It is no surprise that Canadians are scurrying across the boarder. Go into most Canadian stores and look for the same products in the United States and you will realize that we have been gauged for some time.
Defense Minister Peter Mackay’s cost estimate of Canada’s mission in Libya was 700% less than what it actually was. Canada paid close to $350 million for the war, quite a bit for a country that is dealing with economic constraint. None the less, above all, this reflects his honesty more than his management of taxpayer funds.
Did you ever wonder how we should be running the economy? Don’t worry, the Conservatives are here to make it clear and simple! Here are 10 steps to keeping a country’s economy in order and how to be financially prudent!
For a government that touted its record on public safety, this budget shows that its priority is anything but. Instead of cutting the bureaucrats they added when elected in 2006, the Conservatives took a direct assault on services Canadians need.
For a government that claims to be good economic managers, they sure can afford to waste a lot of money during rough economic times. Having increased spending by over 40% when they initially took office in 2006, the Harper Conservatives managed to get Canada into deficit before the World’s economic crisis ever happened. In fact, if the economic crisis wouldn’t have happened, the Conservatives would have been exposed as the worst economic managers in history – even beating Mulroney when the deficit struck $56 billion.
Flaherty’s new budget outlined the increase of retirement age from 65 to 67 but meanwhile the golden pensions of MPs remain in tact and will only be discussed this fall. Again, the Conservatives put ideology ahead of the wellbeing of the population, but don’t count on the opposition to provide a real alternative.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty introduced yesterday the first budget since the Conservatives won their coveted majority. The budget aims to cut $5.2 billion over 3 years by cutting an average of 7% per program and will phase out over 19,000 civil service jobs. It is worth noting that in the first 2 years of their first mandate back in 2006, the Conservatives increased program spending by over 40% and this budget is a far cry from restoring Canada to a prudent economic state.
The Conservatives may have attacked Bob Rae in a recent set of attack ads but the Liberals are exchanging fire, blasting them on their economic record. However, no ad has been released – yet.
Lisa Raitt’s expenditures while being CEO of the Toronto Port Authority have again come under scrutiny by NDP MP Olivia Chow who demanded the government release the details back in 2009.
As one of the advocates for a free market and little government intervention Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party have proven to be one of the biggest interveners of our day. From the Postal Workers dispute to the potential Air Canada strike and likely to the many future walkouts, the Conservatives will interfere with the will of the free market and levy its heavy hand as government.