Give Me Back My Canada

Right before every election, I become very outspoken. So much so that many of my friends and relatives think I'm very politically involved. I'm not. I'm not even a supporter of any particular party. I like to judge each of them each on their own merits and record.

In case you're wondering, I'm not anti-government either, because that would make me an anarchist, wouldn't it? No, I'm one of these rare people who actually don’t mind paying taxes. We need people to run the government, right? They need to get paid. We also need all the stuff the government is supposed to do - improve our infrastructure, develop our social and healthcare programs - lots of stuff. It takes money.

What I don't like is wasting money. Or greed. I work hard for my money. I don't want to give it (voluntarily or not) to be wasted foolishly. Isn’t that reasonable?

Our current federal government believes in trickle down economics which, if I'm not mistaken, means giving tax breaks to corporations who in turn will create more jobs. Guess what? It doesn't work.

A business owner I know (who shall remain anonymous) is actually a huge supporter of unions (imagine that!), and when we discussed the tax breaks our government was giving businesses, he told me he'd gladly take the tax break but he wouldn't be creating any more jobs with it. He just increased his profits. He even went so far as to say if the government cancelled those tax breaks or INCREASED his taxes, he'd be okay with it. He said he could afford to pay more.

Isn't that interesting?

So, we have a Conservative federal government that has operated on the principle of trickle-down economics and what does their record show? I've lost count of the number of criminal charges against members of parliament or the senate. Our environmental record is terrible. Our treatment of First Nations people is shameful. Our rights and freedoms are under attack. We have to deal with a secretive, disdainful government (how many times did Harper prorogue parliament? Remember when he was found in contempt of parliament?) Our national resources are being sold off to foreign interests. The economy is stagnate, unemployment remains the same, and we're actually heading into a recession. Good job guys!

On the other hand, we have a Liberal provincial government who loves to waste money. Cancelled gas plants, the ORNGE scandal, the e-health scandal - not to mention the assets we've lost - selling off Hydro One, allowing beer and wine to be sold in the stores, etc. All to "balance the budget". The provincial debt has gotten so bad, we've had our credit rating downgraded. Even the CEO of Chrysler Canada is complaining that the high costs of hydro is this province may force them to leave. But this is the land of milk and honey, isn't it? So we're going to give the organizers of the Pan Am games millions of dollars in bonuses, and for what? For doing jobs they already are being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars (over $400k to one). Wow. Can I get a 100% bonus too for just doing what I'm paid to do? Where's the rationale for that?

It's easy to throw other people's money around I guess. And when we have no more revenue generating assets left, we can always go back to the trough and raise taxes, right?

I'm becoming cynical. I'm starting to believe the reason these people are in politics is because they are incompetent and would not survive in the corporate world. It's time we start holding our government responsible. It's time to see politicians charged when they breach our trust. Take their gold plated pensions away when they break the rules.

More importantly, it’s time to elect responsible government. A Government with the interests of the people in mind - you know, common people, working people, people like you and me.

Give me back the Canada I was born into.
Give me back the Canada who was respected internationally.
Give me back the Canada that was a shining example of fiscal responsibility.
Give me back the Canada I used to be so proud of.

I don't belong to a political party so I'm not going to suggest who people should vote for. Each one of us needs to examine the leaders we have in power today, and decide what type of country we want Canada to be.

What do you want your Canada to look like?



This work by Suzette Seveny is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Canada License.

A Week's Worth of Corruption

Have we had enough yet??

1. eHealth Ontario's CEO, Sarah Kramer, was "fired" today, because of spending irregularities and $5.5 million worth of untendered contracts, given to her friends. She also received $114,000 in a bonus, 3 months into the job, which is more than twice the accepted limit. Her salary was $380,000, and now, 8 months into the job, they are giving her $317,000 to go away. You see, even though the government (David Caplan) says she was "fired", she actually resigned "for the good of the health project". Sure, I believe that's what she had in mind... NOT!! How long has this organization, and its predecessor, worked and sucked millions out of the system, with absolutely nothing to show for it? They've paid people to read the newspapers, and talk to people on the subway, and listen to voice messages, while many families don't have family doctors, and many health services have been delisted. Well, at least we know where the money's going - into the greedy pockets of the people we entrust to run our government.
2. After paying David Dingwall $417,780 in compensation to go away after his "spending irregularities" at the Royal Canadian Mint, now the mint has "misplaced" some of the gold, silver and other precious metals. They suggest it may be just poor record keeping, but just between you and me, I think the thieves have struck again!
   
3. RCMP officers (once a proud & honourable force) are trying to block an inquiry from placing blame on the officers who tazered Robert Dziekanski to death. His crime? He didn't speak English and was becoming frustrated and may have threatened them with a stapler.
   
4. Police can now confiscate your property, with no evidence of any wrong doing and without any charges being laid. They only need suspicion. I'm providing a link to the news article, because without it, I wouldn't believe it. http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/edward_greenspan/2009/06/08/9709551-sun.html. I think it's safe to say we've become a police state.
5. Brian Mulroney stands accused of taking bribes while in office. Why else would he accept a couple of envelopes full of cash and then not report it. It is rather ironic though - the thieves in Ottawa have caught one of their own. What ever happened to honour amongst thieves?
6. The head honchos at CPP have given themselves a $7 million in bonuses, despite losing $24 million in pension funds because of their poor investment decisions. Why can't I get a huge raise when I screw up at work and cost the company tons of money? Oh that's right - I'm just a slave, working to serve my masters. That's what all the working class are. Slaves. I just wish they'd kiss me first.
7. First we gave billions to Chrysler and GM to keep them going. They went bankrupt anyway. Now we're going to give them billions more to help them rise from the ashes. Poor management, excessive salaries and bonuses, lack of foresight and crappy products led to their falls. Oh sure, we want more of that! Even their bondholders wouldn't trade their bonds for shares in the company. Workers agreed to have their wages slashed, but did the executives? Sounds like that whole working class as slaves again.
   

All this money lost, and how will it be replaced? By increased taxes - just suck more out of the working class so all those thieves in government can have more to steal.

I wish I could move to a country that treats its citizens well, respects them, and takes the responsibilities of their office and the duties entrusted to them, seriously, with honour. But alas, I feel that does not exist in this world. Greed and power are destroying this country. How long are we going to take it? In France, the government is afraid of its people, and for good reason - they won't put up with crap like this. Here though, we are afraid of our government. Is that democracy? Is that freedom? And how can we fight back? They've taken away our right to own firearms. If we try a national work stoppage, they'll arrest us and throw us in jail. That's been threatened before during union strikes.

Who will pick up the gauntlet and organize a reform? Because change we must. There is nobody in government with honour and ethics, in any of the parties. Our style of government is severely flawed. Who has a better idea? Who can lead us out of this purgatory we've become? So many people are homeless and starving - is this still the land of opportunity?

Let's see it for what it truly is... a corrupt government and system which is trying to enslave the populace, while taking away all of our rights and freedoms. I have neither the knowledge nor the power to organize a reform group or revolt, but I will proudly stand beside someone who does - for Canada!


This work by Suzette Leeming is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Canada License.