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.
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.
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