Monday, January 9, 2012
The Star's Gloomy Assessment of Corporate Depradations
Today's Star editorial offers a gloomy but apparently realistic assessment of the direction Canada's manufacturing is headed in. Abetted by the federal and Ontario McGuinty provincial governments' seeming indifference to the corporate depredations underway, the most recent occurring at Electro-Motive Canada, and unions that are hamstrung by the refusal of companies to negotiate reasonable contracts, the outlook seems very bleak.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Sunday Insight From A Star Reader
I'm reproducing another insightful letter from a Star reader, this time from Edward Carson of Toronto, who writes about how ideology reigns supreme over reality in the Harper government:
The Harper government’s “tough on crime” agenda through Bill C-10 is a policy and fiscal disaster in the making.
A government so focused on this country’s financial resources is putting into place an already discredited solution to a problem that doesn’t exist, one that is certain to strain those very resources. And yet all the evidence is simply being ignored.
The reason is rooted in Harper's adherence to ideology over common sense, but driving that ideology is a mix of easily recognized personal psychology and organizational behaviour resulting in a habit of going to great lengths to avoid a perceived loss — a win-at-all-costs mentality, not unlike that found in sports, that refuses to re-evaluate strategies, ideas or actions inconsistent with the facts.
We see this tendency to undermine rational action or thought in a range of things the Harper government does, from responding to questions in Parliament or media interviews with predigested answers that bear no relation to the questions asked, to larger issues such as their rejection of the long-form census or refusal to adequately address the actual cost of new jets. The initial, often ideological perspective is maintained in the face of empirical evidence to the contrary or the wisdom of a wider collective experience.
Edward Carson, Toronto
The Harper government’s “tough on crime” agenda through Bill C-10 is a policy and fiscal disaster in the making.
A government so focused on this country’s financial resources is putting into place an already discredited solution to a problem that doesn’t exist, one that is certain to strain those very resources. And yet all the evidence is simply being ignored.
The reason is rooted in Harper's adherence to ideology over common sense, but driving that ideology is a mix of easily recognized personal psychology and organizational behaviour resulting in a habit of going to great lengths to avoid a perceived loss — a win-at-all-costs mentality, not unlike that found in sports, that refuses to re-evaluate strategies, ideas or actions inconsistent with the facts.
We see this tendency to undermine rational action or thought in a range of things the Harper government does, from responding to questions in Parliament or media interviews with predigested answers that bear no relation to the questions asked, to larger issues such as their rejection of the long-form census or refusal to adequately address the actual cost of new jets. The initial, often ideological perspective is maintained in the face of empirical evidence to the contrary or the wisdom of a wider collective experience.
Edward Carson, Toronto
Saturday, January 7, 2012
The Sad Case of Lucene Charles
Because she failed to complete the paperwork to achieve permanent residency status when she married a Canadian 15 years ago, St. Vincent native Lucene Charles, the mother of four children, three of whom were born in Canada, faces deportation. Please watch the following video and consider signing this petition to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.
Being Stephen Harper Must Be Frustrating At Times
Were I a more compassionate and empathetic man, I suppose I could at times muster a modicum of sympathy for our dark lord, Stephen Harper. Why, you may ask - doesn't he now enjoy a majority government that allows him to impose his will throughout our once fair land? Doesn't he already exert a wholly unholy influence over our once robust structures of democracy? Doesn't he regularly show contempt for the truth, both inside and outside Parliament?
Of course he does, but consider the almost unbearable frustration he must be experiencing now, one that may lead him to a new assault on democracy, not because his will is being thwarted, but because it is being slowed down by those pesky environmentalists he alleges are in the sway of 'foreign interests.' According to today's Star,
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says environmentalists funded by “foreign money” are trying to hijack public hearings on the controversial Northern Gateway oilsands pipeline — and the government would like to put a stop to such activities.
In high demagogic dudgeon, Mr. Harper warns about dark foreign forces arrayed against us, a threat to both our economy and our way of life, as more than 70 native groups oppose the project and 4,300 people have signed up to give evidence at the hearings on the environmental and economic impact of the proposed $5.5 billion pipeline. Our dear leader decries the use of foreign money to really overload the public consultation phase of regulatory hearings just for the purpose of slowing down the process.
“This is something that is not good for the Canadian economy and the government of Canada will be taking a close look at how we can ensure that our regulatory processes are effective and deliver decisions in a reasonable amount of time,” he said after a government announcement in Edmonton.
Annie Roy, a spokesperson for the Northern Gateway review panel, responded by reminding Harper that the panel “is an independent body, mandated by the Minister of the Environment and the National Energy Board,” to hold public hearings.
But since Harper is a man not the least bit deterred by the once powerful traditions of Parliamentary democracy, expect him to find a way to shorten, even abrogate this environmental process.
