Immigration policy should build a stronger Canada, not exploit the vulnerable

Immigration policy should build a stronger Canada, not exploit the vulnerable

NDP Immigration critic Jinny Sims (Newton – North Delta) is urging the Conservative government to invest in Canadian workers and reunite families instead of undermining the Canadian job market by exploiting Temporary Foreign Workers.

“There is no good reason for the Conservatives to be bringing in tens of thousands of temporary foreign workers when so many Canadians and newcomers are out of work,” said Sims. “Temporary workers from other countries drive wages down and are rarely permitted to remain in Canada. Instead of investing here, they understandably send most of their earnings back to their home countries.”
 Under the Conservatives Temporary Foreign Workers number have doubled while family reunification provisions have been systematically dismantled. Spouses, parents and grandparents are being forced to wait years to be reunited.
“Instead of treating the immigration system as a source of cheap labour, the Conservatives must implement an immigration plan that will strengthen our country and our economy,” said Sims. “We need to see a real plan to reunite families with their loved ones. Families build communities and are the backbone of our country.”

NDP brings fight for lakes and rivers to ridings

NDP brings fight for lakes and rivers to ridings

Back to work in their ridings next week, New Democrat MPs will be continuing the fight to protect Canada’s lakes and rivers. Since it was introduced, Official Opposition MPs have been standing up in the House of Commons fighting against the Conservatives’ monster omnibus budget bill and the ways it will hurt our waterways.

 “This monster bill will have long-term, negative repercussions for Canadians. We wanted to study it at committee but the Conservatives blocked us at every turn,” said NDP House Leader Nathan Cullen (Skeena–Bulkley Valley). “It’s disappointing that they’re abandoning their basic responsibility to Canadians in favour of ideology.”
 Bill C-45 is the latest step in the Conservatives’ plan to force through legislation that will gut environmental oversight and cut the services Canadians rely on. Although the Conservatives agreed to send it to committee, they imposed unreasonable time limits, blocked New Democrat amendments and only sent sections to committees they knew wouldn’t be able to do proper analysis.
 “Once again the Conservatives have put the whims of their oil industry friends ahead of the needs of Canadians,” said Opposition Whip Nycole Turmel (Hull–Aylmer). “This is a bad bill and over the constituency week we’re going to consult Canadians and bring their ideas back to Ottawa.”
 “The sad result of this monster bill is that our lakes and rivers are being left unprotected,” said NDP Environment critic Megan Leslie (Halifax).

Conservatives ignore slowing growth and economic warning signs

Conservatives ignore slowing growth and economic warning signs

Flaherty delivers Economic Update when House isn't sitting to avoid accountability for bad news

Despite missing their own deficit targets, mounting reports of slowing growth and double digit unemployment in many regions, Conservatives are ignoring economic warning signs and charging ahead with their cuts agenda.

 “Under their watch, our economy is underperforming and we have lost hundreds of thousands of jobs. Unfortunately, based on what we heard today, Conservatives have no strategy to address this,” said NDP Finance critic Peggy Nash. “Conservatives are simply continuing their unbalanced approach of putting all our economic eggs in the natural resources basket.”
For the fourth time since taking power, Conservatives chose to avoid parliamentary oversight and deliver their Economic Update outside of the House of Commons.
“This is another example of Conservative contempt for our democratic institutions,” said NDP Deputy Finance critic Guy Caron. “Just as with their omnibus budget bills and their withholding financial information from the Parliamentary Budget Officer, this is yet another attempt to avoid being accountable to Canadians about cuts to the services people rely on.”
Despite the warning signs, Minister Flaherty refused to outline any contingency plan to deal with slowing growth and increasingly negative fiscal indicators.
“Conservatives keep claiming our economy is better off than all the others, but the reality is even the I.M.F. is now predicting slower growth in Canada than in the U.S.,” said Nash. “And yet Minister Flaherty continues to push full speed ahead with his shortsighted approach to managing the economy.”

Fixing crumbling infrastructure would create jobs and grow the economy

Fixing crumbling infrastructure would create jobs and grow the economy

Canada’s mounting infrastructure crisis of crumbling bridges, potholes and traffic gridlock is costing more than $10 billion in lost productivity every year. NDP Transport and Infrastructure critic Olivia Chow was in Toronto today calling on the Conservatives to take action and ensure accountable, transparent and non-partisan infrastructure funding.
 “The current unpredictable, one-off funding system creates chaos and uncertainty for cities and communities and can lead to misuse of taxpayers' money,” said Chow. “Whether it’s sinkholes in Ottawa, falling concrete in Toronto and Montreal or record commute times in Vancouver, our infrastructure is in crisis.”
 Chow’s comments were in support of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ proposal for federal dollars to be "purpose-dedicated" (transit, basic infrastructure and water systems) to ensure fair distribution, reduced red tape, and increased accountability and flexibility.
 “Our cash-strapped and over-burdened cities are looking to the federal government for partnership,” said Transport and Infrastructure deputy critic Robert Aubin. “But the Conservatives must put an end to favouritism and back room deals to insiders.”
“If the Conservatives fail to grasp this opportunity in the upcoming budget, Canadians will continue to face infrastructure decay and gridlock,” said Chow.

