You might think that Stephen Harper has done enough to hurt poor seniors. By making them wait until they are sixty-seven to receive Old Age Security payments.
And treating our veterans like dirt.
You might think that his Great Con Debate scam would have satiated his corrupt instincts.
But no, now he has ordered his dilapidated stooge Joe Oliver to flog a phony pension scam.
The federal Conservative government is proposing a voluntary expansion of the Canada Pension Plan, adding a pre-election twist to the politically charged debate over how best to boost Canadian savings.
The general premise is that Canadians who choose to pay higher CPP premiums would receive higher guaranteed payments in retirement.
Even though it would not help those who need it the most. Even though everyone knows that for the CPP plan to work best it has to be mandatory.
Labour groups and the seniors advocacy group CARP have long argued that voluntary savings vehicles do not work and that a mandatory CPP expansion is needed to ensure that all Canadians are saving enough for retirement.
And even though everyone should know that the only reason the Cons are making vague noises about enhancing the miserable CPP payments is because polls show most Canadians favour it. And the Cons will say or promise ANYTHING to try to win the next election.
Just like everybody should know that NOBODY can trust Stephen Harper to do the right and decent thing, when he has made his views about pensions horrifyingly clear.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper “smirked” and told Kathleen Wynne in a private meeting that Canadians need to save for their own retirement because it’s not up to government to look after them, the Star has learned.
In a 45-minute meeting in Harper’s Centre Block office on Parliament Hill on Dec. 5, he apparently said his Conservative government has given people the ability to fend for themselves so there is no need to bolster the Canada Pension Plan.
Because he would smirk at the misery of others, and put his cruel ideology before the real needs of Canadians.
Or the suffering of some of our most vulnerable citizens.
You know, I see poor seniors every day. I worry all the time whether they are being forced to choose between their food or their medication. I believe that poverty kills, and that hundreds if not thousands of seniors are dying too soon because they don't have enough money to live on.
It makes me so angry, it makes me despair about the future of this country.
And it's one of the very few things in the world that could reduce me to begging, as I do now:
Don't believe a word the Cons are saying. It's all smoke and mirrors.
The Conservative government rejected a voluntary expansion of the Canada Pension Plan five years ago as overly expensive and misguided, a history that is raising questions as to why it is now proposing that very idea.
They would rather dismantle our pension system, rather than improve it.
And In the name of human decency, put all your differences aside, and defeat that shabby Con artist, that grubby schemer, that depraved monster.
Before he turns this country into his savage jungle.
And helps kill more Canadians...
Please click here to recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers.
17 comments:
Ya right Steve Joe Harper it is a plot to steal the CPP that seniors have paid into all their lives. So now the plot thickens Steve Joe wants to steal that money and give it to his corporate masters and seniors become homeless. Why would he do that? Well because if they are homeless they no longer have an address and therefore can no longer vote. Only the rich can and he is depending on their vote. He already raided the EI fund people have been paying into for a rainy day. Now they told if they are out of a job "No you do not qualify unless you compete with TFW at MacDonalds at less than minimum wage." Fuck Simon there is no limit to his depravity. I shudder...
Mogs
Much like EI premiums.........many who pay in never get to collect! Paying in more to CPP only helps the Government scam more of your hard-earned dollars!
Wake-up, CANADIANS!
From 2008:
Air Farce: Conservative Love Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-Vdydy1cVA
Seriously.
If you want to save beyond the CPP for retirement you are not going to put it into CPP, you're going to put it elsewhere, like investments or savings accounts or something other than the government's bank account.
Oily Joe, who not even a month ago stood there in front of Canada to praise his "balanced" budget that plundered EI to balance, an act that he'd previously promised to not do and for which his government criticised the Liberals for doing, is now saying "Hey, you can put more money aside for retirement into CPP! We'd never touch that, and you'll get all of it back when (if you actually can afford it) you retire (and we'd never increase retirement age again!). Promise!"
I noticed the Libs attacking the NDP today on the satellite office issue. You'd think that at this stage Justin Trudeau would have realized that the real enemy is the Cons and that this sort of attack on the NDP is not going to help. Especially as polls now show that the NDP may overtake the Libs and be the choice of progressive voters and he might have to work in a coalition with the NDP as a junior partner.
Unless of course, and this possibility has already been voiced by some, the Libs would rather form a coalition with the Cons and keep them in power (polls are now showing that it is unlikely for Harper to win majority; if he does win a plurality, it would most likely be only a minority). This suggests that we might have to vote NDP if we want to ensure that Harper is heaved and not saved by a minority with the support of the Libs.
Nanos on the numbers (May 27)
http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=622638
Gov't considering CPP changes (sounds like a move of desperation to me)
http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=622626
Steve and his Cons are like the teabaggers who said during the last American federal election, if people couldn't afford health care on their own, they could just die. Well this is the Canadian version of it. Now if some smart political party got its act together and used it during a campaign, we might get rid of the dictator.
