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Austerity coming to Ontario 3
March 28, 2012 - 9:57pm
About time.
Question 1:
What do you like about the budget?
It gives the NDP leverage, at last. This head-in-the-sand government waited almost five months after the election (Feb. 29) before even setting up legislature committees. Whatever miracle they were hoping for did not happen. Now, they will have to admit they must negotiate. Refusal to negotiate should be presented as such arrogance as to be an affront to democracy. Paul Martin negotiated amendments to his budget. Is Dalton McGuinty less flexible and democratic than Paul Martin?
Question 2:What do you dislike about the budget introduced by the McGuinty government?
First, the shameful freeze on social assistance rates (including ODSP). Second, the dishonest claim that 20% of the deficit cuts -- $4.4 billion -- comes from increased revenues. Cancelling planned tax cuts is NOT increasing revenues. Amendments to actually increase revenues by $4.4 billion, including payments by corporations and the "1%" as well as the other planned real increases, highway tolls, and so on, would be only fair. Third, "a two-year wage freeze, with no incremental increases on the salary grid" for teachers not only freezes rates but takes away existing grid rights. Fourth, longer wait lists for long-term care, with 30,000 Ontarians already on long-term care wait lists, a false economy that leaves scarce hospital beds clogged.
Question 3:
Voting against the budget may force Ontario into an election. Would you support an election at this time?
Yes, if necessary. If we let them refuse to negotiate now, they never will. We should first insist on a process to negotiate changes. Refusal to even meet would be evident arrogance (see question 1.) The media should support the right of the legislative majority to request a democratic process. Then, we can move on to the specifics.
(Continued from thread #2):
http://rabble.ca/babble/ontario/austerity-coming-ontario-2
that's good Wilf. I also made a submission focussed on education. Suggested that there would much more revenue if school boards amalgamated that shared geographcial areas and competed for the same students, in areas of declining enrolment and declining population. Catholic education (classes) could be protected at the school level rather than the board level and would service the needs of all students better because there would be more and better programming and increased class enrolment thus increased program choice.
Actually it is, if the cost of the planned tax cuts has already been factored into the calculation of the deficit. Do we know whether that is so?
And as for "leverage", the NDP has none, unless McGuinty believes the NDP is actually prepared to vote down the budget. If Andrea Horwath is scared of an election, like so many of her supporters here, and Dalton knows it, he can play hardball as much as he wants.
He's already said he's willing to negotiate, but only on the minor details. He knows he has to look "reasonable" and if he can throw Andrea a bone or two in exchange for NDP support of the austerity program, he will blunt the attack from the left and drive a wedge between the two opposition parties.
What? Is that in response to the thread title?
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Link to previous thread-chunk
The "Shock Doctrine" Comes to Ontario: An overview of the 2012-13 Ontario Budget, by the Ontario Public Service Employees' Union.
"One per cent" budget fails Ontario — OPSEU.
Why should unions and public service workers want an NDP government in Toronto at this juncture of the top-down ideology's third decade and third recession in Canada? Are they suddenly not liking Ontario after 17 years worth of Harris and Pinocchio? What's the big rush to elect Horwath's NDP so soon? Where are all the good times? HELlo?
Ontario Budget is a Requiem for a Caring Province[LOL!] - by Carol Goar
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1152784--ontario...
"..Although he insisted this week, 'We are not prepared to balance this budget on the backs of families who may find themselves in difficult circumstances,' he did exactly that...
It freezes welfare payments, currently at $599 per month for a destitute individual, for a year, despite the fact that food prices are going up by 4.6% a year and electricity costs are rising by a staggering 8.9 percent.
Disability support payments, currently $1,064 per month - barely enough to sustain a poverty level existence - are also being frozen.
These people have nothing to spare. They are already living below the poverty line. Yet McGuinty is asking them to 'share the burden' of restraint.
Children's Aid Societies which take care of kids no one wants, are expected to pare $16 million from their budgets.
On the other side of the ledger, here is what the government chose NOT to do..."
OCAP Statement On 2012 Ontario
http://www.ocap.ca/node/994
"The 2012 Ontario Budget, delivered by the Liberal Government, but designed by Bay Street, goes under the title 'Strong Action for Ontario.' In reality, however, it is a blueprint for action to impose the burden of the crisis on everyone but the rich. Public Services will be under attack as the Government works to reduce spending by some $17.7 billion over the next three years. The workers who deliver these services will face a wage freeze and an unprecedented attack on their pensions.
As already announced by Dalton McGuinty, this Budget includes measures that will deepen the crisis of poverty in Ontario. A planned $100 increase in the Ontario Child Benefit will be put off until July of 2013 and social assistance rates will be 'frozen', which in real terms means a cut in income once again.
