Hi. Thank you.
It's very nice to be here this afternoon. I really appreciate the opportunity to provide input into the 2021 budget consultations.
Unifor is Canada's largest private sector union. We represent 315,000 members, in nearly every sector of the economy and in every province, so we have lots of recommendations.
My name is Kaylie Tiessen. I work in the research department at Unifor. Our organization has spent a tremendous amount of time enacting solutions to the challenges and the opportunities presented by COVID-19, both in terms of protecting the public health and the health of our members and also protecting or enhancing their economic security.
If there is one overarching message based on these experiences that we've had this year, it is this: Do not miss the opportunity to build back to a better economy than we had before. There were many crises that were already in existence and we need to fix them. The economy before couldn't locate PPE for workers and businesses when it was needed most. That economy refused to provide paid sick days or sufficient time off the job, even though resources to do so were readily available. Our most essential workers were, and still are, barely earning enough to get by. Basic social services such as prescription drugs and child care were, and still are, inaccessible to many people.
Yes, prior the pandemic, Canada was experiencing record-setting low unemployment and real wage growth had finally started to take off, but those statistics took nearly 10 years to arrive after the 2008-09 recession. We know that focused government action can reduce the lag time between when an economic recovery technically arrives and when it is actually experienced by workers and families on the ground. Government action can also shorten the time it takes to return to the trajectory we were on before the pandemic, ensure full utilization of productive capacity and put the right policies in place to ensure workers are experiencing healthy working conditions and living wages as a minimum.
With the arrival of the vaccine, the end of the pandemic is now in sight, still some way off but in sight. With that comes the hard work of recovering and rebuilding. Unifor recommends an economic stimulus package big enough and bold enough to put people back to work and build racial and economic justice, because we know that economic recovery is not achieved if we continue to leave people out of prosperity.
Our recommendations are as follows, and you can see them in the brief that we prepared back in August.
Redesign income security system with a focus on permanent EI reform and a federal minimum wage that is at least $15.
Grow the economy through green jobs and decarbonization. That includes a national auto strategy, charging infrastructure and targeted support for the energy sector as we march towards net-zero targets and continue to meet our current energy needs.
We need to solidify Canada's ability to make and create things at home, through strategies to rebuild industrial capacity.
Expand the definition of critical infrastructure to acknowledge the actual outsized importance that care work has in building the foundation for our economic prosperity. Then, once we change the definition, we have to build the infrastructure, and that's a very important piece. We're talking about a universal pharmacare plan, universal child care system, and the end of the drinking water advisories in indigenous communities. Build made-in-Canada public transit.
The list is long, and it's in our brief.
Finally, government is currently designing additional means to ensure financial support for SMEs and large corporations while restrictions on travel and going out and shopping are still in place. Our members working in hospitality, air transportation, aerospace and tourism need those programs now. When they're put in place, we need to make sure that all of that support comes with strong and enforceable conditions that protect and promote the public interest, including good jobs and environmental sustainability.
All of that accomplishes three important goals. One, it creates more jobs, putting people back to work, and may have to transition people from one industry before the pandemic to another after. Two, it ensures that the quality of work in Canada is substantially enhanced. Three, it builds a stronger foundation on which we can build economic prosperity for everyone.
Finally, I want to address the deficit.
The last time the government spent this much money was during World War II. That extraordinary spending actually went on for four years. So for four years, the government spent between 18% to 23% of GDP. It was the right thing to do then. It's the right thing to do now. The economy didn't collapse. With prudent effort put into going to war, and then prudent management afterwards, the country saw an era of substantial prosperity, and the same is possible in the present.
What we know about the deficit today is that the deficit-to-GDP ratio will reach between 15% to 16%. That's high, but it's not unprecedented. In the following years, that ratio will shrink and return to a normalized level. That's a prudent plan in my opinion.
Current spending has pushed the debt-to-GDP ratio up substantially. It's likely to reach about 50% in the next few years and decline thereafter.
Again, this is something to constantly monitor, but at this point, we can see that the size of that ratio is not something that will collapse our economy or even put at risk our country's ability to borrow. Canada was in a relatively strong fiscal position before the crisis and continues to be in a strong position today.
In conclusion, do not let the opportunity to build a better economy go to waste. Unifor is asking that you take the appropriate steps right now to make sure that the vision that so many of us have for an even better version of Canada can be realized.
Thank you.
