Conserving Memory

Last year I proposed that the Conservatives’ budgeting method was designed to intentionally create a funding shortfall. After hearing about the budget announced today, I see more evidence for the likelihood of my suggestion being true.

In January the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), Kevin Page, explained that the deficit had become structural, meaning it’ll keep existing when our economy is back up to snuff (if it gets there). I’ll have more to say about the budget another time, but consider an element in what happened today, the decrease of corporate income taxes. read more…

The Globe and Mail reported¹ (4 March 2010) that the Conservatives have increased the amount the government is spending on advertising its Economic Action Plan (EAP).

“The government has increased its spending on the promotion of the January, 2009, Economic Action Plan by $5-million – on top of the initial allotment of $34-million – for a 15-per-cent increase.”

It’s problematic that the amount being spent on these ads is so massive. Surely there are a multitude of ways to spread this information that would not cost an outrageous $40 million of taxpayer money, which could otherwise be spent on the actual action. read more…

Jim Flaherty, representing the Conservatives’ Canada, said we would not support a Tobin Tax. I’ve seen commentary on other sites where people think this sort of tax applies to all their bank transactions, for example. It doesn’t. From what I understand, a Tobin Tax targets those who speculate on foreign exchange transactions. Many people don’t even engage in the sort of activity the tax addresses. Flaherty’s rationale seems to be that he doesn’t like taxes and wants to continue riding the Conservatives tax-reducing inertia. Good reasons? Let’s see. read more…

Stephen Harper has made it public that he’d like the Conservative government to put women’s health issues first, while hosting the G8. Nice, but unfortunately this is coming from someone who’s party has largely worked in the reverse direction. The Conservatives’ history has not only neglected women’s issues, but reveals programs originally designed to help, instead cut. read more…

During a weekend hockey game, the Conservatives announced that they’d do even less to move Canada in a positive direction on the environment (reducing GHG emissions by 17 percent instead of 20). A Vancouver Sun¹ article (1 February 2010) reported on Conservative Environment Minister, Jim Prentice’s news read more…

Charlie Angus (NDP) penned an open letter¹ (.doc) (26 January 2010) to Peter Van Loan (Conservative Minister of International Trade) regarding the ongoing secretive ACTA negotiations and Canadian copyright issues. Considering the ACTA negotiations have occurred largely in secret but collide head-on with copyright issues widely discussed over the last few years, it’s reasonable to expect a clear and complete response to all of the issues Angus raises. read more…

Here are some photos from the demonstration that took place in Montreal today (against the Harper Conservatives’ attacks on democracy). Although the catalyst was Harper’s unilateral decision to run from democracy by proroguing parliament for an extended period, people were protesting the wider problem of his multifold abuses. read more…

The point of this post is to see how Stephen Harper may have changed since his 1997 speech to the right wing US think tank, Council for National Policy.

Since the remarks get pulled back into the public sphere regularly to haunt him, it’s reasonable to consider his old commentary in relation to what he’s done as Prime Minister and figure out if his thinking has grown or changed much. read more…

Since the Conservatives engineered their structural deficit, they’ve been chomping at the bit to pursue greater cuts in funding. Enter Stockwell Day. read more…

The Tories were long ago bent on slashing the GST (7% to 5%) and corporate taxes (~22% to 15%). It seems to be in their DNA, so in spite of numerous groups–from economists to other political parties–cautioning them about the effects of such slashes they went ahead and found ways to pull it off. Predictably those actions have contributed significantly to our deficit, which according to Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), Kevin Page, is structural. read more…

The Globe and Mail’s Ottawa Notebook¹ (12 January 2010) raises some sore issues for Stephen Harper’s prorogue problem.

First, there’s the Business News Network² (BNN) interview he did the previous day. When BNN asked him about the risk of the prorogue to our reputation in the world as a “reliable” and “stable” country he responded that there was

“…zero risk… The games begin when parliament returns. The government can take its time now to do the important work to prepare the economic agenda ahead.”

That little statement implies a lot. read more…

Why has Harper’s Conservative minority government chosen, during a period in which they’ve controversially prorogued parliament, to end funding to the Canadian Council on Learning (CCL)?

The CCL describes itself as “a catalyst for lifelong learning, promoting and supporting evidence-based decisions about learning throughout all stages of life, from early childhood through to the senior years.” That seems like a worthy thing to promote in Canada. It’s important after all, to ensure that people’s knowledge and skills are up-to-date with those required to keep Canada competitive and successful in the world economy. Additionally, I’d argue that lifelong learning has intrinsic value to individuals and our society as a whole–but that’s for another post.

read more…