People on Ontario Works are living on incomes that are a devastating 60% lower than they were in 1995 and over 20% lower than when the Harris Tories left office. Now, that wretched sub-poverty income will continue to be driven down further by the 'poverty reduction' Liberals as the cost of food and other necessities increases significantly.
A particularly disgusting move by this government is the elimination of a benefit known as 'Community Start-Up and Maintenance Allowance.' At present CSU is only available to people every two years, but is the only way that people can get the funds to move, to buy much needed furniture, or to pay for emergencies such as when the power has been cut off. It is also an essential benefit for women fleeing abuse as a means to get started in a new and safer location, and for people coming out of institutions trying to re-start their lives on the outside.
As with all benefits on the books for OW and ODSP, it is irrefutably insufficient and has in the last few years under the Liberals become increasingly harder to access. But to cut even the meager scraps of a start-up allowance shows the true intentions of the Liberal budget.
On top of the elimination of the CSU, all other discretionary health benefits under Welfare (OW) and Disability (ODSP) will now be capped, meaning that access will be severely limited. Funding for these benefits (dental emergencies, eye glasses, etc) will be cut over the next 3 years. This newest round comes on top of the previous cuts to the Special Diet allowance which in and of itself has massively reduced the health and well-being of those on assistance.
The freeze on corporate tax breaks they reluctantly included in the budget in the hopes of preventing the defeat of their minority government and an election, will leave intact the tax changes that have handed billions over to the richest in society. We are somehow expected to be grateful or see it as a good thing for this freeze on corporate taxes as though as though this means 'WE' (the poor AND rich) are all 'taking a hit'. But this isn't about fairness and it isn't even about money. If it was they wouldn't be taking it from people on assistance and the poorest Ontarians, they would go to those who have the money.
Witholding and freezing welfare 'saves' the province $90 million. This is a drop in the bucket - only .072 of the total budget, and nothing in comparison to the benefits bestowed on the private sector and corporations. While we have faced round after round of attacks on our incomes and wages, the top 1% of income earners have in fact doubled their incomes since 1980, but today are paying half the taxes. Even if corporate taxes had been raised back to the previous 14%, it would have generated a staggering $2 billion in just one year. But no, that was not on the table in the 2012 Budget, because no matter how they spin it, this is really about class, and a war has been declared against poor and working people.
We see in the proposals of TD Banker Drummond, and the follow-through of Finance Minister Duncan, not just the continuation of Harris' work, but a transfer of wealth from poor to rich that puts Harris to shame. Thursday we will also face Harper's attacks on the Federal level. What we need to remember is that this isn't in isolation and isn't happening in a vacuum. What we are facing on all three levels of government is in fact a global austerity agenda that is being directed against poor communities and workers on an international scale. It is an attack that can only intensify. We cannot afford to let them get away with these opening shots.
A slogan that was popularized in the unemployment movements of the 1930s was 'United We Eat, Divided We Starve.' This should ring true for us again today. A common front of unions and communities must be organized to resist this Budget, those who have drawn it up and those who stand to profit from austerity. Duncan himself has stated that he expects 'protest on the lawns of Queens Park.' We need to not only make this a reality, but take a long and hard look at the power we have, and the power we need to create, for a serious and sustained movement capable of creating the disruption that can defeat their austerity and make the rich pay.
Fight To Win
Ontario Coaltion Against Poverty 2012
..and this is only phase one of the ont cuts. canadians can also look forward to the feds slashing at that level followed by municipalities as the responsibilities get downloaded. how is this any different than what occured in greece when they began cutting? capital has no master! the ndp would'nt do anything much even much diffrent even if they were in power. the very same forces woulld begin to kick in ie downgrades and other external pressures. anyone who thinks the that the ndp can massage capital into giving us a break is trying to fool someone even if it is only themselves. we can only fight back as much as we can by hurting capital at it source..cutting of it money supply in the market place. at the factory level. shuting down the resource industry. it's easy to demonize politiciations but they are only tools. it's not about harper, it's not about mcguinty it's they way capitalism is working today..globally. you can't shrink this into something manageable. and it must be fought in conjunction with coalitions/alliances globally.
..furthermore look what's happening in nova scotia.
quote:
The provincial NDP government has taken an austerity approach to balance the budget in 2013-14 by cutting $772 million in public spending (over four years). Government spending impacts GDP growth and employment. The estimated impact of the government’s $772 million in cuts is the loss of well over 10,000 jobs. These job cuts will be compounded by federal public service cuts, estimated to result in 5,400 jobs cut in Atlantic Canada.
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/newsroom/news-releases/alternative-budg...