Of course he does, but consider the almost unbearable frustration he must be experiencing now, one that may lead him to a new assault on democracy, not because his will is being thwarted, but because it is being slowed down by those pesky environmentalists he alleges are in the sway of 'foreign interests.' According to today's Star,
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says environmentalists funded by “foreign money” are trying to hijack public hearings on the controversial Northern Gateway oilsands pipeline — and the government would like to put a stop to such activities.
In high demagogic dudgeon, Mr. Harper warns about dark foreign forces arrayed against us, a threat to both our economy and our way of life, as more than 70 native groups oppose the project and 4,300 people have signed up to give evidence at the hearings on the environmental and economic impact of the proposed $5.5 billion pipeline. Our dear leader decries the use of foreign money to really overload the public consultation phase of regulatory hearings just for the purpose of slowing down the process.
“This is something that is not good for the Canadian economy and the government of Canada will be taking a close look at how we can ensure that our regulatory processes are effective and deliver decisions in a reasonable amount of time,” he said after a government announcement in Edmonton.
Annie Roy, a spokesperson for the Northern Gateway review panel, responded by reminding Harper that the panel “is an independent body, mandated by the Minister of the Environment and the National Energy Board,” to hold public hearings.
But since Harper is a man not the least bit deterred by the once powerful traditions of Parliamentary democracy, expect him to find a way to shorten, even abrogate this environmental process.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Ottawa Police Chief (Do You Remember Tracy Bonds?) Appointed to Senate
Despite the CBC puff piece interview of Ottawa Police Chief Vern White on his appointment by the Harper government to the Senate, many will remember him as the chief presiding over infamous police prisoner abuse cases in Ottawa, especially the one involving Tracy Bonds.
Given Stephen Harper's diversionary crackdown-on-declining-crime-legislation, his choice makes perfect sense.
Given Stephen Harper's diversionary crackdown-on-declining-crime-legislation, his choice makes perfect sense.
Pension Fund Shuns Walmart
Years ago, when Maple Leaf Foods was demanding deep concessions from its workers in Burlington, Ontario, many teachers tried to get the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan to divest itself from the company. We were unsuccessful, the response being that the Plan had a fiduciary responsibility to its members to maximize earnings, so ethical considerations could not be an influence in investment decisions.
It is good to know that not all pension funds think this way. The €239bn Dutch civil servants and teachers pension fund ABP has announced that it will no longer invest in U.S. retail giant Walmart, arguing that it persists "in behaviour that runs counter to the UN Global Compact's principles in the areas of human rights, labour, anti-corruption and the environment."
One of the reasons for the divestiture is Walmart's well-known anti-union stance, coupled with tactics that punish, usually by dismissal, those who try to unionize a store, and in extreme cases, by store closures:
ABP has excluded Walmart over of its personnel policy, which "violates international directives, particularly with regard to working conditions and the opportunity for employees to unionise."
It's sad that taking a principled stand against corporations that exploit their workers makes the news because such ethical behaviour is the exception, not the rule, in investment decisions.
It is good to know that not all pension funds think this way. The €239bn Dutch civil servants and teachers pension fund ABP has announced that it will no longer invest in U.S. retail giant Walmart, arguing that it persists "in behaviour that runs counter to the UN Global Compact's principles in the areas of human rights, labour, anti-corruption and the environment."
One of the reasons for the divestiture is Walmart's well-known anti-union stance, coupled with tactics that punish, usually by dismissal, those who try to unionize a store, and in extreme cases, by store closures:
ABP has excluded Walmart over of its personnel policy, which "violates international directives, particularly with regard to working conditions and the opportunity for employees to unionise."
It's sad that taking a principled stand against corporations that exploit their workers makes the news because such ethical behaviour is the exception, not the rule, in investment decisions.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
From a Star Reader: Welcome to Harper’s Harsh New World
A particularly insightful lead letter is found in today's Toronto Star. Because most letters seem to be available online for but a short time, I am reproducing writer Stephen Douglas' thoughts on the folly of our pseudo-economist Prime Minister's tax giveaways to the corporate sector, which continues its relentless mission of eradicating good-paying jobs from Canada:
On Jan. 1, 2012 the last of five annual corporate tax cuts took effect, reducing the federal rate by another 1.5 points to 15 per cent, now among the lowest rates in the industrialized world. This amounts to a total $2.85 billion in tax savings for the most profitable of Canadian business.
The notion that this will spur new jobs is a fallacy; tax breaks don’t benefit those businesses starting up who are not yet in a profitable position. Nor will it lead to increased capital expenditure by those business who do receive it; Stephen Harper himself was recently complaining about all the private business money “sitting on the sidelines” in Canada during these recent difficult times. His solution? Give them more.
At the same time, Harper’s government is proceeding with increases in employment insurance premiums. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, representing those small- and medium-sized businesses least likely to benefit from the new lower corporate tax rate, are protesting loudly with a 15,000 signature petition that this will, in fact, deter the hiring of any new employees. It is completely without merit, they add, as they have been overpaying into EI for years. As evidence, Employment Insurance currently has a robust surplus of $57 billion (2009-10), which our own auditor general has described as excessive.
