Editor, The Times:
Canada is winning the race. It now has the fastest growing wealth gap and income gap in the OECD. The top 20 per cent of Canadians own 70 per cent of all the country's wealth. Better yet, the 86 wealthiest own as much as the 11.2 million least-wealthy Canadians.
Not to worry, though. In Harper's Canada, there's something for those at the bottom of the heap too.
Seniors get to work until 67 and young people get to pound the pavement a lot longer, looking for those first jobs. But, there are about 400,000 temporary foreign workers (TFWs) now gobbling up jobs in Canada. During 2010-2011, 75 per cent of new jobs went to TFWs.
Youth gets to search while TFWs get degraded pay rates without benefits. Harper's EI changes mean that only 40 per cent of the unemployed get benefits; the rest get to try scrounging for any old job. Those jobs may bring safety concerns, no benefits or low pay but Harper knows that beggars can't be choosers. There's something for everyone.
Due to Harper's aggressive tax cuts, between 2007 and 2011, $220 billion was given away, $60 billion to corporations and the rest to the wealthy.
But there's something for future generations too. An accumulated deficit of $169 billion went to pay for these tax cuts. Men are the primary beneficiaries of these tax cuts but there's something for women, too. Since women benefit more from social programs, there have been cuts there too. Share and share alike.
With the income-splitting scheme ... no worries. It will cost the treasury $2 billion and 89 per cent of us won't see any benefit. Few benefit but all of us get burdened with debt. There's something for everyone.
Despite $34 billion in subsidies to Big Oil, mainly to help with the tar sands, during the present global oil glut, thousands of workers are getting their pink slips. Some get dollars, others pink slips.
And, if the Big Banks fail, as some did in '08, Harper's plan is to encourage “bail ins”, allowing the confiscation of bank accounts. No worries, the depositors will get bank stock, instead of their money. There's something for everyone.
A lot of Canadians are connecting the dots. They realize that something is going terribly wrong and they're starting to say, “Stop Harper.”
There's something for everyone. Soon Harper will get his own well deserved pink slip.
D. Simms
Clearwater, B.C.