The Liberal Party of Canada leadership race is underway. The successful candidate will run in an upcoming federal election that will significantly shape Canada’s social, economic and political future. Whomever becomes the new leader, they must present, and deliver on, an inspiring vision for a future for Canada that is centred on ensuring this country is a place where all residents have the resources and opportunities they need to be healthier and more resilient.
People in Canada are facing the impacts of the mounting cost of living, an aging population, health system pressures, worsening mental health and well-being, and climate change. There are significant and worsening inequalities in exposure to the social factors that impact health. For instance, income, poverty, employment, food security and housing vary depending on who you are and where you live. These inequalities have direct impacts on health that disproportionately negatively impact Indigenous, Black and other racialized populations, low-income groups, people with disabilities, newcomers and 2SLGBTQ+ communities.
These challenges and inequalities are likely to be what is on the minds of voters as they look to select not only the new Liberal Party leader, but the next Prime Minister of Canada. If the candidates want to inspire hope and build trust among an increasingly fractured population, they must provide a vision for change that clearly set outs what a healthy Canada looks like, and what they will do to achieve it.
Over the next few weeks, Wellesley Institute will provide recommendations on issues we hope to see leadership candidates address, and to see members and supporters consider as they cast their votes. We begin with a look at what candidates should do to progress towards ensuring everyone in Canada has what they need to thrive – to live a healthy, engaged life.
Thriving
Canada is a high-income country and its aspirations for its population should be in line with its status as a G7 nation. People living in Canada want the opportunity to live long healthy lives. Their aspiration is for more than just surviving. They want to thrive. Thriving is also good for the economy. Countries that minimize ill health and whose populations are thriving perform better economically. Previous governments have thought that decreasing poverty by 50 per cent is a stretch goal. But the population needs to not only see poverty eliminated, but a government which targets thriving as their aim.
The next leader of the Liberal Party must continue to tackle the ongoing economic damage from COVID-19, which left low-income groups, racialized communities, women and newcomers primarily shouldering its burden. The current government introduced several key measures that reduced poverty and addressed inequality, including an enhanced Canada Child Benefit (CCB), the Canada Workers Benefit, increases to Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement and the new Canada Disability Benefit. Additionally, the CCB has become a critical income support that has proven to very effectively address child poverty for eligible families. While these measures have been able to help some people escape poverty, more can be done:
- Build a 10-year plan with the provinces, territories, municipalities and Indigenous leaders to end poverty in Canada. The first step for this should be a plan to enhance the Canada Child Benefit and Canada Disability Benefit to achieve that goal for the target groups by 2035.
- Expand access to the Canada Disability Benefit.
Wellesley Institute’s thriving framework outlines the resources needed to meet the physical, social and psychological health needs of everyone living in Canada. This goes beyond just basic survival needs like food and shelter, and includes having resources related to food and nutrition, physical activity, savings and debt, personal care and adequate, healthy housing. This will require bringing together all levels of government and sectors of our society. Programs such as child care, dental care and pharmacare have taken steps in the right direction for many who do not have the resources to pay out-of-pocket for these services, including lower-income older adults, low-income families and persons with disabilities. More needs to be done, including:
- Establish thriving, beyond poverty or a living wage, as our national goal, and bring together all levels of government, employment sectors and communities to achieve it.
- Develop, expand and reform new and existing income support programs to be accessible to more people in need and to be in line with ending poverty, then achieving thriving for all.
- Build on the foundational child-care, dental care and pharmacare programs.
- Increase access to the national child-care program by increasing spaces, improving the working conditions of the child-care workforce, further reducing costs, improving quality, and working to ensure it is equitably delivered.
- Expand dental care to cover more procedures, cover more people and reduce co-pay amounts until everyone is able to access dental care without meeting financial barriers.
- Expand pharmacare to cover more needs for more people
Canada’s next Prime Minister must make sure that Canada does not fall back on its progress in these areas. They must ensure that these programs and others are effectively expanded so that more people can save their resources and get closer to thriving.