My previous article was an open letter outlining the brutal economic consequences of this pandemic. Since that article appeared, Statistics Canada has released its numbers for March 2020. Below is the infographic provided by Stats Can. The numbers are brutal.
Over one million Canadians lost their jobs in March 2020 alone. The percentage of Canadians over the age of 15 who still had a job in March 2020 was only 58.5%, the worst percentage since April 1997.
Job losses were not equal in the public and private sectors. Job losses in the public sector were 144,600 or 3.7%. Job losses in the private sector were almost two times the rate at 830,200 or 6.7%. That means you were twice as likely to lose your job if you didn't work for the government, or some kind of government agency. The burden of this economic crisis is falling disproportionately on non-government workers.
That is why my "open letter" called for property tax decreases from municipal governments, to help everyone and especially non-government workers during this economic crisis. Let's hope the municipal governments can make that happen.
Job losses were not equal in the public and private sectors. Job losses in the public sector were 144,600 or 3.7%. Job losses in the private sector were almost two times the rate at 830,200 or 6.7%. That means you were twice as likely to lose your job if you didn't work for the government, or some kind of government agency. The burden of this economic crisis is falling disproportionately on non-government workers.
That is why my "open letter" called for property tax decreases from municipal governments, to help everyone and especially non-government workers during this economic crisis. Let's hope the municipal governments can make that happen.