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Episode Description
It was a busy week in Canadian politics. There was a budget, a floor crossing, a resignation the fallout from all three.
We also got an incredible injection of hope with the election of Zohran Mamdani in New York.
His election shows the importance of organizing, of refusing to give up in the face of democratic backsliding.
That’s something today’s guest knows well.
See, this Liberal government has been talking big game about making “generational investments” that are going to require “sacrifices.”
But when it unveiled Budget 2025 this week, we learned how they’re paying for those investments — and who is sacrificing.
Rather than offsetting this spending through, say, increasing the luxury tax on private jets and yachts, or increasing the unused house tax, the government scrapped both of those taxes. Instead, it chose to slash public service jobs and slow the growth of program spending.
In the months leading up to this budget, it became clear that some departments’ programs would be hit harder than others.
See, ministers were asked to search for savings within their departments under what the government called its “Comprehensive Expenditure Review.” The goal was to reduce program spending in those departments by 15 per cent over the next few years.
Factoring in the conclusion of current funding programs, the Department for Women and Gender Equality’s budget was set to decline by 81 per cent over that period of time.
So, just like they did when Mark Carney initially got rid of and, ultimately, brought back the Women and Gender Equality Minister, women and 2SLGBTQIA+ rights groups got loud. Over 175 of them called on the government to maintain this funding in the 2025 budget.
As a result of their unrelenting advocacy, they mitigated this damage and made sure the cuts wouldn’t be so deep.
Queer Momentum’s executive director Fae Johnstone was one of the badass women who was part of this successful push to save some of WAGE’s funding. She’s a relentless advocate for 2SLGBTQIA+ rights in this country at a time when that work is more necessary than ever.
That’s why I am so stoked to welcome her on the show today. I hope you enjoy the episode!
We also got an incredible injection of hope with the election of Zohran Mamdani in New York.
His election shows the importance of organizing, of refusing to give up in the face of democratic backsliding.
That’s something today’s guest knows well.
See, this Liberal government has been talking big game about making “generational investments” that are going to require “sacrifices.”
But when it unveiled Budget 2025 this week, we learned how they’re paying for those investments — and who is sacrificing.
Rather than offsetting this spending through, say, increasing the luxury tax on private jets and yachts, or increasing the unused house tax, the government scrapped both of those taxes. Instead, it chose to slash public service jobs and slow the growth of program spending.
In the months leading up to this budget, it became clear that some departments’ programs would be hit harder than others.
See, ministers were asked to search for savings within their departments under what the government called its “Comprehensive Expenditure Review.” The goal was to reduce program spending in those departments by 15 per cent over the next few years.
Factoring in the conclusion of current funding programs, the Department for Women and Gender Equality’s budget was set to decline by 81 per cent over that period of time.
So, just like they did when Mark Carney initially got rid of and, ultimately, brought back the Women and Gender Equality Minister, women and 2SLGBTQIA+ rights groups got loud. Over 175 of them called on the government to maintain this funding in the 2025 budget.
As a result of their unrelenting advocacy, they mitigated this damage and made sure the cuts wouldn’t be so deep.
Queer Momentum’s executive director Fae Johnstone was one of the badass women who was part of this successful push to save some of WAGE’s funding. She’s a relentless advocate for 2SLGBTQIA+ rights in this country at a time when that work is more necessary than ever.
That’s why I am so stoked to welcome her on the show today. I hope you enjoy the episode!