COVID-19 HAS BEEN DEVASTATING for Canada, affecting our health, economy and social structures. Recovery from the pandemic will be a significant challenge, but one that provides unique opportunities to address the deeper issues confronting our country.
Rarely has there been such goodwill directed toward the government combined with a sense of broad reflection on the part of many citizens. We have learned clear lessons from COVID-19, particularly around our ability to act quickly and collectively in the face of a global threat. These are lessons we need to embrace as we forge a new future. The world is different. We are different. And that’s why now is the moment for us to take bold action to accelerate change and create the world we desire.
Beyond the pandemic, Canada is facing a number of difficult challenges, with few easy answers. One of our most pressing social issues is the increasing wealth disparity between individuals (the top 1% of households control more than 20 per cent of Canada’s wealth), between urban and rural regions and across generations. Added to that, our population is aging quickly, putting substantial pressure on our social services system and creating an ongoing burden for young wage earners. Household debt is also a major issue, although marginally less than it was pre-COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Canada’s economy, founded on small business, is reeling from the impact of the pandemic and the difficult but necessary decisions made to address it. In the current environment, technology is both an opportunity and a challenge. Businesses need to innovate, but innovation often creates stress for those likely to lose their jobs due to new technology.
There is also the critical issue of climate change. It threatens the lifestyle of those in the territories and puts other regions of the country at risk of extreme weather events like floods, droughts and forest fires. As the world increasingly focuses on decarbonization, Canada’s natural resources sector is
