The numbers and politics behind Harper's proposed changes to Old Age Security.
pension plans
Protesters' testimonies ignored from Greece to Arizona
Response to this week's protests by workers and pensioners in Greece was disdainful. CNN logged it under anger and violence. "Tantrums," said the National Post, thrown by "coddled, bloated and overprotected people." The Globe and Mail sermonized, "Greeks have been living beyond their means for years, with extravagant social benefits and fudged public accounting," although you could easily switch "bankers and speculators" for "Greeks."
Death by a thousand cuts: Teachers, airline workers and Canada's public pensions
Government attacks against worker rights and the social wage are threatening hard-earned gains and advances for workers in Canada on many fronts and in many incremental ways. In this two-part series, we will look some of these struggles and what is at stake, with Part 1 focusing on the teachers' union in British Columbia, airline workers and the public pension. Part 2 takes a look at what must be done if we are to protect individual, public and social rights in Canada.
B.C. teachers defend education
How much will you lose from OAS deferral?
Announcing a bad policy 10 years in advance doesn't make it a good policy.
So the fact that the Harper government is giving people at least 10 years to prepare for two years of life without an important source of income, hardly makes it OK -- as so many media commentators have tritely implied. In fact, in this case it makes the policy even more unfair.
Harpo goes to Davos
In Davos, Harpo shared his plans to cut the Old Age Security supplement to Canadian seniors. Only one problem: he never told Canadian seniors.
Related rabble.ca story:
Not Rex: Harpo goes to Davos
Harpo let the whole world in on a little secret at the World Economic Forum in Davos: he's going to cut the Old Age Security supplement to Canadian seniors. Only one problem, he never told Canadian seniors. Not Rex calls him out from the cheap seats.
A number is never just a number: Grey power
• 0
Number of times Prime Minister Stephen Harper campaigned on proposed changes to Canada's Old Age Security (OAS) during the 2011 federal election.
• 1985
The last time a prime minister (Brian Mulroney) tried to change the public pension system without campaigning to do it during the federal election. A seniors' movement dubbed Grey Power forced him to back off. (Source and source)
• 1952
Selling austerity from Davos
Stephen Harper does not seem to care how Canadian government policies compare to those of other countries (other than the U.S.), or want to know how other countries build (or not) their industries, and care for (or not) their citizens.
When Harper was in Davos, Switzerland, last week to address the World Economic Forum, he did not talk about the subject of the conference, The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models, or address concerns about regulation of international banking, or global trade and payments imbalances. Instead he presented his austerity plan for Canada.
