NDP Finance Critic Peggy Nash's motion passes unanimously
It's rare, and non-binding, but it's a positive step. The motion calls for "the government to act immediately to create jobs and keep Canada out of a recession."
Excerpt:
Ms. Nash, a Toronto MP and architect of the motion, said she was surprised at the result of the vote.
“It’s a positive step,” she told The Globe Tuesday. “Our motion really
laid out the points we have been raising since the last election in
terms of infrastructure investment, tax incentives for new hires, tax
reduction for small business.”
It also called on the government to move away from what Ms. Nash
describes as its “illogical and unnecessary across the board corporate
tax cuts.”
To be clear, a motion is not a law and is in no way binding on the
government. But Ms. Nash is encouraged nonetheless, arguing that
accepting a motion in good faith indicates “intention.”
She is now hopeful the Conservatives will follow up with action. Indeed,
since the return of the House from its summer break two weeks ago, the
NDP has been hammering the government over economic issues, demanding it
detail how it intends to create jobs and abandon its plan to give
corporations tax cuts.
The vast majority of questions New Democrats have asked in Question
Period have related to the economy. And the NDP’s first opposition day
motion, which was tabled last Thursday and went to a vote Monday night,
was a laundry list of demands about how to fix the economy.
“Who says you can’t get things done in a majority government,” Ms. Nash
said, adding quickly: “Well we are waiting for action, actually.”
She may be waiting for awhile, however. So far, she has heard only
speculation about what the government might do – some small
infrastructure stimulus, some help to small business.
It is very doubtful, however, the government will go as far as
abandoning the corporate tax cuts. “I don’t know when the dust settles
what they are actually introducing, if anything,” she said.
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