research is essential for stemming the neoliberal assault on workers, the environment and on our communities.

Temporary Foreign Workers: How federal settlement policies overlook some newcomers

By Zoё St-Aubin and Jill Bucklaschuk

Manitoba has embarked on aggressive immigration strategies to attract newcomers to settle in a variety of communities in the province with the purpose of meeting local labour force demands. In response to these trends, it is necessary to have appropriate and effective support systems to assist in the long-term settlement and integration of the increasing number of newcomers. Prior to the federal government’s changes to the delivery model of settlement services in 2012, these services were a provincial responsibility in Manitoba, Quebec, and British Columbia. As a result of federal and provincial agreements, the settlement service framework gave these provinces considerable discretion over how services were implemented, funded, and delivered, with the purposes of addressing region-specific needs. There was an acknowledgement that individual regions had unique settlement needs and that service delivery should be tailored rather than implemented in one-size-fits-all fashion. However this has all changed.

Manitoba Budget a Leap Forward for Poverty Reduction

By Lynne Fernandez and Molly McCracken

Photo: Youth Researcher, CCPA

By substantially raising EIA shelter rates and increasing child care spaces, new apprenticeship programs and support to social enterprises, the province is taking action to provide marginalized people with the assistance low income people need to overcome barriers to education and employment.

Federal jobs strategy undermines local employment training

The new Canada Jobs Grant (CJG) program proposed in the recent federal Throne Speech represents a fundamental shift in funding for employment training in Canada. Provinces have opposed the changes because they fail to meet local employment training needs. Here in Manitoba, the CJG threatens to unravel successful programs in Winnipeg’s inner city.

What goes around comes around: A living wage and worker solidarity

By Lynne Fernandez, Errol Black Chair in Labour Issues

There have been some rumblings from south of the boarder that people under 40 may not recognize and that may be only vaguely familiar with others: the sound of workers on the rise, of a groundswell of workers who have had enough of the new economic reality they are mired in.

Earlier this month fast-food workers in 60 US cities shut down McDonald’s and Burger King and also demonstrated at other stores such as Macy’s Inc., Sears and Dollar Tree. These workers, fed up with not being able to support their families or afford healthcare coverage, have learnt a lesson that workers knew only too well during the last century and before: if you want a fair deal at your workplace, you have to form a critical mass and speak with one powerful voice. The service sector in both the US and Canada is bereft of union coverage and these workers are now connecting the dots between lack of unionization and the low-wage, precarious job they have.