Ricardo Tranjan

Linda McQuaig: There’s much talk about building a stronger Canada, but silence about the one strategy that actually worked If we’re truly interested in bold ideas, Canada should free ourselves from the notion that the only way to build a country is to cater to corporate titans.

It was public--not private--enterprise that built this country: CNR, Ontario Hydro, the crown corporation that led to the Avro Arrow. Too bad we've forgotten. #cdnpoli #canlab
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

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Ricardo Tranjan: Here comes the new minimum wage — with the same problem as the old one Doug Ford is choosing to keep workers poor when the minimum wage could be and needs to be much higher

The new $ 17.60-an-hour minimum wage is an arbitrary figure that could and needs to be much higher. Why is it not?

Because the Ontario government is making the political choice to keep minimum wage workers poor.

My latest @thestar.com

www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

« C’est insuffisant » : Hausse du salaire minimum en Ontario Le salaire minimum passe de 17,20 $ à 17,60 $ ce mercredi. Cette augmentation signifie 832 $ de plus par année pour ceux qui travaillent 40 heures par semaine.

Selon le chercheur principal au @policyalternatives.ca, @ricardotranjan.bsky.social, « le montant [de l'augmentation du salaire minimum] n’est ancré sur aucune mesure concrète de l’économie. Ce n’est pas axé sur le coût de la vie en Ontario ».
ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/219...

Over two thirds of Canadians live in suburbs. And when the left neglects organizing in those suburbs, we give up on reversing the right-wing tide across Canada.

Aniket Kali and I talked to the organizers in the GTA who are working to turn the tide:

Are REITs good for housing? CMHC says we need more, raising concerns among some housing experts Critics say the national housing agency has drifted from its affordability mandate, while CMHC says it wants to increase housing supply while protecting tenants.

Not engaging with the “most robust” and “most relevant” statistical analysis in Canada in recent years [on rent control] seems “disingenuous,” said senior @policyalternatives.ca economist and housing researcher @ricardotranjan.bsky.social #cdnpoli www.thestar.com/real-estate/...

Ontario’s striking college support workers are fighting to save a key part of the economy - CCPA As 10,000 Ontario college support workers take to the picket line in their quest for job security, they’re also fighting for a better college system for the students they support.

College workers play a crucial role in the education & training of young people.

At a time youth unemployment is at a historical high, this strike has broad economic implications for Ontario.

@CCPA_Ont's latest analysis #onted #onpoli #saveourcolleges

www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Canada’s federal election in April saw Conservatives take over the suburbs. Here, writer and political economist @ricardotranjan.bsky.social considers what it will take for progressives to find their feet again: thewalrus.ca/conservatives-pa...

Ricardo Tranjan: As Ford bickers with trustees over bubble gum, our chronically underfunded schools are failing a growing number of students Whatever is happening with administrative expenses can neither explain nor solve the serious challenges schools are facing.

As Doug Ford bickers with #OntEd school board trustees over bubble gum, the govt's chronic underfunding of our schools is failing a growing number of students, says @policyalternatives.ca researcher @ricardotranjan.bsky.social. #OnPoli

www.thestar.com/opinion/as-f...

Happy Labour Day! Jon Milton writes about how the Canadian government is addicted to strikebreaking. From the 1940s to today, modern Canadian labour relations has always included government strikebreaking—and workers defying those orders. www.policyalternatives.ca/.../a-brief-...

Ricardo Tranjan: Income inequality reached a new high. Here’s why Ottawa’s DOGE-style cuts will only make it worse The prime minister has gone from Captain Canada to Captain Cuts.

"The gap between the haves and have-nots is growing. Instead of using its taxing and spending powers to reverse this trend, the federal government is planning to indiscriminately cut government programs..." By @ricardotranjan.bsky.social #cdnpoli #inequality www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Ricardo Tranjan: Income inequality reached a new high. Here’s why Ottawa’s DOGE-style cuts will only make it worse The prime minister has gone from Captain Canada to Captain Cuts.

“The prime minister has gone from Captain Canada to Captain Cuts. And the damage will be deeply felt.” @ricardotranjan.bsky.social in today’s Star.

Ricardo Tranjan: The law allows landlords to make the elderly homeless. Whose dreams of the future is government helping? In Quebec, New York and Germany, laws protecting elderly renters from eviction are robust. Why doesn’t Ontario?

www.thestar.com/opinion/cont... ‘Selling dreams of the future while failing to act now is not just cynical but despicable when it concerns the senior population.’ @ricardotranjan.bsky.social @policyalternatives.ca

Join me and @neweconomics.bsky.social comrades, this Thursday, 11:00 am (ET), for a discussion on how to conduct research *for* rather than *about* tenant movements

Opinion: Northern pipeline the wrong nation-building plan Canada and Manitoba must invest in renewable energy and infrastructure to help all Canadians and not greenwash fossil fuel expansion projects as responsible economic development.

"There is an alternative [to pipelines]. Manitoba must prioritize climate mitigation and resilience in its nation-building projects." Read more here from @ccpamb.bsky.social director Molly McCracken #mbpoli #greeneconomy www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/anal...

Join CCPA Ontario's Senior Researcher @ricardotranjan.bsky.social:

Image of crowd with hands raised in the air. Text reads: ADDRESSING THE HOUSING CRISIS BY SUPPORTING TENANT-BASED MOVEMENTS: LESSONS FROM CANADA AND THE UK. Webinar Thursday 26 June 2025 4.00pm-5.00pm BST 11.00am-12.00am ET

Tenants are organising. How can researchers and think tanks support them? Join @neweconomics.bsky.social and @policyalternatives.ca on 26 June for a webinar on how to support housing justice movements in Canada and the UK.

