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Canada criticized for failing its poor


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Canada criticized for failing its poor

Inequality and homelessness are rising in Canada despite a sustained economic boom and repeated federal promises to cut poverty, says an international study.

Poverty is rising among children and new immigrants, the middle class is finding it increasingly difficult to afford education and housing, and there are 250,000 Canadians living on the streets, says the study by Social Watch, a coalition of 400 non-government organizations from 50 countries.

A weak federal government has consistently cut taxes for the well-off rather than investing in social services, says the study, released yesterday in New York.

"We're worse off now than we were when we wrote the 1948 declaration of human rights," aid Armine Yalnizyan, an economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, who wrote the Canadian section of the report.

I don't know about the rest of you but I am tired of being lied to by these right wing governments, and these right wing fronts for the corporate community like the Fraser Institute. I actually think all these think tanks should be abolished and they should all be investigated by our governments. Every week they churn out their drivel in the corporate press often with no explanation of who they are and who they represent. All these economists and accountants will tell you things are booming in Canada. Well where, and for whom? These facts speak for themselves. Many, many Canadians are worse off than they have ever been.

It is time to put an end to this corporate takeover of our society, with their special tax loopholes and get a government that is going to look after all segments of society, not just the rich and powerful, because Canadians are not being protected and way too many are falling between the cracks.

I sit here and listen to a lot of you drone on about tax cuts. Absurd. If we can't protect our citizens with the money the government presently takes in then let's raise taxes, not lower them. Our leaders are failing us big time across this land.

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Mirror,

1. this article was already posted in Goodale: Boosting living standards

2. There is no need to copy the article.We can link to it if we wish

3. You are obvoiusly triying to create some friction and response by calling the government a Right government which I believe is not allowed on this forum.

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Mirror,

1. this article was already posted in Goodale: Boosting living standards

2. There is no need to copy the article.We can link to it if we wish

3. You are obvoiusly triying to create some friction and response  by calling the government a Right government which I believe is not allowed on this forum.

I think it was a good thing that Mirror posted it. A lot of people might otherwise miss its outstanding content... Did you read it ??? I did, and thought it an excellent article, followed by what I considered to be an insightful analysis. Well done Mirror.

As to your point #3, I'm amazed that you, of all of the people who post in this forum, have the gall to make that statement. Do you know the definition of HYPOCRITE, (referring to the accusation of "causing friction"). I know that you'd like to outlaw positions that differ from your own, but the purpose of this forum is for intellectual debate... where many positions can be presented. I'd have to question how suitable that type of activity would be for you, given your previous responses....

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"I don't know about the rest of you but I am tired of being lied to by these right wing governments"

Sounds like flaming to me, what governments and that's government(S) that are lying to you. Like always, you ramble but never support your statements with fact.And never answer when challenged over statement like that one.

Cheers

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Dear CES

Why are you feeling so threatened by this report?

But more importantly why do feel you should shut down opinions that differ from yours? I'm very sorry that you do not believe in freedom of expression, and it is your right to express that, but that kind of thinking scares me.

Knowing history I know what kind of society that will lead to.

No one is forcing you to read anyone else's messages. If you don't want to debate the issues please do me a favour and put me on ignore, and stop bothering everyone else with your constant personal attacks.

And if what that report states is true, with such poverty in Canada, and differences between the rich and poor, yes we have had right wing governments for a long time in Canada.

I have put you back on ignore and we will leave it at that.

Cheers

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Are we calling Liberals "right wing" now? :lol:

You are correct though. (and so is Mulroney) The Liberals have been screwing up this country for a long time. All of this throwing entitlements around like candy is turning Canada into a giant Indian Reservation. No work ethic, just a strong sense of "you owe me".

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I think that one thing that should be done to help these people is to reform the welfare system, as well as creating more welfare housing for those truly poor people (the people who are covered in cardboard when you step over them on the street during winter in Toronto). I think welfare should have a time limit on it, and that should adjust according to current market conditions. The "affordable housing" should also be tied to that, and if the people fail to try to fix their situations with the opportunity they are given, they should be evicted and tossed back on the street.

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Are we calling Liberals "right wing" now?  :lol:

You are correct though.  (and so is Mulroney)  The Liberals have been screwing up this country for a long time.  All of this throwing entitlements around like candy is turning Canada into a giant Indian Reservation.  No work ethic, just a strong sense of "you owe me".

I can't believe your choice of words... "a giand Indan Reservation... no work ethic.

" You're in the running for "most ignorant poster" ....

