To: Cathy McLeod, MP
In your "House to House" mailout you asked constituents to give you feedback. So here I am - doing just that.
You state that, and I quote, "Canada's financial system has been a model of stability and prudence." When Stephen Harper came into power in 2006, Canada enjoyed a $15-billion surplus and now we have a $45-billion deficit. Does that indicate stability? Was it prudent to spend a billion dollars on G-20 meetings in Toronto and another $49 million shoveled into a cabinet minister's riding for the same vent? Is it prudent to spend $13 billion on mega-prisons even though the crime rate in Canada has been falling and continues to fall? Was it prudent to pour $100 billion into corporate tax cuts with the excuse of "job creation" when we all know that the big corporations do not create jobs.
In October 2010, an industrial inquiry was launched to look into a strike in Labrador against Vale Canada Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Brazil-based global mining giant Vale. Just days before the inquiry started, the federal government gave Vale a U.S. $1 billion loan. Less than one month after this windfall, Vale announced that it was laying off 500 workers at the Thompson, Manitoba refinery and smelter.
Under your heading "Respect Taxpayers" you state that your party will close "... numerous tax loopholes that allow a few businesses and individuals to avoid paying their fair share of tax." What a good idea!
The profits of Canada's big five banks reached $19.4 billion last year and are projected to increase this to $40 billion next year, thanks mostly to tax cuts and "offshore affiliates". But instead of these profits being invested in capital investment in the economy that would create jobs, the profits go to financing mergers, speculative investments, and share buybacks. So please tell Mr. Flaherty that the $60 billion tax cut program he launched in 2007 will never create jobs and will just push Canada into deeper debt. You have stated that your "... strategy will not include raising taxes or cutting transfers to other levels of government." Simple math tells us that that would be impossible! Except of course, you have not promised not to cut social programs.
You boast, "Canada's financial sector has remained among the best in the world." Now you Conservatives want to take credit for this, but have you and Stephen Harper forgotten that when he was in opposition, he condemned the very banking regulations, instigated by the Liberals, that have prevented a financial meltdown like the one in the U.S.?
Jean Woodland
Barriere, B.C.