Link in post below 1/2

Join @neweconomics.bsky.social and @policyalternatives.ca @ricardotranjan.bsky.social for a Canada-UK housing justice dialogue, with contributions from the amazing @jryancollins.bsky.social 👇

Youth unemployment is approaching a boiling point in Ontario - CCPA Canada is confronting a deepening youth employment emergency that policy-makers and political debates have largely overlooked, as a recent CCPA analysis highlighted.

Between 2019 and 2025, unemployment rates among teens aged 15 to 19 climbed from 14.9 per cent to 22.2 per cent. Nearly 1 in 4 teenagers in Ontario’s labour force is now unemployed.

New analysis by my colleague @carolinaaragao.bsky.social
www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Ricardo Tranjan: We’ve seen this Doug Ford show before, and it only goes well for his corporate friends We have seen this cynical three-act austerity agenda before.

Doug Ford is rolling out a classic three-act austerity agenda.

It starts by cutting social spending, villainizing the poor and public workers to deflect blame, then opening the gates to corporate heroes who will purportedly save the day.

My latest @thestar.com

www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

L’Ontario sous-finance les écoles à raison de 6,3 milliards de dollars depuis 2018 - CCPA Le budget de 2025 de l’Ontario présente de nombreux chiffres impressionnants, mais il ne règle pas le manque de fonds dans des programmes et secteurs fondamentaux. L’analyse du CCPA le jour même du bu...

Le financement par étudiant [en Ontario] demeure sous les seuils de 2018-2019, creusant la dette des conseils scolaires. Ecrit par @ricardotranjan.bsky.social. @policyalternatives.ca www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Ontario has underfunded schools by $6.3 billion since 2018 - CCPA The 2025 Ontario budget has lots of big numbers, but fails to address funding shortfalls in core program areas. CCPA’s same-day budget analysis examined the broad trend, and in an article for The Toro...

#onpoli gov released school funding numbers:

+ Per-student funding still below 2018-19
+ Provincial funding gap grows to $6.35 bi
+ TDSB cumulative funding gap: $919M
+ OCDSB cumulative funding gap: $337M
+TCDSB cumulative funding gap: 273M

www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Le FRAPRU planifie des manifestations toute la semaine contre la crise du logement L’organisme calcule qu’il faudrait doubler le parc de logements sociaux en 15 ans.

Le @frapru.bsky.social calcule quil faudrait doubler le nombre de logements sociaux sous diverses formes d’ici 15 ans pour sortir de la #crisedulogement et renforcer le filet social www.ledevoir.com/societe/8813... via @ledevoir.com #polqc

As a share of GDP, spending on post-secondary education is projected to decrease from 1.41 per cent in 2019 to 0.97 per cent in 2028

www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Ricardo Tranjan: Ontario budget leaves universities and colleges twisting in the wind Our higher learning institutions are expensive and underfunded, leaving students and schools in limbo

My latest for the Toronto Star

Economic turmoil could have been the final push this government needed to finally address the structural underfunding of post-secondary education. Instead, they're cutting funding.

www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Don’t be fooled by big numbers—Ontario budget fails to address years-long funding shortfalls - CCPA A lot has happened since the last Ontario budget. U.S. President Donald Trump launched a trade war against Canada and the rest of the world. Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives won a third majority ...

Ontario budget fails to address funding shortfalls:

By 2028, per capita spending will be lower than in 2018

Health funding is not enough to maintain services

#onted funding is dropping over the next years

Postsecondary funding is declining

www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Don’t be fooled by big numbers—Ontario budget fails to address years-long funding shortfalls - CCPA A lot has happened since the last Ontario budget. U.S. President Donald Trump launched a trade war against Canada and the rest of the world. Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives won a third majority ...

@policyalternatives.ca's 2025 Ontario Budget analysis:

Don’t be fooled by big numbers—Ontario budget fails to address years-long funding shortfalls

www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

The “pro-baby” movement is going mainstream. It’s a short distance between medals for motherhood and coercive control of reproduction - CCPA It’s Mother’s Day on Sunday and my wonderful kids have already organized a manicure for me. In 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday of May a national holiday to express our...

What mothers really need this Mother’s Day: Affordable housing, quality child care and flexible parental leave. By @kjscott.bsky.social #canfem www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Hollowed out: Ontario public hospitals and the rise of private staffing agencies - CCPA Ontario’s hospitals are being privatized through the costly use of for-profit staffing agencies

New from @policyalternatives.ca: In #Ontario, increased spending on private agency staff in hospitals is a poor use of #healthcare $. (In 2022/3 private agencies consumed 6% of labour costs but provided only 0.4% of frontline hours.) Report on how to change: www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Ontario’s colleges are a safety net for workers. It’s time the government funds them properly. - CCPA Ontario's colleges stand at a critical crossroads. For decades, the province's college system has endured severe funding shortfalls, with Ontario contributing less than 25 per cent of operating revenu...

College education promotes social mobility & economic stability:

+ It boosts the wages of racialized women by 65%

+ Rural and small communities benefit the most

Excellent analysis by CCPA's @carolinaaragao.bsky.social & @rromard.bsky.social

www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...