Canadian Federal Budget

Yesterday the federal Conservatives released their easily predictable and almost completely previously disclosed 2015 budget. There is so much to complain about it, it is rather over-whelming. But while I could rant about the fact

(1) that a balanced budget is not a big deal and in fact many economist have argued that when the economy is slowing the government must invest (spend) money to provide stimulation,

(2) that a balanced budget was achieved in part because the government decided that the contingency fund which has historically been $3 billion only needed to be $1 billion. This was in spite of the fact that some economists including the right wing think tank  C.D. Howe Institute suggested that we needed to have $6 billion in this reserve fund to deal with potential economic or environmental crisis (Business News Network).

(3) that much of the promised funding will happen in two or three years. So there are no guarantees that much of what was promised will be delivered even if the Conservatives get elected for another four years

(4) that the tax breaks and what little new money there was, were given to well off middle class families and their even better off parents, while those who are struggling on a day to day basis will get relatively few breaks. One of the only exceptions to this is the E.I. premiums will be going down (again in a few years) which is a good thing as so few Canadians are eligible to claim (CBC).

(5) that there was no funding of or any kind of recognition given to the fact  that climate change and the environment were issues that needed to be made a priority.

(6) that there is virtually no new funding to deal with the myriad of issues both in First Nation communities or for those members of a First Nation who no longer live in their traditional communities.

etc. etc.

I am not going to do any of that. The various internet sites available to most people are full of comments from people who are far more knowledgeable about economics than I. But there is one thing about the budget that struck me as being particularly significant and extraordinarily manipulative. On one of the mainstream television stations (either CBC, Global or CTV - I can't remember which) they showed a graph of who voted by age in the 2011 election. That information was not new to me - but making a connection between who votes in federal elections and who got the most tax breaks/money was instructive.

                                                                       (Elections Canada)

People who are in their mid-fifties and up are far more likely to vote than those who are younger. It is also known that "older individuals, those with higher educational attainment, home owners, and employed people were more likely to vote than others" (Statistics Canada). If one examines the budget as delivered yesterday in the House of Commons, those who are seniors or about to be, those who are home owners and those who are employed were the ones most likely to benefit from the government's largesse. There were no new programs of any significance or immediacy that recognized the high youth unemployment rate, the fact that far too many of the new jobs are part time and are in the chaotic and unreliable retail sector, and that their student loan debts are crushing.

Traditionally to put it bluntly - poor people don't vote. People who feel disenfranchised - don't vote. Young people don't vote. The Conservatives know this and have clearly decided to ignore those people who feel that there is no point in being engaged in the civic process because no cares or responds to their needs or concerns. And there lies in the catch 22.

If young people and those who are struggling do not vote - the ruling party will not bother to address their issues; if those issues are not addressed then those groups will continue to feel disenfranchised and therefore not vote. It is time that we broke the cycle. I think it would only take one election to change how political parties cater to the elites. If those groups who traditionally have been underrepresented in the polling both finally decide to vote all politically parties would quickly wake up and realize that they need to address the issues of the young and those who are struggling if they ever plan on ruling the country.

It is not too early to start getting people thinking about voting.