NDP Finance Critic Peggy Nash's motion passes unanimously

NDP finance critic hails symbolic economic victory over Tories - The Globe and Mail
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.

Harper and Flaherty did not vote.

Ontario NDP would role back tax cuts for corporations

New Democrats will scrap McGuinty’s corporate tax rate giveaway: Horwath « Ontario NDP
It's been proven time and again that giving tax cuts to corporations doesn't create jobs for Canadians and doesn't boost the economy. Corporate tax cuts only boost the profit for the corporations.
And, the corporate business parties of the Conservatives and Liberals are all in favour of continuing to give our money to corporations.

So, the Ontario NDP plan to roll back these tax cuts and use the money for Ontario instead of corporate pockets is a very good thing and just makes sense.

Why Do The Poor Continue To Defend Tax Breaks for the Rich?

Why do the Poor Continue to Defend tax Breaks for the Rich
Great post by Cory McCray. This applies to Canadians too.

Excerpt:
Sometimes I just don’t understand why there is always a financially
struggling college kid, a low wage worker, or a middle class citizen
that feel as though they have to go out of their way to defend tax
breaks for the rich. At least once a month I find one person that wants
to argue against their own interest and it continues to baffle me.

Their argument is always that government can’t tax or has to cut
taxes for large corporations or millionaires so that they can invest in
the economy and create jobs. My first question for them is “Have you ever heard of General Electric?”
Here is a corporation that paid zero dollars ($0.00) in corporate
taxes, and received a tax benefit of 3.2 billion dollars. In addition,
they are still shipping American jobs overseas. General Electric has
over 300 tax lawyers that help them evade paying taxes and find every
corporate loophole known to man. They do not need another lobbyist that
is paycheck “free”. The people that need to be heard or need lobbyist
are the middleclass
that had to almost give up their right arm for a tax break, the federal
workers who are receiving a two year freeze in pay, and the state
workers that have been taking furlough days for the last four years.
Those are the people that need to be represented and have their voices
heard.

Read the top link for the full story.

The Politics of Fear: An election post-mortem

The politics of fear: An election post-mortem | rabble.ca
By Trish Hennessy

Excerpt:

(Part one of a series)

This blog post attempts to explain the power behind the dominant frame at play in this election: our economy in peril.

The frame was set by Stephen Harper, who spent 37 days dismissing the
democratic need for an election and focused with laser precision on
this message: Trust him -- and only him -- to manage the economy.

A minority of voters, 39.6 per cent, rewarded Harper with a majority
government. Nine million voters opted for the NDP, Liberals, Bloc or
Greens. Six million Canadians chose to sit at home while one of the most
dramatic election nights in our history passed them by.

Those are the facts. My disappointment with the plethora of federal
election post-mortems stems from this: many pundits are simply reciting
the facts and borrowing them as conclusions.

click the link to read the full post

Conservative Campaign Lies Begin To Unravel

A sign of things to come
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/tories-back-off-campaign-pledge-to-show-a-surplus-by-2014-15/article2018983/

The Conservatives campaigned on a pledge to show a surplus by 2014-2015. I don't believe they ever meant to keep this promise and here we are, less than 2 weeks since the election, and the Conservatives are already saying that won't be able to keep that promise. The way they plan to waste money on unnecessary things (jets with no engines, mega-jails, more corporate tax cuts), they will have to make severe cuts to transfer payments to the provinces and social support programs in order to balance the budget.

Back in March, the Globe and Mail was saying that they would have to make drastic cuts to balance the budget:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/economy-lab/the-economists/budgets-hidden-math-adds-up-to-big-cuts-down-the-road/article1954533/
"Given Mr. Harper’s costly commitment to increasing Canada’s military might, putting more people behind bars for longer, and cutting taxes further, there are dramatic spending cuts on the horizon for many federal programs, particularly social programs – it’s the only way he’ll be able to pay for his priorities."

I predict the Conservatives will not only not keep their promise to balance the budget, but, while massively cutting programs, they will continue to increase the deficit and our debt with their gross mis-managment of government finanances.

The NDP CAN manage the economy

NDP can manage economy
This article came out before the election in 2008. Shortly thereafter, the Harper Conservative government orchestrated the worst mis-management of the economy in the history of Canada. History has shown that the Conservatives are worse (especially the Harper Conservatives) at managing the economy, contrary to what the MSM is constantly telling people.
History also shows that the NDP, contrary to what the MSM is constantly telling people, is the best at managing the economy.

The article from the link above:
(Originally from The Ottawa Citizen, by Elaine Gibson, Oct. 8, 2008)
(Emphasis here is mine.)

Conservatives have the reputation of being the good financial managers, while people believe that NDP governments cannot manage the economy.

Yet a federal finance department analysis of federal and provincial governments over a 22-year period reveals a very different picture: New Democrat governments have balanced their books 46 per cent of the time while Conservative governments have only had 35 per cent balanced budgets and Liberal governments 21 per cent. Why does the belief persist that New Democrats do not have credibility on the economy?

