Money may no longer grow on trees but that hasn’t stopped the Conservatives from spending it like there is no tomorrow. Don’t let their austerity fool you, as they cut the services that are vital for the Canadian economy to function, they are funding new senators, a campaign to inform Canadians about the death of the penny, and funny enough, spending much more than the amount that they cut as part of the austerity package.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty confirmed that Canada is in deeper economic trouble than anyone was willing to tell us. They didn’t want us to know how much they actually spent and they tried their best to hide the numbers, as the Auditor General pointed out last month, but as we crunch the numbers, we see that this government has spent more than any government in Canadian history.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has told NATO that Canada will help fund the $4.1 billion per year price tag to building the post-2014 Afghanistan army, the amount of which will be said on Monday, after his NATO meetings in Chicago. So much for accountable financing…
Whether Bev Oda paid her cost overruns or not, what gives her and other elected officials the right to put their hands in our piggy bank? You can hold my word for this: If I had been her boss (Prime Minister) she and many of her colleagues would have been fired for taking Canadians on a financial free ride. This isn’t a matter of ideology, this is a matter of principle, accountability and fiscal discipline.
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.
In the May 2011 election, Harper won on the premise that he was a good economic manager and the media touted his management as supreme. Apart from that propaganda, the numbers tell a different story. Despite the 2008 recession being caused by external forces, Harper’s mismanagement is as much to blame for the 2008 crisis and the mess that has yet to be cleaned up.
The Conservatives may claim they are good hands on the wheel in terms of the economy but it is no secret that they dug us into a whole. They claim Canada is leading the G8 out of recession but after the UK (77%), Germany (80%), and France (81%), Canada’s debt to GDP ratio is 84%. Below is a glance at Canada’s debt over the years.
They may load our TVs and YouTube channel advertisement areas with promotions for their Economic Action Plan but the unemployment rate went up in December – not down.
Canada can apparently afford:
The NDP leadership race is soon coming to a close and they will crown one of 8 people as their new leader. The media has claimed a two-way race between Thomas Mulcair and Brian Topp for leader but this speculation is useless as it will be the card-carrying NDP members that will make the final verdict. Based on Liberal failures in the past 6 years, here are some pieces of advice and caution: