The Budget! The Budget! The Federal Budget! It was released on Monday after a 2-year wait (last year’s was cancelled due to the pandemic) and holy shit does it ever make you grateful that the Deputy Prime Minister and The Finance Minister are the same person and she’s a woman. Here’s what will matter the most to you if you’re a mom in 2021.

Up to $30 billion committed for a Canada-wide early learning and child-care system

This is the big one. In the budget’s foreword, Freeland Writes: “COVID has brutally exposed something women have long known: Without childcare, parents—usually mothers—can’t work.” And she’s right. Just as we’ve been saying for the past year, this pandemic truly has obliterated the economic gains made by women over the past handful of decades and something needs to be done to correct it. Enter: the Canada-wide early learning and childcare system. Ms. Freeland says there will be individual funding deals between Ottawa and each province, which makes sense considering monthly childcare fees vary between $175-$1750 among them. We push the idea of Universal Childcare hard in our new book, “Get Your $hit Together” because it’s the most obvious way to remove the burden of unpaid care-work from women and allow them the opportunity to thrive in the workplace. We couldn’t be more excited to finally see it proposed in an official Federal Budget this year.  This new system will take inspiration from Quebec’s provincial system which sees daycare costs at a country-wide low of $10 per day on average. Freeland wants to see the rest of the country on the same page within the next five years.  

HALLELUJAH!

Build an economy that values women’s work 

According to Freeland, the long term goal is to build an “inclusive, sustainable, feminist, and resilient economy that values women’s work.” Government data suggests 16,000 Canadian women have left the labour force in the past year while men’s participation has climbed 91,000 during the course of the pandemic. “The closure of schools and child care centres has exacerbated work-life balance challenges for women as they have overwhelmingly borne the burdens of unpaid care work,” the budget reads. “This has made it more difficult for some women to work full time, for some to work at all, and for many women it has worsened their mental health.” Freeland has put together a task force to focus on getting rid of “She-cession”barriers like the ones listed above. She also notes that she’s realistic about the time frame on this initiative and recognizes that it’s not going to happen over night. We’re just happy to see that someone in power finally gives a shit.

Help for women entrepreneurs

To specifically support female entrepreneurs, the budget proposes an $146.9-million investment into the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, and two other relative initiatives to improve access to financing, mentorship and training. This is designed to address the most vulnerable individuals to the worst impact of the pandemic and lock downs: women, young people, low wage workers and small businesses.

Extension of interest-free period for Canada student and apprentice loans to March 31, 2023

What a time to get qualified in a new field! Our hope is that women use this opportunity to get into high paying, well protected, full time positions in various skilled trades positions. Alternatively, it’s also just a great time to follow a passion or get out of a stagnant / unfulfilling work environment. Woohoo! 

$600 million for new National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence

The money will go toward supporting the work of sexual assault centres, women’s shelters and other organizations that offer life-saving services to women, girls, LGBTQ+ and gender non-binary people. “Those at highest risk of violence are those living in rural and remote areas, Indigenous women, Black women, women with disabilities, women of colour, gender non-binary and LGBTQ2 people,” the budget reads, noting the pandemic has also seen a pernicious rise in domestic violence.

A promise to improve the quality of long-term care

After a tragic year in long term care homes, the budget proposes making a $3-billion investment over five years, starting next year, to ensure the provinces and territories meet national standards of care. 

The federal government also proposes setting aside $27.6 million in funding to a group tax-free savings account called “my65+,” a program offered by the Service Employees International Union Healthcare to enhance retirement benefits for its members. Additional notable funding includes $90 million over three years for Employment and Social Development Canada to launch an initiative called “Age Well at Home.” Its objective, according to the budget, is to “assist community-based organizations in providing practical support that helps low-income and otherwise vulnerable seniors age in place, such as matching seniors with volunteers who can help with meal preparation, home maintenance, daily errands, yard work and transportation.”

$2.2 billion to protect Indigenous women and girls

Advancing last year’s announcement that work is underway to develop a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) national action plan, the federal budget has allocated $2.2 billion to fund this work over five years.

The federal government also proposes spending $126.7 million over three years to “support patient advocates, health system navigators, and cultural safety training for medical professionals.” This is in direct response to the “devastating consequences of anti-Indigenous racism in our health care systems.”

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So there you have it – the first ounce of good news coming out of Ottawa in a hell of a long time. It paints a picture of a hopeful future, but we’re be remiss not to mention that it won’t come cheap. Though it’s not laid out in the document, economists say to look out for in increase in GST down the line (2023 and beyond). This will likely be necessary to offset spending, in addition to the new luxury tax on high-end cars, yachts and private aircraft outlined in the budget.

Recognizing that this document is part budget and part Liberal party platform, it does make us want to forgive some questionable past leadership (ahem: the vaccine roll-out) and ensure that Deputy Prime Minister / Finance Minister Freeland gets to stick around long enough to see this to fruition. But Freeland can’t get all the credit here. We owe this to the work of thousands of women, over many decades, pushing hard for what their sex needs to not just survive but to thrive in the Great White North.

On a personal note, it feels amazing to see the initiatives we’ve supported over the past six years since starting The Rebel Mama (and especially since putting it all on paper in Get Your $hit Together) begin to come to life in a real, tangible way. Now all we need is some legislation surrounding parental leave that encourages dads to take advantage of it as much as moms in order to mitigate the motherhood penalty and we’re good to go! 

 

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