Conservative government puts banks ahead of people
In 2009, the federal government announced a $200-billion “Extraordinary Financing Framework” in response to the needs of financial institutions.
Subsequently, the government purchased from the banks asset-backed commercial paper, whose sale had frozen in the private market and whose value could not be determined. Much detail was never disclosed to the public so we will never know the full story of the bank bailout. But the massive amounts involved and the continued increase in ceilings of particular programs made it clear that the Canadian government would do whatever necessary to protect Canadian banks.
Now in 2013, the federal government has refused to consider enhancements to the Canada Pension Plan, despite knowing that two-thirds of working Canadians—12 million people—don’t have workplace pensions. In contrast to the immediate and robust action of 2009, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty suggested CPP reforms might be taken up again “two years from now, three years, five years, six years”.
Industry Minister James Moore may have retracted his insensitive remarks about the government having no responsibility for hungry children, but it is clear that Conservative priorities include the health and welfare of banks, but not the health and welfare of average Canadian families.
> Larry Kazdan / Vancouver
Comments
3 Comments
Clowns
Dec 20, 2013 at 3:51pm
Seeing that the Reform (ahem Conservative) Party of Canada is being elected on votes from less than one-third of the population, this comes as no surprise. Decades of Liberal and Conservative governments, and now the Reform Party of Canada, have been hell bent on selling Canada for a few sheckels, mostly in their own pockets. It won't be too long before the good old days of the Industrial Revolution are back in town. Won't that be fun.
hell bent on selling Canada for a few sheckels
Dec 21, 2013 at 12:54pm
This is the same behavior the colonists have been exhibiting since their arrival - rape, pillage, steal and now the only shift is that they are fucking their "own".
It is really a spectacular display of ignorance that the same colonists (separated by a couple generations) that came to Canada ostensibly to escape this type of rape, pillaging and theft will see it come to their families through their own doing (you brought it with you - a failed corrupted culture)
I really don't know if there is a cure. The colonial culture is coded to eventually eat itself - just hopefully it won't drag too many of us down with it.
Arthur Vandelay
Dec 22, 2013 at 7:32am
There was no "bank bailout" by the Canadian government. This action was taken because credit markets had frozen due to all the bad loans in the US. and Canadian banks could not access cash to meet their customers requirements. Canadian banks did not have these bad loans and as soon as credit markets started functioning again, this temporary government financing was repaid and the facility shut down. Banks needed this credit so they could provide it to Canadian companies to keep operating and like, keep Canadian employees employed. It as not only not an irresponsible act, it was a no brainier and any government of the day would have undertaken it. Canadian banks had acted responsibly as did the federal government.
Not to pee on your boogeyman narrative.