Thoughts on the Canadian Budget -
It’s interesting to me…and obviously to others as well…that one place to cut costs is the military budget, which has been bloated by the present government and the one before it. We spent hundreds of millions on tanks that were never used. (The enemy we are fighting is not intimidated b y tanks and/or fighter bombers).
Get real.
Harper is planning to spend billions on fighter bombers we do not need. Neither we nor the Americans have an enemy with an air-force. If money is to be spent on the military…it should be spent to improve public relations and intelligence gathering.
We can cut the military budget drastically…by at least 20 billion dollars.
Further advice -
- Provincial transfers must be maintained, perhaps with some performance conditions attached.
- Correct the number one Conservative mistake and restore the 2% cut in the GST.
- Invest heavily in scientific and industrial R&D.
- Initiate a credible search for alternative means of energy production.
- Examine more creative and productive approaches to the rehabilitation of offenders and the operation of prisons in general.
- Focus on improving our educational system from bottom to top.
- Develop a national rail transportation system that improves on the one we have now; invest in railway technology and tir in more closely to U.S. rail road systems.
- Increase taxes on those individuals earning 250,000.00 or more, by 10%.
- Provide tax incentives for Canadian manufacturers employing up to 50 workers in rural areas. (The term “rural area” to be defined.)
- End the prohibition on marijuana and re-classify it and tax it as a legal drug in the same manner as alcohol and tobacco. For a rational argument on this issue, see Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. (Click Here).
- Have the Auditor general conduct a review of Crown Corporations and Crown-owned assets, with respect to their viability. Those that work well will be retained and those that do not, will be shut down or sold. The Auditor General’s Report on this matter would be discussed and debated in Parliament and acted upon by the House of Commons as a whole.
- Make a serious commitment to open government, accountability and transparency, thereby dramatically increasing Canadian confidence in the federal authority.
- Institute a freeze on all government salaries, including those of elected members and their staffs. This would also include the setting of a ceiling on the salaries of politicians and their staffs.
* For guidance on the above point, take a look at Elections Canada, which pays relatively low wages, for a relatively high return in terms of productivity.
*And finally, make a commitment to the exercise of common sense in government decision-making.
I have the feeling that a majority of my fellow citizens would agree.
Thanks
I agree, and I’m in the USA. Down here, there are many of us who have been attempting to influence our government to reduce military spending for years, many of us ex- military, by the way. Neither of our major political parties seem to have ever met a weapons system they didn’t like, even though the families of a lot of enlisted personnel supplement their meager income with food stamps, and other assistance. Golf courses for retired Admirals, food stamps for non-commissioned officers, and always the latest gadget with gigantic cost overruns. Business as usual, unfortunately.
Sound suggestions Jim. On the prison reform, the Italians instituted a measure that deducted 10% off a sentence with a maximum deduction of 3 years. If the parolee re-offends within 5 years, the time deducted goes back on the new sentence. Apparently this has reduced recidivism dramatically. It gives hope and shows caring to the wayward rather than simply punishing them hard. Their approach is more adult and productive as compared to Harper’s brickwall approach.
“Make a serious commitment to open government, accountability and transparency, thereby dramatically increasing Canadian confidence in the federal authority.” — a lovely thought, but, on the evidence of past performance, as likely as snow in July.
One of your best columns Jim- You have my vote.
I’ll write more later- have to go out- but Iwanted to let you know I’m with you. As you can imagine I have a few suggestions. Hope you’re not preaching to the choir.
-Bill
Hello from Texas
Here’s another for your list, Jim.
UN recently reported on the horrible situation in
third-world countries where “informal” recycling of E-waste goes on, people using home-made incinerators to recover tiny amounts of expensive metals from old computers.
In their desperate need, they are poisoning themselves and coming generations.
Rather than virtuously saluting every expensive recycling fad/swindle with its political and big-business backing, Canadians should develop world-leading E-waste processing technology right here, providing an essential service to global clients.
A green money-maker. A job-maker.
And just the kind of innovation to restore Canada’s sliding image.
Excellent point L.A.
Let’s hope good common sense (not the Harris variety) will prevail.