There is a class war going on in Ontario, but it may not be the one that most of us, even on the Left, would like to believe. It is a war by all of our political representatives and a large proportion of our middle and upper classes on the poor and working poor in the province. A war whose great hallmark is to have created and maintained terrible poverty and suffering in the midst of tremendous social productivity and wealth so as to subsidize nearly 17 years of relentless personal and corporate tax cuts.

We are all likely familiar with the war that our Conservative federal government is waging on organizations with which it does not see eye to eye.

And most of us have heard the borderline hate speech of Ontario Christian fascist Charles McVety, as when he said, in opposition to Ontario's new proposed anti-bullying law, Monday, May 7, appallingly and revoltingly, that:

Here is a link to the CCPA study we released yesterday, analyzing the determinants of business fixed non-residential capital investment spending in Canada on the basis of quarterly data from 1961 through 2010. It formally tests for the direct significance of corporate tax variables and finds no such evidence (in either univariate or multivariate analysis). There is still an indirect impact of tax rates on investment experienced via incremental corporate cash flow, but that indirect effect is weak and getting weaker.

A curious full-page ad is making the rounds of Postmedia newspapers of late. Appearing in the Calgary Herald on February 10, Montreal Gazette and National Post on February 16 and Vancouver Sun on March 3, the ad is a plea for "encouraging charitable giving while reducing the deficit."

It is a letter addressed to the prime minister and his minister of finance Jim Flaherty, as well as the other party leaders and finance critics.

Signatories include the presidents of the universities of Toronto, British Columbia, Manitoba, Western Ontario and Dalhousie. They are joined by representatives from health care, and arts organizations, United Way, foundations and gift planners.

On the eve of the G20 meeting in South Korea 18 leading organizations from across the country are calling on Prime Minister Harper and Minister Flaherty to follow through on their G20 promise to end tax breaks to oil and gas companies.

“Prime Minister Harper has left a trail of broken promises on this issue, the G20 meeting is an opportunity for him to finally follow through on his commitment to end tax breaks to rich oil and gas companies,” says Graham Saul of Climate Action Network Canada. “In an era of fiscal responsibility and a growing climate crisis, giving a free ride to these companies is irresponsible.”