OFL SUPPORTS CALL FOR COALITION GOVERNMENT
ONTARIO NEEDS POLITICAL LEADERS IT CAN WORK WITH
(TORONTO) -- While governments around the world are making massive investments to respond to the global economic crisis, Canada’s federal government is ducking its responsibility, cutting spending, and playing politics. That’s why the country needs a coalition government to replace Stephen Harper and the Conservatives, says the head of the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL).
“Canadians need real leadership,” says OFL president Wayne Samuelson. “The Harper government’s economic statement last Thursday clearly shows that this government is not committed to doing what’s best for this country and is in fact making things worse.”
The recent G-20 Summit meeting called on governments to “take urgent and exceptional measures” to stimulate their economies in a co-ordinated way to avert a global depression. President-elect Obama, the European Union, and the governments of Britain, Australia and China have already taken action.
The Harper government’s Economic and Fiscal Update takes Canada in the opposite direction. It pretends that yesterday’s tax cuts have already done the job and opts for balanced budgets over essential investment in jobs and people. The Conservative government plans to cut spending by almost $2 billion next year and to cut transfer payments provinces use for health, education, and assistance for the poor and unemployed.
Ontarians are feeling the impact of the global crisis. Manufacturing and forestry sectors have taken a pounding. Weakness has spread to financial services, construction, and mining sectors that have been the underpinning of recent economic growth in the province. Unemployment and poverty are on the rise.
“Ontarians need political leaders in the House of Commons who will work with us, not against us,” says Samuelson. We need concerted action at the federal and provincial levels.”
Instead of working to bring Canadians together, the Conservative government has used the economic crisis as an excuse to attempt to ram through a partisan and mean-spirited agenda. Ontarians recognise the sight of this, having lived through years of Government with Mike Harris and Jim Flaherty.
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“Canadians need real leadership,” says OFL president Wayne Samuelson. “The Harper government’s economic statement last Thursday clearly shows that this government is not committed to doing what’s best for this country and is in fact making things worse.”
The recent G-20 Summit meeting called on governments to “take urgent and exceptional measures” to stimulate their economies in a co-ordinated way to avert a global depression. President-elect Obama, the European Union, and the governments of Britain, Australia and China have already taken action.
The Harper government’s Economic and Fiscal Update takes Canada in the opposite direction. It pretends that yesterday’s tax cuts have already done the job and opts for balanced budgets over essential investment in jobs and people. The Conservative government plans to cut spending by almost $2 billion next year and to cut transfer payments provinces use for health, education, and assistance for the poor and unemployed.
Ontarians are feeling the impact of the global crisis. Manufacturing and forestry sectors have taken a pounding. Weakness has spread to financial services, construction, and mining sectors that have been the underpinning of recent economic growth in the province. Unemployment and poverty are on the rise.
“Ontarians need political leaders in the House of Commons who will work with us, not against us,” says Samuelson. We need concerted action at the federal and provincial levels.”
Instead of working to bring Canadians together, the Conservative government has used the economic crisis as an excuse to attempt to ram through a partisan and mean-spirited agenda. Ontarians recognise the sight of this, having lived through years of Government with Mike Harris and Jim Flaherty.
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