Social Policy in Ontario

Conservatives not in power to serve us

Posted on March 15, 2011 in Governance Debates

Source: Toronto Star — Authors: Peter Dick

TheStar.com – opinion/letters
Published On Tue Mar 15 2011.   Peter Dick

Should anyone be surprised that the Harper government completely brushes aside a comprehensive, three-year, multi-party report on poverty? Or that when admonished, yet again, by the Speaker of the House for disrespecting Parliament and our most basic democratic underpinnings, Stephen Harper would say “you win some, you lose some”?

The man’s roots, lest we forget, are deep in neocon/hard-right territory where ideology trumps everything. His oh-so-clear aim is to dismantle and destroy the government’s very ability to act on behalf of Canadians.

Giving corporations continued tax breaks at the expense of the public purse and social services is just another symptom of a government that serves the rich and powerful, and has nothing but contempt for the “inconvenience” of democracy, and the needs of ordinary Canadians.

I find it ironic that one of their attack ads says Michael Ignatieff “didn’t come back for you.” What is clear by the actions of this government on a daily basis is that they are not in power to serve the needs or interests of ordinary Canadians.

How else to explain billions spent on fighter jets and prisons no one needs or asked for, while preaching fiscal restraint that will fall squarely on the backs of the poor and (disappearing) middle-class.

Wake up, Canadians. The time for complacency is clearly past. All evil needs to flourish is that “good men and women do nothing.”

Peter Dick, Toronto

Tags: budget, economy, ideology, poverty, standard of living

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