First, there is the impression that expenditures that help ordinary people are frivolous -- unemployment insurance benefits, housing, child care, education and other social programs. Liberal and Conservative governments have cut all of these. Since the NDP is strong on social programs, it is suggested that the NDP "spends too much" but they have had strong supportive programs while still balancing the budget, as demonstrated for the last 11 years in Manitoba.

The Conservatives frequently repeat that the NDP will raise taxes, but the NDP promise is really they will not carry through with proposed Conservative corporate tax cuts for 2009 to 2013.

Second, people don't take into account that lowering government revenue is the same as spending. The $40 billion in tax cuts over the last two years show up on the debit side of the ledger along with expenditures, not counting the proposed $50 billion corporate tax cuts. The late NDP leader David Lewis coined the term "corporate welfare bums," which still applies today. Small businesses and people with low to medium incomes spend most of their money in the Canadian economy; money in the hands of big corporations may be invested outside Canada, including jobs. Conservatives count on a trickle-down effect for jobs but there are no guarantees.

Conservatives constantly refer to the Bob Rae government, even though there are Conservative examples of worse deficits (e.g. Brian Mulroney or Grant Devine in Saskatchewan). Stephen Harper now muses that a deficit might be necessary (because he will not give up on tax cuts), while Jack Layton would rather give up some of his "kitchen-table priorities."

It is Conservative-style economics that have driven the United States into its hole -- tax cuts for the wealthy, a resistance to regulating their big business and banker friends and excessive expenditures, particularly military spending. Mr. Harper has greatly reduced the federal budget surplus for any future government. Believing as he does in his conservative ideology, how can we trust him with an economy moving towards recession? He might continue to help out big corporations, but there will be a shrinking safety net for the rest of us?


Report shows NDP has best balanced budgets record

OTTAWA - Provinces with New Democrat governments are more likely to have surplus budgets than governments of any other political party, a new report from the Government of Canada indicates.

At a time when the Harper Conservatives are projecting a record $56 billion deficit, the report shows that New Democrat governments have been, and continue to be strong financial managers, while delivering a better quality of life for ordinary people.

The numbers speak for themselves:

New Democrat governments produced budgets that were in surplus 51 percent of the time covered by the report.

Conservative governments ranked second, while Liberal governments fell far short; producing surplus budgets only 30 percent of the years they governed.

Included in the strong record of New Democrat fiscal management is the Romanow government who dug-out Saskatchewan from years of deep Conservative deficits, as well as eight balanced budgets in Manitoba under former-Premier Gary Doer.

The Fiscal Reference Tables are produced annually by the federal Department of Finance. The report for 2008-09 was released on Friday

Budgetary surpluses or deficits by party
(1986-87 to 2008-09)

Party	Years in government	Years in deficit	Years in surplus (as percent)
NDP	53	26	50.94
Conservative	124	61	50.81
Parti Quebecois	8	4	50.00
Liberal	91	64	29.67

People need jobs, not signs

No cash, no signs: Tories made stimulus funds contingent on erecting billboards - The Globe and Mail
Excerpts:
Millions of dollars in taxpayer
stimulus cash doled out by the Harper government was conditional upon
project managers putting up federal promotional signs, The Canadian
Press has learned.
...
The signage was so critical, in the government's estimation, that
contracts for project funding hold back up to 20 per cent of the federal
cash until a “certificate of substantial completion” is filed –
including photographic proof of sign installation and, in some cases,
Global Positioning System co-ordinates of the sign's exact location.

G8 Roundup

G8 leaders criticise Gaza blockade - Americas - Al Jazeera English
The leaders of the G8 Summit decided on the following:
- The would like to see Israel ease the blockade of Gaza
- They would like the Afghan government to make progress within 5 years of looking after it's own internal security, and for a reduction of corruption and drug production and trafficking, and an improvement to human rights and basic services
- They would like Iran to hold a transparent dialogue over its nuclear enrichment program
- Noted the efforts of Turkey and Brazil to broker a deal with Iran over its nuclear program
- Condemned the attack on the attack on the South Korean vessel, the Cheonan, which was allegedly perpetrated by North Korea
- They agreed that economic global recovery is still fragile
- They pledged $5 billion in aid over 5 years to reduce deaths among mothers and newborn children in Africa (5 years ago, the pledge was to increase this aid up to $50 billion by 2010)

G20:
Will focus mainly on economic issues, either to cut or spend to economic recovery.
The USA supports continued stimulus. European countries are leaning towards cutting.

G8/20 Toronto Community Mobilization

Toronto Community Mobilization Network | collaborating for change in toronto and the world
Information, workshops, resistance. Get informed. Spread the word.

May 21, 2010 

 

This statement is being released by the Toronto Community Mobilization
Network after being incorrectly quoted and incorrectly represented in
the mainstream media. 

 

Please forward to alternative media sites, social justice listservs, on
blogs and other social media. 