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I think that one thing that should be done to help these people is to reform the welfare system"
How about the "corporate welfare" system, where corporate Canada gets huge tax reductions, deferrals, and grants... And they pay lower taxes than US businesses, and certainly a lot less than Canadian citizens do... It only goes to show where government priorities lie.... not with citizens... except, of course, in the weeks leading up to an election....
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Are we calling Liberals "right wing" now?   :lol:

You are correct though.  (and so is Mulroney)  The Liberals have been screwing up this country for a long time.  All of this throwing entitlements around like candy is turning Canada into a giant Indian Reservation.  No work ethic, just a strong sense of "you owe me".

I can't believe your choice of words... "a giand Indan Reservation... no work ethic.

" You're in the running for "most ignorant poster" ....

Have you ever seen the effects of the soft discrimination of throwing money at a people with no expectations? It's happening on a broad scale and the people of Eastern Canada are begging for more. "You owe me for child care!" "Alberta owes me because they're rich!"

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Are we calling Liberals "right wing" now?  :lol:

You are correct though.  (and so is Mulroney)  The Liberals have been screwing up this country for a long time.  All of this throwing entitlements around like candy is turning Canada into a giant Indian Reservation.  No work ethic, just a strong sense of "you owe me".

Well, I'd say its pretty clear that the rules are no longer enforced or even in existence.

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All of this throwing entitlements around like candy is turning Canada into a giant Indian Reservation.  No work ethic, just a strong sense of "you owe me".

No matter how descriminatory you may consider that to be, it is true to some extent.

as Heywood Broun said (I know it's odd that i'm quoting a socialist in an anti-socialist post):

"Appeasers believe that if you keep on throwing steaks to a tiger, the tiger will become a vegetarian."

Is that not what we're doing in the current system with 'Native-American' or 'First Nations' individuals? We continually pour money into the reserves and yet the standard of living among those people remains just as low as ever.

Unemployment: Among First Nations unemployment ranges from 35 percent to 90 percent of the working age population.

(taken from http://collections.ic.gc.ca/afn/edu6.html. not sure how dependable this source is... it's just the first one I found)

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Should the government write you a blank cheque, and guarentee you a job? Of course not, you have to work to get the job yourself. Work for it.

The overly simplistic "right wing" answers distort the issues to be a "hand-out to those who refuse to work" type attitude.... the straw-man argument.

If we look at the article that this thread was spawned from, we'll see that it talks about increase poverty (working poor), reductions in government benefits for those who have been unfortunate, making it harder for them to get back into the game and be "productive"...

Between 1997 and 2003, Canada's economy was the fastest-growing among G-8 countries, expanding 55 per cent in real terms. The gross national product has surpassed $1 trillion.

Federal spending stands at 11 per cent of the economy, down from 16 per cent in 1993-94, well below historic averages. Recent increases in spending have not offset deep cuts made in the mid-'90s.

Only 38 per cent of unemployed workers receive government benefits, down from 75 per cent in the early 1990s.

The right wing ideology of tramping down the poor instead of helping them does not reflect well upon Canada or those who support the ideology.

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"The right wing ideology of tramping down the poor instead of helping them does not reflect well upon Canada or those who support the ideology."

Stephen Lewis offers support for Mulroney

Lewis also said Mulroney's Progressive Conservative government gave more than Prime Minister Martin currently does to foreign aid.

Mulroney's government gave 0.5 per cent of the gross national product to foreign aid in 1989. Paul Martin's Liberal government contributes 0.32 per cent of the GNP to foreign aid despite huge surpluses.

Seeing as the last right wing government Canada had, was doing more for the poor than the elected left, shows how your statement about the right is wrong. Just ask Lewis.

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"The right wing ideology of tramping down the poor instead of helping them does not reflect well upon Canada or those who support the ideology."

Stephen Lewis offers support for Mulroney

Lewis also said Mulroney's Progressive Conservative government gave more than Prime Minister Martin currently does to foreign aid.

Mulroney's government gave 0.5 per cent of the gross national product to foreign aid in 1989. Paul Martin's Liberal government contributes 0.32 per cent of the GNP to foreign aid despite huge surpluses.

Seeing as the last right wing government Canada had, was doing more for the poor than the elected left, shows how your statement about the right is wrong. Just ask Lewis.

What does foreign aid have to do with Canada failing its own poor? You're not even talking about the same thing.

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I'm sorry I didn't make my point clearer. I was contradicting the statement made about the "ideology of tramping down the poor instead of helping them" and "reflect well upon Canada". Mulhroney's government reflected better of Canada with it's .5% than the Liberals.

Since this thread makes references to "Right wing governments failing us" I guess I'm confused as to what the topic actually is about or who "us" is. The last right wing government was Mulhroney's some 14 years ago, and you are right , Lewis spoke of foreign aid ,and the right did not fail "us" as the Liberals with their "surpluses" have.

