The Public Sector in an Age of Austerity
Perspectives from Canada's Provinces and Territories
Challenging conventional wisdom on austerity in Canada after the global financial crisis.
Description
Following the 2008 global financial crisis, Canada appeared to escape the austerity implemented elsewhere, but this was spin hiding the reality. A closer look reveals that the provinces – responsible for delivering essential public and social services such as education and healthcare – shouldered the burden. The Public Sector in an Age of Austerity examines public-sector austerity in the provinces and territories, specifically addressing how austerity was implemented, what forms austerity agendas took (from regressive taxes and new user fees to public-sector layoffs and privatization schemes), and what, if any, political responses resulted. Contributors focus on the period from 2007 to 2015, the global financial crisis and the period of fiscal consolidation that followed, while also providing a longer historical context – austerity is not a new phenomenon. A granular examination of each jurisdiction identifies how changing fiscal conditions have affected the delivery of public services and restructured public finances, highlighting the consequences such changes have had for public-sector workers and users of public services. The first book of its kind in Canada, The Public Sector in an Age of Austerity challenges conventional wisdom by showing that Canada did not escape post-crisis austerity, and that its recovery has been vastly overstated.
Reviews
"Fundamental changes to our economic system have occurred, changes that have created an extended austerity, precarious employment, and a weakening of workers' rights – sobering thoughts when considering the future of our country. How did this happen? This
"Provinces and territories play a fundamental role in developing and implementing economic and social policy. The Public Sector in an Age of Austerity significantly advances our understanding of how austerity measures, at once far-reaching and diverse, have altered not just specific policies but the basic nature of the provincial-territorial state." Graham White, University of Toronto