Hugh Mackenzie was the speaker at a recent CCPA-Rideau Institute event that asked the question, 'can we have an adult conversation about taxes?' This is the transcript of his speech in which he makes the case for rebuilding our government’s ability to make public investments and meet the nation’s challenges.
Government finance
OTTAWA – Selon un nouveau rapport, les dépenses de la Défense nationale du Canada augmentent, atteignant 21,185 milliards $ en 2009-2010; ce qui place le Canada au 13e rang mondial, et au 6e rang parmi les pays de l’OTAN, intégralement.
L’auteur et analyste des questions de défense, Bill Robinson, dit que l’augmentation des dépenses de la Défense est une indication des priorités fédérales. « Les dépenses de la Défense nationale sont 20 fois plus élevées que celles du ministère de l’Environnement, lequel, en comparaison, a obtenu seulement 1,064 milliard $. »
Canadians could be forgiven for thinking that they spend a mere pittance on their military: politicians and pundits constantly bombard us with the claim that Canada is a military miser. Most Canadians would probably be stunned to learn that Canada is actually among the top 15 military spenders in the world, and the 6th largest spender among the 28 members of NATO. They might also be surprised to learn that Canadian military spending is now higher than it has been in more than 60 years — higher than it was during the Cold War, or indeed at any time since the end of the Second World War.
OTTAWA—A new report shows that Canada’s rising National Defence spending is $21.185 billion in 2009-2010, making Canada’s rank 13th highest in the world, and 6th highest among NATO’s 28 members, dollar for dollar.
Defence analyst and author Bill Robinson says the rise in defence spending is an indication of the government’s priorities. “Government spending on National Defence is twenty times that of federal Environment Department spending,” said Robinson. “By comparison, the Department of the Environment was allocated only $1.064 billion.”
Many will have heard Premier Gordon Campbell and his cabinet colleagues talk in glowing terms about public private partnerships (P3s) for major projects like hospitals, highways, bridges and sewage treatment.
Traditionally, governments borrow money for things like hospitals and bridges. They use that money to pay the private sector to design and build the projects. Once built, the facility or infrastructure is wholly owned, operated and maintained by government on behalf of the public.
Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne recently unveiled Chrysler’s five-year operating plan. That a corporation should develop a strategic plan for the future seemed unsurprising and sensible to the reporters covering his press conference. How else could a large, complex organization function?
Broadly speaking, a division exists between those supporting a society led by élites who command or control most of society’s wealth and use it in their own interests, and those supporting a society led by progressively-minded individuals who want society’s wealth used in the interests of the members of society as a whole.
In my experience campaigning for the NDP, the explanation I most often heard at the door for not voting NDP was very straightforward: “The NDP (and by extension all ‘left’ parties) don’t know how to handle money and would bankrupt us.”
Onward Stephen Harper! Lead us to the socialist Utopia! If you follow the right-wing punditry, you’d think comrades Harper, Obama, Brown and the like are leading us along that slippery slope to – gasp! -- socialism. Not that any of these leaders has a nice word to say about socialism; they don’t. But the more alarmist fringes of the right wing depict government response to the economic crisis as a Trojan horse. As the government becomes involved in forestalling economic calamity, they warn that opportunists will soon exploit the crisis to promote a creeping socialism.
Inside this issue:
BC and the HST
Should We be Afraid of the Government Debt?
Take Two: BC Budget 2009 September Update
BC's Crisis in Seniors' Care
Hidden Employment Standards Violations
BC has the Lowest Minimum Wage in Canada
TORONTO –Ontario’s per student school funding places the province far behind most peer jurisdictions in North America, according to a comprehensive study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
No Time for Complacency: Education Funding Reality Check ranks Ontario in 46th place compared to American states and ninth among Canada’s 13 jurisdictions.