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I think we first have to realize that Canada has no official definition of poverty, Statistics Canada uses "low cut off income" to measure trends in low income households, but this should not be confused with poverty or poverty lines.

http://www.statcan.ca/english/research/13F.../13F0027XIE.htm

I disagree with Mirror's statement that we should increase taxation in order to combat poverty, in fact we need to decrease taxation for the "working poor" of this country in order to combat rising energy costs. I worked with an elderly fellow a while back who showed up for work everyday, worked hard and yet could barely afford food after paying for heat and electricity. I eventually goaded his boss into giving him a raise of $2.50/hr, which resulted in a net increase of less than $20.00 a pay period. I caculated how much more he would have received with a 8 to 10% tax reduction and it came out to aprox. $180.00/month net increase.

I do not advocate tax cuts to the rich, but tax cuts for the poor would reduce the number of working poor in this country. Problem is defining what is "poor".

When it comes to people living "under cardboard boxes" in cities such as Toronto or Vancover this is extreme poverty which our current social programs do not directly address. After all 10 out of 10 people living in cardboard boxes don't vote for any of the major parties.

There are many in this country who are healthy enough to work yet still require social programs in order to obtain sustinance for themselves and their families, I prefer to not aid these people in being lazy, but know where they can find a job.

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I'm sorry I didn't make my point clearer. I was contradicting the statement made about the "ideology of tramping down the poor instead of helping them" and "reflect well upon Canada". Mulhroney's government reflected better of Canada with it's .5% than the Liberals.

Since this thread makes references to  "Right wing governments failing us" I guess I'm confused as to what the topic actually is about or who "us" is. The last right wing government was Mulhroney's  some 14 years ago, and you are right , Lewis spoke of foreign aid ,and  the right did not fail "us" as the Liberals with their "surpluses" have.

I don't know if you can appreciate it, but Paul Martin is a fiscal Conservative... There's not question about it.... That makes him "right wing" in my opinion...

Taking money from the poor to fund corporate tax cuts... Taking money from health care funding to fund corporate tax cuts, taking money from education funding to fund corporate tax cuts... Note that there weren't any pesonal tax cuts to talk about.... In my opinion, Paul Martin is and always was RIGHT WING.... even though the Conservatives would like to paint him as a "lefty"....

When times were leaner, the public accepted cuts because we were told that there wasn't any choice... Now that there are surpluses... every year, why not return the level of funding that we once had for health care, education, the needy, etc... You know why not... because Paul Martin is RIGHT WING.... just like the Conservatives....

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I don't know about the rest of you but I am tired of being lied to by these right wing governments...

The Liberal Party is now rightwing? The Liberal Party of abortion at any time during pregnancy (all on the taxpayer's dime), gay marriage, anti-Americanism, prostitution, pot-smoking, liberal-leftist fundamentalism, social programs, more social programs, more social programs, anti-religiosity, anti-family, the culture of death, and not being a white man if at all possible is, according to some of this thread, a rightwing party.

...and these right wing fronts for the corporate community like the Fraser Institute. I actually think all these think tanks should be abolished...

Just another example of that leftwing tolerance. ;)

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Poverty can't be fixed by the govt:

Most poverty isn't caused by storms. Or even bad luck. Most poverty is caused by poor decision-making. Having children out of wedlock, abusing drugs and alcohol, or putting personal pleasure above responsible action are problems much too personal to be cured by politicians and bureaucrats. Or by more money, either.

Many of us have been poor at one time or another. But those truly stuck in poverty are usually suffering from a lack of character, something no government can provide.

Except perhaps by tough love. What's that? It's the love that dares not reward or excuse bad behavior, that does not blame productive people for the poverty of those who refuse to produce, and that steps back and lets human nature do its work. People have survived on the planet a long time, even before government programs to battle poverty.

One of America's (Canada's) biggest causes of poverty is fatherlessness. It is a problem that our society can discourage, but government can do little to solve. A government check certainly doesn't create a father.

...People's actions can be subsidized or taxed, they can preached at or ignored, but these choices cannot be legislated and the consequences of poor choices — namely poverty — cannot be solved by bureaucrats or politicians.

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The Liberal Party is now rightwing?  The Liberal Party of abortion at any time during pregnancy (all on the taxpayer's dime)
It's been around a long time before Paul Martin....
, gay marriage,
something the public supports,
anti-Americanism,
A worldwide PUBLIC sentiment, not the position of our Liberal government,
prostitution,
... been around a lot longer than the liberals...
pot-smoking,
Your favourite country's presidents all did it...

George Washington's diary will attest to his like of the herb,

Bill Clinton

George Bush (by reputation)... hypocricy prevents his admitting it...

liberal-leftist fundamentalism,
?????
social programs, more social programs, more social programs,
what do they think the government is for... the people ???
anti-religiosity, anti-family,
... especially those anti-family social programs...
the culture of death, and not being a white man if at all possible is,
... watch out for the men in the white coats...
  according to some of this thread, a rightwing party.
... right wing fiscal policy... if the shoe fits...
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