Finance committee  I work at the School of Population and Public Health. We know the evidence is clear. Medical care does not make Canadians healthy. It treats our illness after we've already become unhealthy. If we want a healthier population, we need to invest in what this health minister is actu

Finance committee  I think there are limits to what the federal government can do just for jurisdictional reasons. I think it's worthwhile being mindful of how, yes, it is the case, especially outside of Quebec, that tuition has doubled, say compared to a generation ago, once you adjust for inflati

Finance committee  It's a brilliant question. If only I had a dollar for every time I was asked that question, I would be wealthy. Here is the answer. First off, the data are unclear about just how much people are going to inherit. However, let's imagine that every younger person is going to inhe

Finance committee  That's a very complicated question to have me go on record about here.

Finance committee  It was interesting to see that was not at all an evidence-based conversation—that decision—and it does reflect the fact that many other decisions are not evidence-based. One of the things that happens is that results in not investing enough in a younger demographic where the ev

Finance committee  We've actually worked hard on it.

Finance committee  I would say first and foremost it's interesting that we talk about the CPP in terms of intergenerational fairness and are concerned about it, because, really, of all the things, that's one of the most intergenerationally sound programs we have in Canada. I think the adaptations

Finance committee  It is the case that a younger demographic is earning thousands of dollars less for full-time work, so that's a challenge in and of itself. Then their biggest cost of living—as it has always been—is housing, and that is so much more expensive than the past. In that context, a youn

Finance committee  There are long-standing benefit-cost analyses for child care. On the one hand, people are clear that the costs are relatively significant at the federal level. To do this right, it's probably about a $5-billion price tag. On the one hand that sounds very expensive, but on the ot

Finance committee  As you noted, I'm a professor at the University of B.C., and I'm here today on behalf of an organization called Generation Squeeze, which is engaging Canadians in our 20s, 30s, and 40s to realize our potential as change-makers on a grand national scale in the world of politics fo

Health committee  This slide summarizes a range of studies that show what it means for Canadians when they come to school at age six and are vulnerable, either physically, socially, emotionally, or in terms of their ABCs and one-two-threes. It summarizes a range of studies showing that early vulne

Health committee  This is a really good question. The federal government could pick any one of the three policy changes I propose, but given the way federal-provincial relationships work right now, it would make most sense to intervene on the new mom and new dad benefits, because currently a lot o

Health committee  There's no doubt that the investment in smart family policy to promote a healthier population isn't going to yield savings in the health care setting for young kids for 10 or 15 years. It is a medium-term investment. That's the issue about health promotion all along. At some poi

Health committee  I'm the kind of academic who's willing to say that if we want to spend more in some areas a cap on medical care spending may be appropriate, especially if it's targeted at going at GDP, which is effectively what we're talking about after 2017. Even between now and 2015-16 we will

Health committee  I think in many cultural contexts outside of Canada there isn't necessarily a trade-off between medical care spending that's oriented around illness treatment and other public policy and social policy spending. But in Canada we've run into a bit of an issue. Our greatest social p