Dear Editor of Cornwall Underground,
The federal budget is a reaffirmation that things will continue to be bad for us. It is easy to get distracted by some of the small items that are relatively meaningless in the greater picture (i.e getting rid of the penny). In total the budget announces $5.2 billion in cuts eliminating some 19,200 jobs in the public sector. With the spin off effect from cuts to federal public service the total job loss caused by this budget is expected to be around 60,000 jobs.
There is also a significant attack on retirement security. Raising the retirement age to 67 is a strategy which will force many people to work longer and have horrendous impacts on people who depend on OAS to survive. It will force many seniors into poverty. It also destabilizes the retirement security system in Canada by creating different classes of people. OAS was fiscally sustainable but it impacts on the government's ability to provide tax cuts to business. Seniors take the blame and the cuts while corporations take the benefits.
There is nothing in the budget that supports any significant employment program. In all, less than 80 million dollars to provide services to the 1.5 million unemployed. There is nothing to provide funding for long term municipal infractructure. In fact, the budget is a fundamental attack on the social safety net that Canadians have come to depend on. In the meantime the wealthiest in Canada continue to enjoy high incomes and protection from taxes. Corporation continue to enjoy tax relief but generate very few new jobs.
It’s painfully clear: the Conservatives are balancing their budget on the backs of hard-working Canadians.
Together, we will build the country of our hopes and dreams.
-Mario Leclerc
Blogger Comment
Facebook Comment