The net effect of Harper’s New Year 2012 package is yet another transfer of several billion dollars in annual income from Canadian workers and small business to the largest of corporations, which are already reaping the highest profits. To add salt to the wound, these big players that Harper is generously rewarding are also significantly held by foreign-ownership (some estimates are that foreign ownership holds more than 50 per cent of the petroleum and gas industry shares and more than 50 per cent of all manufacturing in Canada).
Without any justification, for there is no economic analysis pointing toward any type of capital exodus out of Canada (to the contrary, we are traditionally considered a safe haven in turbulent periods), this New Year’s Day package pinches hard-earned dollars out of the pockets of low- and middle-class workers and pads the war chest of corporations and the wallets of their shareholders, among whom disproportionately are the wealthy, the elite and the foreign financiers.
For the last 25 years in the U.S. and Canada — under both Conservative and Liberal administrations — economic policy has been dominated by the economic philosophy of neoliberalism, emphasizing the primacy of market competition while vilifying government intervention and regulation of markets. Neoliberals insist that price adjustments ensure full employment.
In contrast, to quote Thomas Palley, what we have witnessed has seen “a slip between the cup and the lip” as the wealthiest have concentrated their power; a fall in real wages, the undermining of unions and the erosion of workers’ rights, and growing problems of poverty alongside an increase in wealth amassed by a very small minority. What neoliberalism has failed to account for is the abuse of power that accompanies the control of media and the funding of politicians.
Money does not have a conscience, and those who act to increase their personal wealth at the expense of their neighbour will find their rationalization within neoliberalism.
Harper and his cadre of conservative ideologues share this collective denial. In these hard economic times where concern is growing about the disparity of wealth, when one in nine Canadian children live below the poverty line while fewer than 4 per cent of the households hold 67 per cent of our total financial wealth (estimated total holdings of $1.8 trillion), he is thrusting us back toward a harsh Dickensian world and hopes we will be grateful for the crumbs we receive.
Stephen Douglas, Toronto
On Jan. 1, 2012 the last of five annual corporate tax cuts took effect, reducing the federal rate by another 1.5 points to 15 per cent, now among the lowest rates in the industrialized world. This amounts to a total $2.85 billion in tax savings for the most profitable of Canadian business.
The notion that this will spur new jobs is a fallacy; tax breaks don’t benefit those businesses starting up who are not yet in a profitable position. Nor will it lead to increased capital expenditure by those business who do receive it; Stephen Harper himself was recently complaining about all the private business money “sitting on the sidelines” in Canada during these recent difficult times. His solution? Give them more.
At the same time, Harper’s government is proceeding with increases in employment insurance premiums. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, representing those small- and medium-sized businesses least likely to benefit from the new lower corporate tax rate, are protesting loudly with a 15,000 signature petition that this will, in fact, deter the hiring of any new employees. It is completely without merit, they add, as they have been overpaying into EI for years. As evidence, Employment Insurance currently has a robust surplus of $57 billion (2009-10), which our own auditor general has described as excessive.
The net effect of Harper’s New Year 2012 package is yet another transfer of several billion dollars in annual income from Canadian workers and small business to the largest of corporations, which are already reaping the highest profits. To add salt to the wound, these big players that Harper is generously rewarding are also significantly held by foreign-ownership (some estimates are that foreign ownership holds more than 50 per cent of the petroleum and gas industry shares and more than 50 per cent of all manufacturing in Canada).
Without any justification, for there is no economic analysis pointing toward any type of capital exodus out of Canada (to the contrary, we are traditionally considered a safe haven in turbulent periods), this New Year’s Day package pinches hard-earned dollars out of the pockets of low- and middle-class workers and pads the war chest of corporations and the wallets of their shareholders, among whom disproportionately are the wealthy, the elite and the foreign financiers.
For the last 25 years in the U.S. and Canada — under both Conservative and Liberal administrations — economic policy has been dominated by the economic philosophy of neoliberalism, emphasizing the primacy of market competition while vilifying government intervention and regulation of markets. Neoliberals insist that price adjustments ensure full employment.
In contrast, to quote Thomas Palley, what we have witnessed has seen “a slip between the cup and the lip” as the wealthiest have concentrated their power; a fall in real wages, the undermining of unions and the erosion of workers’ rights, and growing problems of poverty alongside an increase in wealth amassed by a very small minority. What neoliberalism has failed to account for is the abuse of power that accompanies the control of media and the funding of politicians.
Money does not have a conscience, and those who act to increase their personal wealth at the expense of their neighbour will find their rationalization within neoliberalism.
Harper and his cadre of conservative ideologues share this collective denial. In these hard economic times where concern is growing about the disparity of wealth, when one in nine Canadian children live below the poverty line while fewer than 4 per cent of the households hold 67 per cent of our total financial wealth (estimated total holdings of $1.8 trillion), he is thrusting us back toward a harsh Dickensian world and hopes we will be grateful for the crumbs we receive.
Stephen Douglas, Toronto
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