Mark Holmgren's Blog
Last November I published a blog on the Edmonton CDC website and more recently repeated that posting here on Anticipate. Reading it first is, I suggest, of value to fully engage this posting. The title of this posting reflects my interest in getting language "right." Living Wage and Livable Income are not synonymous. The latter … Continue reading Livable Income IN a Livable Economy (Part Two: the Impacts of AI)
A few weeks ago, I received my first ever jury duty notification. It really is a summons and it speaks with authority, with warnings of serious consequences if you fail to respond or show up on the designated day and time at Court Room 317. Instructions and explanations were pretty good, but it was all … Continue reading Summoned to Jury Duty
Originally posted in November 2018 on the Edmonton CDC Blog. In Edmonton, approximately 140,000 workers are identified as low income earners (earning below $16.31 per hour), according to the Edmonton Social Planning Council (source, page 79). Four in five of these workers are over the age of 20 and 60% are women. The Canadian Payroll … Continue reading Living Wage IN a Livable Economy
I was at the gathering where Premier Notley and Minister Sabir announced legislation that would improve benefits to recipients of AISH. I support these improvements (read more). My math indicates a 6% increase to the AISH benefit. Some critics say it should have been higher, given the length of time since the last increase. Some … Continue reading THERE’S MORE TO DO TO IMPROVE AISH, ISN’T THERE?
Today I attended the announcement by the Alberta Government that it would be raising the AISH benefit by near $100 per month and indexing it to the cost of living from here on out. Premiere Notley spoke. Minister Sabir spoke. A gentleman on AISH spoke. Michael Phair, Co-Chair of End Poverty Edmonton spoke. You can … Continue reading A BIG fail of our Media
A recent headline: "Charity watchdog urges donors to think twice before giving to Calgary Flames Foundation." Read it here if you haven't already. The article does not paint the Flames Foundation in a positive light. That said, I am not here to debate if the foundation is a cash hoarder or an expensive charity. I … Continue reading Why do we love bad stories about charities?
<repost> The word "innovation" conjures up positive imagery. We see it as something we want to be known for. It's creative, desirable, inspiring, and we sense that if we can do it, if we can achieve it, we will lift ourselves up above the status quo, not to mention those who are quite comfortable in … Continue reading The Way of Innovation