Steve and his cons have been on the public gravy train too long. they don't remember what it is like to try to earn a living, feed and house your family, etc. People today don't make enough money to save for retirement. with wages being low and cost of housing being high, there are no savings for vast number of Canadians,. As the study last yr pointed out about a 1/3 of Canadians don't have enough to get by without a pay cheque for more than a month or so. How does Steve and his slimers expect people to save for retirement. Many people are already paying 1/2 of their earnings for mortgages and the other half for rent. not a good way to live.
if interest rates go up, this country will see bankruptcies by the tens of thousands. Saving for retirement? Steve is nuts. Perhaps he thinks god will provide, given his wacky religion.
Guess steve doesn't know Greater Vancouver is now so expensive a lot of doctors and lawyers can't afford to live there. How does steve expect people in B.C. to save for retirement. Houses in Greater Vancouver start at a million and we have the highest rate of child poverty for the past 14 yrs.
anon, the NDP are also posting stuff and attacking Trudeau. Tit for Tat Buddy. The liberals will never form a coalition with the cons or the NDP for that matter. Its just as easy telling the truth instead of lying. You are so pathetic and likely a paid con troll.Irene
In Greater Vancouver, Harper courts the ethnic vote, particularly Indo and Chinese Canadians.
Richmond is nearly 50 per cent Chinese, the most ethnically Chinese city in Canada. And because people have flooded in from China, the price of real estate has gone through the roof, out of reach for most British Columbians born in Canada.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/vancouvers-real-estate-boom-the-rising-price-of-heaven/article21071391/
Vancouver’s real estate boom: The rising price of ‘heaven’
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/vancouvers-real-estate-boom-the-rising-price-of-heaven/article21071391/
hi Mogs...It makes me shudder too. As I said in my post I only hope Canadians aren't fooled. For at this point Harper will say anything to get elected...
hi anons...I too am sorry to see the NDP and the Liberals fighting each other. But unless the polls change drastically Harper could still form a minority government, and both progressive parties will be forced by their own supporters to join together to topple him. So sooner or later they are going to have to learn to be nice or nicer to each other...
hi David...thanks for that link. I have saved it in my files and will use an excerpt for my own devious purposes... ;)
hi e.a.f...I'm sure we all agree that people should save money for their own retirement. But the fact is too many don't or can't, and unless we can enhance the CPP we are going to face an epidemic of poverty. And Harper is about as serious when he claims he wants to improve pensions, as a fox is when he vows to protect the chickens...
What helps explain these Harper-con freaks is a scientific study of the brain. You have the reptilian brain which is the brain stem lizards and reptiles do not look after their children they have them and abandon them and the mates. Reptiles are heavy into fear fighting and survival. The next part of our brains is the mammalian now mammals care for nurture and love their children and will fiercely protect them. Then you have the top of your brain which is divided into two hemispheres left and right. The left is responsible for rational thought. The right for intuitive sometimes called the sub-conscious.
Me I try use all four parts in balance they all have gifts. Harper and his cronies are unbalanced they rely heavily on the reptilian brain and the left hemisphere ignoring the other two completely. Human warmth and compassion comes from the mammalian brain. But you use the left upper hemisphere to rationalize where that warmth is directed correctly. And you use the right to be sure you are hot getting in 'over your head'.
Mogs
http://www.whatonearthishappening.com/part-1-the-solution/65-the-triune-brain
I'd suggest Richmond is higher than 50% ethnic Chinese. That isn't the issue really. Its the fact that many living in Greater Vancouver are only using Canada to advance their portolios without contributing to our country. The market is driven by people who do not live in Canada. Then we have a large number of people who do not live in Canada, don't have citizenship, or residency, they simply buy homes here and wait for the prices to go up so they can sell. Others maintain homes here just in case things go side ways in China and they have a place to come and a place to live. The houses just sit empty. Some estimate 25% of the housing stock in Vancouver sits empty because they are foreign owned.
All sorts of Canadians are not able to purchase homes in Greater Vancouver, regardless of where their parents and grand parents came from. The lower mainland has become an area for the economic elite. Now not even doctors and lawyers can afford to live there. They move out to Surrey, Port Coquitlam and further east.
There are 35 million, millionaires in China. a lot of them would have a foot hold in Canada. There are no restrictions on property or having to pay more in taxes if you aren't a resident.
Of course Harper courts the ethnic vote. He is too stupid to realize many of Chinese and Indian origin don't vote as a block, any more than the British, Dutch, German, Japanese, etc. The Cons do have a base amongst wealthy people from various parts of the world because they are giving them what they want, which is no different from other rich who made up the majority a 100 years ago. or do some forget about Lord Dunsmuir from England who used B.C. as his bank account, exploited workers in coal mines, etc.
People ought not to think the ethnically Chinese or Indian citizens of Canada are of one mind. that really would be ever so racist.
Regarding "Prime Minister Stephen Harper “smirked” and told Kathleen Wynne in a private meeting that Canadians need to save for their own retirement because it’s not up to government to look after them."--then why is Harper giving already retired immigrants from India, $1000.00 per month in CPP payments each person, when they have never paid into CPP or worked in Canada? I believe this is part of Harper's deal with India, and this defrauds Canadian CPP payers. This is also against Canadian law. Harper should be impeached.
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