“Throughout the election campaign you have been asked directly if you will cancel the child care agreements, and your response has been evasive. Given that child care is a key issue for so many Canadians, they deserve the respect of a definitive answer to this question.” — Larry Brown, NUPGE President

COVID-19 has greatly stressed Canada's health care system. This has exposed some structural failures in the system and highlighted areas where reform is needed.

No failure is as stark as Canada's failure to protect residents and workers in long-term care (LTC) facilities from COVID-19. During the most acute part of the pandemic, many promises were made. This election is a chance to outline the concrete steps the parties will need to take to ensure problems in LTC are not ignored after the pandemic.

Medicare was never supposed to stop at doctors and hospitals; the original idea was to expand to pharmacare, dental care, and to continue to build on the core services. This election must take us forward toward national pharmacare. Canada cannot afford to remain the outlier on pharmacare in the world.

The renewed attention on the value of child care, and the child care workforce, during the pandemic brought unprecedented public and political support for universal child care. We are in a unique moment for child care in Canada. The next government has an opportunity to make a universal, public, affordable, and high-quality child care system a reality.

"While we might not like going to the polls, we need to seize this opportunity to tell the government what we need to rebuild. We need investments in green technology to create good jobs to address climate change and boost our economy. We need to put money and resources back into health care, community services, and other areas of the public sector that neoliberal policies at the federal and provincial levels stripped away. The need to pay workers living wages and full benefits has never been clearer. Without this, we will see potentially catastrophic consequences." — Larry Brown, NUPGE President

This funding "doesn’t solve the issue of not having enough members hired. Every shift is being run short. Without hiring more new paramedics, the current government continues to put the system, our members, and every Albertan needing urgent medical care, at risk.” — Mike Parker, HSAA President

In every city outside Quebec, families paying the median child care fee would be better off with a national child care program providing $10 a day child care.

“With the federal government shouldering most of the costs of this pandemic, even in areas like health care, there is no room for provincial austerity in the years ahead” — David Macdonald, CCPA Senior Economist

"It is critical to note that vaccinations alone are not enough to stop the spread of the virus. Employers have a duty to continue to provide proper PPE to workers, and to ensure workplace infection prevention and control measures are adhered to. Our position cannot be taken as repealing the employers’ legal obligation to protect workers’ health." — NUPGE

“The study is a huge caution flag. Members are warning this government that the privatization road they’re going down will either increase costs to Manitobans or sacrifice road safety in our province.” — Michelle Gawronsky, MGEU President

“These workers kept Canada going during the darkest days of the pandemic, yet Erin O’Toole and the Conservatives would deny them retirement security, EI benefits and even basic legal protections. That is reprehensible.” — Bea Bruske, CLC President

"Since the beginning of the vaccine roll-out, our union has robustly encouraged members and the general public to get vaccinated against COVID-19. We also know we cannot effectively combat COVID-19 with vaccines alone, which is why we are calling on the government to re-institute single-site restrictions for health care workers, and to re-introduce the mask mandate." — Paul Finch, BCGEU Treasurer

“All they’re asking for is some small leeway to look after their own families as well, just as they’ve been doing for years. Overturning the apple cart now makes no sense. It’s unfair to staff and the children they care for.” — Eduardo (Eddy) Almaida

The theme for IYD 2021 is Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health.

Starting on September 25, 2021, temporary measures that made it easier for people to qualify for Employment Insurance and provided a minimum benefit will be phased out.