 

The Toronto Community Mobilization Network is *not* an umbrella group.
The Toronto Community Mobilization Network is *not *organizing any
actions. 

 

So what does the Toronto Community Mobilization Network do? The Toronto
Community Mobilization Network works to support education, outreach,
infrastructure such as food and housing, coordinate legal and medic
teams, and community based mobilizations leading up to and during the
G20 Summit in Toronto. We do so within the framework of solidarity and
respect (http://g20.torontomobilize.org/SolidarityRespect). 

 

A calendar of events from June 21-27, 2010 is hosted on our website so
that people struggling for social justice are able to attend events that
fit their political viewpoint and their expectations of effectiveness
and safety. The Toronto Community Mobilization Network does not speak
for these individual actions. 

 

The Toronto Community Mobilization Network organizes for justice and
dignity through supporting community groups and concerned residents to
share their outrage and their hope in the months leading up to and
during the G8/G20 Summits in June 2010. 

 

"The G8/G20 causes immense violence on Indigenous people, poor people,
on women and on people of color around the world. The G20 and its banks
are responsible for the global financial meltdown and the resulting
austerity measures that have deprived many communities of choices", says
Syed Hussan of the Toronto Community Mobilization  Network. 

 

"Canada hosts the Tar Sands, exists on stolen native land, has enforced
exclusionary immigration policy, cut social support for women and poor
communities, is inaccessible to disAbled people and has been named as
one of the worst global environmental culprits time and again", he adds.

 

"Communities in Canada and around the world oppose Canada and the G20
policies and in their place are implementing their own people based
solutions to resolve the ongoing economic and social crises in our
lives", says Sharmeen Khan of the Network.

 

Khan adds, "Forms of resistance and solutions are diverse because the
majority of communities impacted by the G20 are not homogenous.  But our
diverse communities are our strength and we respect and learn from
these different alternative perspectives."

 
http://g20.torontomobilize.org/

Disgraceful Tories Contine To Hold Back The Money

TheStar.com | Canada | 'Virtually nothing coming' from Tory stimulus fund
...

"There's virtually nothing coming," NDP Leader Jack Layton said.

"There are billions of dollars of stimulus that should have been flowing already," he said. "Some of the people being laid off across the country could have moved into those construction jobs."

In fact, the funds are flowing even slower than forecast in the 2007 budget, before the financial crisis hit. According to that timetable, programs under the Building Canada Plan should have pumped more than $5 billion into projects by this fiscal year. Yet the amount spent so far is $1.3 billion less than forecast, calling into question whether pledges to boost spending are sincere, Layton said in an interview.

"I've always suspected that when Stephen Harper announces big sums of money to be spent, he so fundamentally doesn't believe in it ... the money is very unlikely to flow at all," Layton said.

...

Also see here

Mayors say Conservative government is all talk and no money

TheStar.com | Canada | Mayors decry delay in stimulus cash from Ottawa

Money for the stimulus projects was announced in January, but Ottawa is not releasing the money.

See also: Conservative government actually tightened the purse strings in this time of a need for increased spending

Conservative vacactioned while people lost their jobs.

Impolitical: Prorogation politics while unemployment and bankruptcies soared

What's becoming even more clear in hindsight, the fact that the Conservative government, facing a political challenge of its own making, went on a prorogation vacation for two months at what is now proving to have been an epically bad moment.

Two thirds of the electorate wanted parliament to immediately deal with the economic issues of the day, but, instead, the Conservatives prorogued parliament and went on vacation for 2 months. Now we are seeing the results of putting off immediate action. Sure there would have been some losses regardless, but shutting down parliament when the country needed it most was a very irresponsible thing to do.

"Ignatieff says he is prepared to swallow"

globeandmail.com: Tories put on probation; coalition declared dead

Is Ignatieff the same or worse than Dion here?
Not only is he accepting a bad budget, the Liberals are going to vote for it (instead of abstain from it, like the Dion Liberals), and demand pretty lame concessions.

Bad news from the Liberals

globeandmail.com: Ignatieff to call for changes to budget

It seems that the Liberals are going to roll over and accept this lame budget:

The MP said there would be some Liberal positioning on the issue, but that more individuals were leaning toward letting the government live than pushing to defeat it.

We could have a $20 billion surplus

TheStar.com | Canada | Harper says deficit could hit $30 billion

Hey Stephen.
How about you roll back the $50 billion in tax cuts to corporations? We already have one of the lowest taxes for corporations in all the industrialized nations. And, it has been proven time and time again that the trickle-down effect down not exist/work. So cutting back these tax cuts would a) not change any of the corporations' practises, and b) not affect the economy one way or the other (except to make more money available for services and stimulating infrastructure spending), and c) it would actually boost jobs by increasing the money for services and infrastructure spending.

Lets take that $20 billion surplus and invest it in Canada - not in foreign-owned corporations who will just pocket the money and invest it outside of Canada.