Banging on the same old drum...Canadian Independance

The International Monetary Fund, or IMF has issued a 'warning' (read ... concern) that Canada's sense of security related to the global health of the world's economy might be a bit overstated.  Actually, the IMF came out with some numbers which indicate that Canada's economy is slipping and there is a danger that Canadians could find themselves drawn into a deepening financial despair that we might not be prepared for.

Despite what the Conservatives say about their stellar record in job creation, unemployment numbers are "UP" in Canada; savings are at an all-time low and, for the first time in our history ... Canadians owe more money than they have; one dollar and forty some cents for every dollar earned.  And when employment levels are as low as they are, Canadians can not create enough money to get out of debt.  This means that a great number of Canadians are less than two weeks away from bankruptcy should they lose their job or be faced with a sudden situation such as a medical emergency, accident, uninsured calamity or room on their credit cards that, if not spent will burn a hole in that brand new purse or wallet.

A couple of things have been weighing heavily on my mind lately, and I'm speaking as a Canadian here.  And in order to clarify for you just what that means to me, I'll take a moment away from the point of this post to explain what I think it means to me to be Canadian.  Actually, this will accentuate the entire gist of this post, so please stay with me.  After all....it's only for 90 seconds or so.

Many people living in Canada have a rather myopic, or short sighted view of what it means to be Canadian.  Theirs is an existence of privileged expectation that their needs will be met by whatever means necessary, and whomever it is that they deem is responsible for those needs.  Case in point.... Health Care, Education, Child Care, Dignified Care of the Elderly, Justice, Disaster Relief, solid infrastructure i.e. sewage,roads, bridges power and water, Police and Military protection, etc.  Add to this, the expectation that they may live their lives any way they see fit (or unfit, as the case may be) and they will be guaranteed a comfortable retirement upon reaching that stage of their lives.  This places responsibility for much of the above in the hands of others, and usually the "others" referred to are the government, be it Federal, Provincial, Regional, Municipal...etc.  And where does "the government" get the money to provide all of the above????   Taxes.   Yes, my Republican friends.....TAXES!  Sorry, I digress.

Many others who live and work in Canada take a slightly different view of Canadian Citizenship.  Yes, I capitalize the word "citizenship" when used with the term "Canadian" because that is how I feel about being Canadian.

Their position is one of hard work and unselfish contribution.  They work hard to build a strong foundation for themselves, their families, their communities and their country.  They understand that, to be strong, to be secure, the country itself needs to be strong and secure as well.  The fruit of their labor, and their contribution to society makes it strong.  They give of themselves, volunteer their time and pay their taxes.

In short, they invest in their community and, by extension... their country.

As I pointed out in my opening paragraph, there's trouble brewing in our economy and we need to take note of it.  Yes, you've been hearing it on the radio and on the TV too,  It's been in all the newspapers and magazines.  And...a lot of us have felt it in our lives.... "times are tough".

If you have a job, how secure is it?  Do you have sufficient money put away that will pay ALL of your bills for at least ninety days?  What???  You've never given it any thought???  Think about it now. If your total monthly expenditures came to ... say, two thousand dollars, could you afford to continue living where you are, and in the manner you are for one month past your last pay check?  I thought so.  If you lost your sole source of income next week and couldn't find a job, (remember what the IMF said about the job numbers in Canada?) how long could you last?  Far too many people in this country would be seriously considering asking the government for help and finding there was precious little to be offered.  If you could get Employment Insurance or some other form of temporary assistance, that will give you some breathing room, but it will not likely pay all of your normal expenses.  Beyond that...and assuming that you've been unable to find a good paying job, there's Orderly Payment of Debt (OPD) and Bankruptcy.  Neither of these options will get you a job.  They will simply take away most of your debt.

If you'll recall, I've mentioned that the government plays a role in all of this.  Let's take a simplified look at that role.  Simplified, because I'm a simple man and not because you're a simple reader...not at all.

