Economic recovery plan requires task force, gender-based analysis

HALIFAX-- The NDP is renewing its call for an economic recovery task force following last week’s budget update and the impact of the first wave of COVID-19 on the province’s finances.

“In the first wave of COVID-19 we saw the need for government to act quickly and support people during the pandemic,” said NDP Leader Gary Burrill. “When it comes to recovery we need to make sure we are investing where we can make the biggest difference. A task force on economic recovery, including representatives from various sectors, would make sure that public money is being targeted to where it will have the most constructive long-term impact.”

The NDP caucus recently received an FOI response showing that no gender-based analysis of any spending or additional appropriations related to COVID-19 was done by the Liberal government. Women have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and, according to the June jobs report from Statistics Canada, are still more likely to be unemployed compared to this time last year.

“We are in a situation right now that is affecting women differently than men, and that has to be considered when we talk about how we support people through the pandemic,” said Laura Fisher, co-author of the CCPA 2019 Child Poverty Report Card, and a single mom to two school-aged children. “People are swamped and looking ahead to a potential second wave; there are still so many questions about child care, schooling, and the economic recovery that haven’t been addressed. Women have been dealing with all of this before COVID-19 but the pandemic has left a lot of people in even more precarious circumstances.”

The NDP is calling for a task force made up of representatives from a diverse group of industries, labour unions, environmental organizations, non-profits, African Nova Scotian communities, Mi’kmaq communities, municipalities, and colleges and universities, as well as education and early childhood development experts, economic experts, and MLAs from all three parties.

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