Election 2021 news brief: September 8, 2021

Future of Good members get an in-depth Election 2021 news brief sent right to your inbox 3x a week, giving you the high-level info you need to stay current. Our special coverage equips you with actionable insights to help you and your team understand and prepare for what a new federal government could hold. If you like our content, please consider becoming a member. See a snippet of the brief below.

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We put together this list of our stories and analysis on the 2021 federal election and what it could mean for the social impact world so far.

Canada’s political parties are ignoring the recommendations of the Special Senate Committee on the Charitable Sector

The committee made 42 different recommendations to remove regulations and improve Canada’s charitable and non-profit sector. Almost none of them are in campaign platforms this fall.

10 social impact funders on one thing they wish would become a major election issue

Social policy is central to each federal parties’ platform, but the details of social purpose funding are rarely debated among candidates. We asked 10 social impact funders what they wish would become a major election issue by voting day — but likely won’t. 

Canadian election 2021: Risk-averse charities, civil society groups must show up

Elections are huge opportunities for civil society organizations to engage Canadians on public policy issues, but data shows they largely go silent during campaigns. In a republished piece from The Conversation, John D. Cameron shares why charities have largely held back from participating in elections and why that should be concerning.

15 tough questions social sector leaders would ask federal candidates in an election debate

Issues directly related to social impact work are rarely mentioned on the campaign trail, let alone during formal debates. We asked 15 leaders working in sectors from social services to philanthropy what big questions they would ask politicians if they had the chance to.

Here’s how each Canadian political party has promised to work with the social impact sector

Canada’s social impact sector will need to work with whichever party is elected on September 20 — and each has very different ideas of the sector’s place in society. We broke down some of the more intriguing non-profit, charity, social enterprise, and philanthropic policy proposals from the major Canadian parties to parse those differences.

Here’s where Canada’s major political parties stand on social policy — and some under-the-radar promises you may have missed

All political parties have committed to strengthening policies on social issues such as healthcare and climate change. But there are also some lesser known objectives across all parties such as bridging the digital divide and supporting Canadians with disabilities. We found out who’s making what promises inside this story.

Canada’s federal election is on. Here are 9 big social policy hits and misses of the Trudeau government

Social policy has been a top priority of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, from negotiating a national childcare plan to implementing the temporary Canada Emergency Recovery Benefit. We broke down some of his government’s largest social policy achievements and failures over his term.

Watch out for more on how the election affects the social impact world this week. Happy reading!

 

Federal Election 2021: The Latest Updates

• The Green Party has released their platform with promises to boost greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, while accelerating an increase in carbon pricing.
• NDP leader Jagmeet Singh says he has committed to doubling the value of the Canada Community-Building Fund to support local economies and infrastructure.
• First Policy Response recaps how the major political parties plan to implement affordable housing and asks researchers and practitioners about their feasibility.
• Reports of systemic anti-Black racism in Canadian prisons remain rampant more than a year after a supposed racial reckoning, but none of the major parties have plans to address this, Simon Rolston and Nora Demnati write in The Breach.
• A network of LGBTQ+ organizations are holding a debate on September 14 with representatives of the main parties to discuss issues affecting the community.
• In an op-ed for Toronto Star, Heather Scoffield writes about how Election Canada’s decision to scrap on-campus voting sites is already driving away youth voters.
• Oxfam Canada have released a guide disclosing how it wants the next federal government to take steps towards tackling inequality both at home and abroad. 
• Voters are wondering what the main parties have to say about electoral reform six years after Trudeau promised to change the first-past-the-post voting system.
• A record number of Indigenous candidates are running in the federal election this year. An analysis by the Canadian Press found there are at least 77 candidates this year compared with 62 in 2019.