growth
You can't cut your way to growth
The Harper government's June Budget is almost entirely a reprinted version of the budget they tabled two-and-a-half months ago in March. Outside of $2.2 billion for Quebec's sales tax harmonization and the elimination of federal support for political parties, there's nothing new in the budget -- and that's the problem.
While the budget includes a few positive measures, many of which were proposed by the NDP -- such as increases to GIS payments for seniors, reintroducing incentives for energy retrofits -- they are overshadowed by what's bad and what's not there.
Let's bring balance back to our planet
I grew up on a farm and have continued to raise plants for most of my life. Anyone who does this usually learns about insects that prey upon plants. The smart ones also learn about the balance of nature.
I have seen cut worms, aphids, mites and hoppers destroy crops and the plants that produce them. I have seen how practising mono culture, that is growing huge, unbroken areas of a single crop, has facilitated terrible infestations by providing and almost endless feast of a favoured plant for a pest.
I have seen pest control that did more harm than good by killing not only the targeted pest, but directly or indirectly also many benificial organisms. Collateral damage, so to speak.