Conservatives still failing on elimination of child poverty

Conservatives still failing on elimination of child poverty

According to Campaign 2000 report one in seven Canadian children still lives in poverty

With zero progress on the government’s 23-year old pledge to eradicate child poverty the NDP is urging the Conservatives to put aside reckless ideology and adopt Campaign 2000’s recommendations.
 “The government is touting an economic recovery yet one in seven children is still living in poverty,” said Chris Charlton, NDP critic for Human Resources and Skills Development (Hamilton Mountain). “Their action plan has no action for children. Poverty reduction should be at the centre of any economic recovery plan.”

 “In 1989 MPs voted unanimously to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000.  It’s now 2012 and we’re still waiting for a comprehensive strategy to eradicate poverty.  Clearly, there’s been a lack of political will on the part of successive governments”, said Charlton.
 According to Campaign 2000’s 2012 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada, without a national anti-poverty strategy, poverty levels in Canada will continue to increase, compromising future generations’ success and threatening our economic stability.
 “The Conservatives pride themselves on good economic management but when you look at their inaction on eradicating poverty, which costs Canada over $72 billion every year, it’s obvious that this is not the case,” said Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet NDP deputy critic for Human Resources and Skills Development (Hochelaga).

Net benefit test needs immediate clarification

Net benefit test needs immediate clarification

In the wake of the Conservatives’ approving a transaction of limited benefit to Canadians, New Democrats are calling on the House of Commons to direct the Conservatives to honour their two-year-old promise and update the Investment Canada Act.

 The NDP opposition motion put forward by NDP Natural Resources critic Peter Julian calls on the government to lay out specific net benefit criteria, improve the transparency of decisions and to require public consultations on changes to the Investment Canada Act.
 “The Conservatives rubber stamped a deal that leaves the Canadian economy vulnerable to foreign government interference, in secret with no public consultation,” said Julian. “This is unacceptable and we need immediate action on the Investment Canada Act to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.”
 The NDP motion reads:
That this House agrees with the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, which is asking the government to : clarify the net benefit test; include parameters around reciprocity; improve the transparency of decisions; and set specific criteria for state-owned companies to meet net benefit requirements in order to protect the Canadian economy from potential foreign government interference and calls on the Government to hold a full and public consultations on the proposed guidelines announced by the Prime Minister on December 7, 2012 and previously promised changes to the Investment Canada Act.

Left Wing Have More In Common With Ronald Reagan?

Categorized | Wayne Clark

Columns: Left Wing Have More In Common With Ronald Reagan?

Posted on 08 December 2012
Tags: Benito Mussolini, Corportations, Eisenhower, Lenin, Marx, Reagan

By Wayne Clark. It seems to me the left wing of 2012 have more in common with the likes of Dwight D.Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan than Karl Marx or Vladimir Lenin, I get so tired of these asinine labels.

Wayne Clark is a Maple Ridge resident.

I would agree that Corporations are not necessarily evil but only what you allow them to be, they have their place in the scheme off things in as much as they are controlled and are not allowed to be in control as is the case now. If certain mega corporations had their way in 1942 we would all be speaking German and doing the goosestep. Corporations are about one thing and one thing only, money and power and they do not care how they get it or who they have to get into bed with to get it.
Left to their own devices they can be truly evil, as money has no conscience and greed has no limit, and as Richard Gecko preached greed is good for Capitalism.
The reality is that Corporations have to be controlled by rational strict legislation that takes into consideration not only the people that work for them, but the well being of all a countries citizens and especially the environment that sustains all the beings on this planet anything else is shortsighted folly and the road to ruin.
In the present context I could even agree that socialism is the problem in the world today but it is Corporate socialism with the extreme right and greedy, corrupt Corporations and mega banks bringing the world to it’s financial knees and then Corporate controlled governments bailing the Corporations, banks, stock markets out with public tax dollars that is the problem.
The final injustice is the very victims of these criminal acts are the people that inevitably pay the ultimate price for this corruption by loosing their homes, and all the middle class and poor loosing 40 percent of their total assets, while the masterminds of this crime get to not only keep their ill gotten spoils, but even get fat bonuses of even more public tax money.
To lay this global financial catastrophe on socialism is so far from the truth that it is not even worth discussion.
“Fascism should more properly be called Corporatism since it is the merger of state and corporate power.”–Benito Mussolini