Cornwall_2012_04_04

Harper government moving

Fed budget a race to the bottom

has drained the federal treasury of tens of bil- lions of dollars per year in unnecessary tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the most affluent Canadians andwealthy corporations —all the while increasing spending on a Na- tional Security Establishment that now costs $12 billion more a year than it did in 2001. These expenditures have diverted much- needed money from health care, education, pensions, and other public services on which Canadians. The economy has slowed in the final quar- ter of 2011 - 50,000 net full-time jobs have dis- appeared since september 2011. The Alternative federal budget would get Canadians working in good jobs again, strengthen Canada’s middle class, and im- prove supports for Canada’s poor and most vulnerable. Protect public programs that all Canadians rely on - including public health care and public pensions. Manage Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio without vital public pro- gram cuts and get serious about reducing greenhouse emissions gas. We all know that 80 per cent of jobs are cre- ated by small-medium business. Therefore, we should lower business taxes from 11 per cent to 9 per cent, offering retention bonus, E.I & CPP incentives for new hires and a job creation tax credit up to $4,500 per new hire. that Canadians want and will use regularly. Study after study links poverty with poorer health and higher health-care costs, higher justice system costs, more demands on social and community services, more stress on fam- ily members, and diminished school success. We all pay for poverty... A recent study published by the Ontario As- sociation of Food Banks calculated the cost of poverty Canada to be between $72.5 to $86.1 billion or about 6 per cent of Canada’s GDP. Thus, let’s reduce Canada’s poverty rate by 25 per cent within five years (by 2016), and by 75 per cent within a decade. Let’s work with the provinces to double the CPP’s replacement rates from 25 per cent to 50 per cent of a retiree’s pensionable earnings. This change will be phased in over a seven- year period. Andmost importantly, we need to reassure Canadians that the Old Age Security is viable in the long term and Conservatives must stop fear mongering and making wild claims about higher taxes as excuse to cut benefits to seniors. The attack on public services and jobs are part of a broader agenda by the Conserva- tives to finance the F-35 to the tune of $35 bil- lion and some $15 billion on prison and to make the rich richer at the expense of the many. In fact, the deficit relative to Gross Domestic Product is low, rushing to eliminate deficits and debt can stall our fragile economy. In addition, during a time of unprecedented low interest rates the government should make be investing in much-needed infrasc- tructure renewal. We need a more progressive approach to the nation’s finance; one that is more sup- portive of working families and public serv- ices indeed. The largest job creators are major investments in universal child care, a massive municipal infrastructure fund, and major investments in housing and poverty reduction. Each of these new investments creates jobs but also provides services

To the editor:

The federal budget is the blueprint for how the Government wants to set the an- nual economic agenda for Canada. This federal budget is a race to the bottom budget. It’s anti-public services and anti-job growth. It removes tens of thousands of bil- lion dollars from health care transfer to provinces, it shovels cost to the provinces and it is made possible on the back of the most vulnerable citizens. The Conservative approach to budgeting is very confusing because on the one hand they talk about fiscal prudence and austerity, yet they spend amounts in places that many be- lieve should not be priorities. For example: military jets that are way be- yond our needs and may not even work in the demanding climate of the north; tough- ening up laws while crime rates are going down to put more people in prison at a tremendous cost. Sadly, when budgeting and programming are done from ideoligical perspectives rather that from statistical proof and evidence, the effects on society can last for a very long time. Many, argue that the reduced revenues due to tax cuts (including the reduction of the GST) combined with a slower economy have resulted in a deficit - a situationwhere expen- ditures chronically exceed revenues. It is in this environment that we see the Conserva- tives targeting federal programs and public services for cuts rather than delaying addi- tional corporate tax cuts. Thus, the 2012 federal budget should be fo- cusing on rolling back the corporate tax rates, rewarding job creators, investing on munici- pal infractructures, improving retirement pensions for seniors, and the need to protect public services and jobs. In the past three decades, Canada’s federal corporate income tax rate has been cut by more than 60 per cent — from 37.8 per cent in 1981 down to 15 per cent in 2012. This cor- porate welfare first approach is sold as an idea that all citizens will ultimately benefit. Instead, governments are tackling debt through cuts to public spending and the pub- lic sector, a choice nourished by ideology. In reality, only a very few end up being better off. Corporate tax cuts have been very costly for all of us in terms of foregone government revenues indeed. In 2012-13, the federal gov-

in wrong direction

To the editor:

The Harper government with its $5.2 billion cuts to public services and pro- grams in its austerity budget is moving the country in the wrong direction. The Harper Government is fighting the deficit on the backs of everyday Cana- dians and the public services that they rely on. At a time of high unemployment, the Harper Government should not be throw- ing 19,200 public servants out of work adding to the unemployment rolls. The Conservatives with their huge spending cuts to public services and pro- grams and their plan to raise the eligibility age to receive the old age pension from 65 to 67 are making life less affordable for families and seniors. CUTS WIDENING GAP This austerity budget will have a nega- tive impact on people in SD&SG who are already having a hard time making ends meet. With their fixation on cutting essen- tial public services and programs, the Conservatives are widening the gap be- tween the haves and the have-nots and are making Canada a more unequal society. The government should be working to make life better for all Canadians, not worse. Rather than making reckless cuts to pub- lic services, pensions, and healthcare and spending billions of dollars on prisons and fighter jets, the Harper government should stop the corporate tax giveaways that don’t create jobs, eliminate tax havens and ensure that the large, profitable cor- porations and the wealthy one per cent pay their fair share of taxes. At the present time, the federal govern- ment spends over $18 billion a year on tax benefits for the large, profitable corpora- tions and wealthy individuals who need help the least. That $18 billion could be redeployed to help pay down the deficit and to pay for programs that will promote prosperity and equality for everyone. NO JOBS STRATEGY This austerity budget lacks a comprehen- sive jobs strategy to create and protect good jobs. The best way to create good jobs is to in- vest in a permanent national infrastruc- ture program, provide tax credits to businesses that create new jobs, promote renewable energy jobs, improve job train- ing and apprenticeship programs, create value added jobs in the resource sector, in- vest in research and development and in- novation, and provide good public services. We can build a stronger and more caring Canada when we create and protect good jobs, make life more affordable, improve public healthcare, education and pen- sions, provide a fairer taxation system, and stand up for public services.

Mario Leclerc

ernment expects to collect $33,1 billion in cor- porate income tax revenues, based on a cor- porate income tax rate of 15 per cent. If the corporate tax rate was still at 21 per cent, where it was when the Conservatives took office, revenues would be $13 billion higher. Ironically, personal income tax collected from the ordinary citizens by our federal gov- ernment is to the tune of $114 billion.

Corporate tax cuts have been very costly for all of us in terms

At least, we as taxpayers ex- pect that corporate income tax rate cuts would be re-invested in company operations, boost- ing economic growth, produc- tivity, and jobs.

of foregone government

However, studies have shown that rising corporate after-tax profits have not resulted in increased real investment. Instead, we have seen a big increase in dividend payouts and in financial assets Thus, we must roll back the corporate tax rates to the 2006 level of 21 per cent - when the Conservatives took office. This represents $13 billion in foregone revenues. This rev- enue could be allocated to increasing the Guaranteed Income Supplement by 700 mil- lion to lift seniors in Canada out of poverty and to create a Canada-wide child care and early learning program that would create 25,000 new child care spaces per year for the next 4 years. Finance Minister Flaherty claims that aus- terity is fiscally prudent. But this government

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Brian Lynch, President, SD&SG Federal NDP riding association

Mario Leclerc Past NDP Candidate

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