If Dalton had cancelled all-day kindergarten, his "30% off" tuition cut (which isn't, just ask an engineering student) and some of his other "legacy" (I hate when politicians do that) programs I would believe he was taking Drummond seriously. But he didn't, so I don't.
The fact remains that he ran up spending during the good times (much faster than population growth and inflation, as I have documented in previous threads), and so now has no choice but to limit spending - only six months after an election campaign during which Ontario's future was nothing but kittens and butterflies. It is depressing.
I filled out the survey too:
Do you like the budget introduced by the McGuinty government last Tuesday? What do you like about the budget?
What do you dislike about the budget introduced by the McGuinty government?
Voting against the budget may force Ontario into an election. Would you support an election at this time?
No, I wouldn't support going into an election.
I don't know either way.
Yes, I support calling an election.
"If you end up in an election because you stood up for labour principles and social justice principles for the poorest people in the province, I predict that you'll have a lot of renewed support."
I really hope you're right. But this is the country that gave Harper a majority. (yeah, the NDP got "official opposition" - big whoop - they're still about 60 seats behind Harper)
I'm not a real fan of what OCAP has unfortunately become, but they deserve credit for that line.
The point is this budget hits the poorest among us worst of all. But because those above are not yet facing these barbaric conditions, they decide to just 'suck it up' but the poor and disadvantaged will be CRUSHED even further. It really is unacceptable that a society should permit such conditions to be imposed upon some of its members. But because they have no power and little influence, it is likely they will be left to fend for themselves. What OCAP is - is not the point for me here. Their statement is true and accurate and something must be done, surely? How would you like to try living on $600 a month? It is truly disgusting that such is permitted.
NDP To Propose Ontario Budget Changes, Terms To Suppport Government
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ndp-to-propose-ontario-budg...
"New Democratic Party Leader Andrea Horwath will lay out her conditionjs for saving the minority Liberal government on Monday, when she unveils amendments to the Ontario budget. The final shape of the amendments is subject to around-the-clock, behind-the-scenes talks set to begin shortly between NDP and Liberal officials.
NDP insiders warn that the outcome is not cast in stone, but as things stand, Ms Horwath has shown little interest in engineering the defeat of the government. The Liberals, for their part, demonstrated an openness to working with the NDP by leaving 'poison pills' - measures that would alienate the NDP constituency - out of the budget.
'I would like to hear her ideas,' Mr Duncan told reporters on Wednesday. 'The one thing I do know: the people of this province do not want an election, not five months after the last one.'..."
especially if there's no one worth voting for..
Which severely undercuts her bargaining position.
Really? No poison pills in the budget?
The one thing I do know; the people of Ontario do not want a Liberal government. Why not offer them a government they do want?
"We tried our best to work with them. More in sorrow than in anger, I have to report that they rejected our moderate amendments. The people will have to decide."
Yeah, seriously... WTF?! I hope that's the reporter's misguided take on it and not something that she got from an actual NDP source.
I really hope this isn't true either. Out of the entire budget, surely the NDP didn't single this out as the most important problem to be addressed.
Lord save us from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.
Mark Twain
Very appropriate quote, NDPP.
Lower income and fixed income Canadians are getting screwed left, right and centre. And by that, I mean all political parties don't seem to give a damn. Their target audience has become the middle class who are duped into believing they are going gain more than they lose by supporting these slash and burn policies.
The surest way to lose a class war is not to know you're in one.
If that's what she's going to say, then she should be a lot clearer going into "negotiations" with McGuilty that she really intends to do that, because everything she says now reads like, "We're going to see if we can get a few more crumbs from the table because we really, really, really don't want to force an election."
Besides, this budget does not call for "moderate amendments". If Horwath goes in asking for moderate amendments, the result is certain to be a disaster for Ontario and for the NDP. That's a high price to pay for avoiding an election.
There is a higher price for Ontarians. The phony majority machine is still broken in long time Tory blue Ontario.
And things seem to be working out for Horwath exactly as she had planned:
It was never about the budget or about austerity. It was always about "another election".
Of course. Because the survey was designed to give them that result.
I'm not surprised in the least.
The majority of Ontarians also vote Tory and Liberal, so it's not surprising that the majority of their responses supported the budget.
So what the heck, why not just have an open poll on every decision the ONDP has to make, and see what Ontarians think? They'll get the majority of people responding along Tory and Liberal lines, and the ONDP can just agree with the other two parties on everything.
The best part is that I was stupid enough to get sucked into responding to the survey. I'm too gullible.
Dalton is being tough on public sector workers by imposing a wage freeze, but a freeze on social assitance is not being tough on the poor? i dont get it..
Who is saying that, takeitslowly?