COMMENTARY: As crisis grips Canada, expect yesterday’s crazy to become tomorrow’s innovation

It’s one of the more famous quotes to come out of the Barack Obama era in the United States, but it wasn’t said by the former president himself.

It was uttered instead by Rahm Emanuel, the former mayor of Chicago and Obama’s chief of staff.

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste,” Emanuel famously said in 2008, while America was in the grip of the financial crisis.

“It’s an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.”

Emanuel repeated his famous catchphrase in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, urging American lawmakers to be bold in their response to the latest crisis.

Transferring his approach to Canada, it’s clear there are just as many people on our side of the border who see crisis-driven opportunities.

Ideas that fought for oxygen in the national debate are suddenly on the table for serious discussion, such as the nationalization of long-term care homes, a four-day workweek and a guaranteed basic income for all Canadians.

Why let a crisis go to waste? It’s a concept that might well be on the mind of politicians and lobbyists pushing changes that seemed impossible before.

In British Columbia, the concept of a four-day workweek is being advanced by Sonia Furtsenau, currently seeking the leadership of the provincial Green Party, which holds the balance of power in the minority B.C. legislature.

She thinks a shortened workweek would be one way to employ more people as the province emerges from a recession.

It might also be a way to help industries damaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, she argues.

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“Our tourism industry has been dealt a crushing blow,” Furstenau told me, adding a four-day workweek could stimulate domestic tourism.

“It might be a way to open up space for people to explore their own backyard a little bit more.”

The shortened workweek is an idea that’s been around for decades and was once a goal of the Canadian labour movement. But it’s a dream that never came true and some people think it should stay dormant.

“Employers are already free to hire people to work four days a week if that’s what they want,” said former B.C. Green leader Andrew Weaver, who thinks his old party is playing with political fire.

If “wacky” ideas become official party policy, it could push the Greens into political obscurity, he said.

“This could really backfire on them.”

But it appears plenty of “wacky” ideas suddenly have a chance to succeed in a pandemic-battered world.

A coalition of Canadian social-justice and environmental groups has launched the “Just Recovery For All” campaign, which calls for an aggressive expansion of social services and government programs as the country recovers from the pandemic.

One goal of the group: free post-secondary education, a program that would cost billions.

“We’re calling on the government to put people over profits,” said the Canadian Federation of Students in a news release.

Canada’s trade unions have launched a co-ordinated push for the nationalization of long-term care homes.

Public ownership of the homes would keep vulnerable seniors safer, especially in another wave of COVID-19 or other viruses yet unknown.

Other groups are pushing for a government-guaranteed Basic Income for all Canadians as a way to reduce income inequality, gaps that are sure to widen as the pandemic-driven recession drags on.

Does it all sound far-fetched? Maybe it did a few months ago, when the price tag of these massive programs would make them non-starters.

But in a Canada where this year’s deficit is expected to top $250 billion, with barely a ripple of complaint, maybe it’s not so crazy now.

Watch for these ideas to gain traction.

Mike Smyth is host of ‘The Mike Smyth Show’ on Global News Radio 980 CKNW in Vancouver and a commentator for Global News. You can reach him at mike@cknw.com and follow him on Twitter at @MikeSmythNews​.