First comes the crass incompetence.
Human Resources Minister Diane Finley is boosting staff at Service Canada to help reduce a mounting backlog in employment insurance claims that is forcing many jobless Canadians to wait months for their first benefits cheque.
The delays have been growing since October, 2010, even as Service Canada laid off hundreds of employees from its processing centres and allowed staff at its call centres to leave without being replaced.
Then comes the porky.
Over the next three years, Human Resources and Development Canada plans to cut the number of offices that process EI claims from 120 nationwide down to about 20.
Of the 20 processing centres left, more than half will be in Conservative ridings and only one will be in a Liberal riding.
Or if you prefer, first comes the porky.
The myriad tax credits introduced by Jim Flaherty before the recession are now placing an added strain on Ottawa’s bottom line as the Finance Minister prepares to wrestle a $31-billion deficit.
The credits featured prominently in government advertising, allowing the Conservatives to target their message toward various segments of the population.
And then comes the bloodbath.
The federal Conservative government is considering cutting deeper and faster than originally planned, with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty saying Tuesday some departments could face cuts of more than 10 per cent in the upcoming budget.
So let's sum up this porky tale eh? Because the Cons spent so much money buying an election, and they refuse to raise corporate taxes, now they must kill government jobs even faster than they planned.
So even MORE desperate unemployed Canadians will be looking for help, with even LESS places to help them.
Unless they live in a Con riding.
Great eh?
Gawd. I hope somebody is counting is counting down the days to the next election when we can fire THEM.
Because they're killing this country.
And that day can't come soon enough...
I like your optimism, but in this day in age I am a cynic. It seems like the odds are stacked against left leaning policies. With growing levels of baby boomers entering retiring age they have nothing to do but vote and most vote conservative. Harper has also stacked conservative riding's with additional MPs. Taken away voter subsidies.Has a firm control of the media and the left vote is split and it's very unlikely that the left parties will ever merge.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to all that, we have a Conservative majority in the senate even if a left leaning or even centre left party wins in 2015 they won't be able to pass any of the policies that they would like with a conservative majority senate.
Even though I hope you are right and we can turn this huge mess around, I don't have much faith in the Canadian electorate. Hopefully you can prove me wrong.
These cuts are absolutely disgusting - 120 centres cut to 20 when unemployment is rising. The 5% across the board departmental cuts became 10% cuts and now Flaherty is pushing for more.
ReplyDeleteThe LPC and NDP better get their sh8t together because this country is going to go up in flames if we reach Greece-like austerity measures.
All this in less than a decade from when the Conservatives inherited an unprecedented federal surplus and were somewhat immune to the 2008 banking crisis because Martin was stopped from deregulating our banking system. Too destroy the economy and fiscal balance so much in so little time makes Stevie the worst economist in the history of the world.
hi anonymous... well I was an optimist until I read your comment. ;)
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, what you say is all true and all too depressing. But as Oscar Wilde said cynicism is the bank holiday of the romantic. And we need to hang on to our idealism if we're ever going to get out of this mess. I much prefer to fight and lose, than not try to fight at all. And I have to believe that with what is happening to this country sanity will prevail in the end...
P.S. the day I start studying Swedish you'll know I've given up...
hi Beijing...I agree with you completely. The very last thing a government should be doing is cutting killing government jobs at a time when the private sector isn't creating any, and the economy is teetering on the edge of the abyss.
ReplyDeleteIt's a classic recipe for throwing us into a double dip recession. But you know the Cons, they put their rigid ideology before economic good sense, and we all get to pay for it later...