Posted on: March 5, 2010 @ 14:00
Whose “Free Market” Is This, Anyway?
Now that the House is sitting again, it seems like a good time to resume writing my blog. Like me, you probably followed the Throne Speech and federal budget closely. No surprises there. By now, we’re all used to the Harper government’s laissez-faire approach and its total faith in the so-called “free market.”
Once again, there’s talk of downsizing the public service. For Harper, the less the government does, the better. We all know the disastrous consequences of this ideology: more than 500,000 workers have lost their jobs since the financial crisis began. Yet, economic recovery is put in the hands of the private sector. And to show its trust, the government gave the private sector a gift of $450 million by eliminating customs tariffs on foreign goods imported for further manufacturing in Canada. Cronies of the government will quietly pocket this money without creating jobs.
Then came Minister Flaherty’s announcement of an increase in the employment insurance taxation rate. This means a revenue increase of 60% over the next five years. Let’s not forget what Harper did with our $50 billion surplus from previous years. He used it to pay down the deficit. So what will the government do with the surplus that’s left after the plan’s running expenditures are paid? It will be used to pay down the deficit accumulated during the recession. Once again, workers and those who come after us will be picking up the cost of an economic recession which we did not create.
We already know this budget will pass. At such times, we realize that, as workers, the only way to improve our fate is to continue our fight.
The struggle continues.