In our society, everyone pays taxes one way or another; perhaps even First Nations folks do.  Certainly we find that even the dead have to pay taxes, so don't feel that you're hard done by while you walk among the living.  We pay taxes into every conceivable level of government so that the services and infrastructure we have come to expect, even demand are all in place and kept in good order.  Having high expectations of our elected officers, we anticipate that the money that we entrust to them will be handled judiciously, will be spent wisely and will be respected as the fruit of our labour.  After all, it is because of us, the voters that they have jobs in the halls of power.  We have given them employment that ensures they can not be laid off.

Assuming that we've done our part, can we assume that our politicians are doing theirs?  (Here he goes on another anti-Harper rant)  No...actually, I'm not.  This time, I'm going to talk to you...us...me...

In previous posts, I've talked about "buying Canadian" and "self-sufficiency".  I've lamented the loss of the strength of the Canadian manufacturing community, the loss of control over our own resources, our water, forests, trade and even our sovereignty in some key areas.  We depend on the vagaries of the International Markets for nearly everything we consume, from the food on our tables (Mexican, Californian, South American, Asian) to the clothes on our backs (China, India and Tilley_Endurables - Made in Canada, you say!).

Do we find our governments shopping at home?  No.  When we need new ferries for the BC ferry fleet, we buy them in Europe,or Scandinavia.  We even hire a top executive for BC Ferry Corp. from the US job market.  CNRail has done the same thing.  CN didn't go to Bombardier (formerly Montreal Locomotive Works)  for locomotives; it went to General Motors and General Electric of the US.  When new aircraft are needed for our military, do we buy Canadian?  No...well, we can't buy Canadian military aircraft because John Diefenbaker's Conservative government shut down AVRO Aircraft mfg. over fifty years ago when AVRO had just created the world's foremost fighter-interceptor-bomber ever made.  Even by today's standards, the AVRO ARROW could still hold it's own against anything any foreign power could put up against it.  This is assuming, of course that the ARROW was equipped with the latest in Canadian weaponry which would have been developed had AVRO not been destroyed by our own government.

OK...let's take this down a notch or two.  We don't really need a strong military presence anyway.  With one of the longest coastlines in the world, we could do with a stronger Coast Guard presence rather than a force that we have to support on the other side of the world.  We shouldn't be encouraging bullies like the USA to engage in global conflict over such smoke and mirror issues like the demand for oil and calling it the democratization of a dictator-ruled country.

If Canada were to spend less on military and more on coast guard, more on small business and Canadian-based manufacturing, more on inter-provincial trade and less on free trade with third world countries that have oil reserves, we would be better able to stand on our own two feet (70 million or so, actually) regardless of what the global economy is doing.  Instead, we're passing legislation (City of Duncan, BC) that allows home-owners (taxpayers) to raise a few chickens in their yards, as long as they don't keep a rooster).  Our governments are allowing Free Trade to dictate the price of our own natural resources so that the US controlled companies who own the rights to these resources can charge us the same rate at that charged to their customers in areas where these resources are not naturally available.

So where's the lament, you say?  Well, once again....I implore you to

1. Buy Canadian
2. Support local businesses
3. Work hard
4. Save some money from every pay check, no matter how much it hurts, and
5. Encourage your government to do the same.

Oh, by the way....The New Harper Government.... aka the same old same old Conservatives....  announced yesterday that they've hired a private company at a cost of more than nineteen million dollars to advise the government on how they can reduce spending.  And on the same day....the same conservative government announced that they would allow the National Aviation Museum to close because they need nineteen million dollars to upgrade the historic hanger in which the museum is housed.  It was in this building that some of Canada's greatest aviation achievements were created..., for example, the Tiger Moth, a WWI fighter, the AVRO Arrow of which I spoke earlier in this post and many other fantastic innovations that CANADIANS built....from the ground up.  

This speaks to Harper's true feelings about Canada and Canadians.  If it's "Made In Canada", its memory is to be forgotten.