Incredible!!
Deborah Lay, MSc., RD
Public Health Nutritionist
Durham Region Health Department
1615 Dundas St. E., Ste. 210
Whitby, ON L1N 2L5
Tel: 1 800 841-2729 ext. 2239
Fax: 905 723-6026
Email: [log in to unmask]
>>> [log in to unmask] 04/28 5:01 AM >>>
The following editorial in the Toronto Star is about how the governing
Liberal Party of Canada was forced to reach an agreement with the New
Democratic Party (social democrats) to avert the fall of the government.
Note how the agreement serves to strengthen a wide range of social
determinants of health through political action rather than through the
activities that most of us are engaged in! - dr
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1114640110606&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795
Apr. 28, 2005. 01:00 AM
Liberal-NDP deal good for Canada
The first thing Canadians should consider in assessing the $4.6 billion
agreement reached by Prime Minister Paul Martin and New Democratic Party
leader Jack Layton in an attempt to stave off a snap election is not the
political issues at play, but rather the makeup of the package of new
initiatives at the heart of this controversial deal.
Conservative leader Stephen Harper has labelled the agreement as "a deal
with the devil" and says he wants to "put this government out of its misery
at the earliest possible opportunity," which could be within weeks.
We disagree strongly with Harper. In the Star's view, every element of this
package is good for Canada, good for Ontario and good for Toronto.
That's because the deal will help poor people find decent housing and
students cope with higher tuition, give more money to cities to fund public
transit, spur energy efficiency and increase foreign aid.
Certainly, it is hard for anyone to argue against a $1.6 billion commitment
to build affordable housing when so many people, including the shamefully
large number of neglected Canadians who live on our streets, don't have the
money to get them a decent place to live.
By the same token, it is difficult to argue that the federal government
should not try to help heavily indebted college and university students.
The $1.5 billion that Layton and Martin agreed to spend on a modest tuition
break is worthy of study, although as former Ontario premier Bob Rae said
in a recent report on Ontario post-secondary education, it is reasonable to
ask students to pay a share of rising education costs.
We are also encouraged by the move to boost the share of the federal gas
tax that goes to help cities from 5 cents per litre to 6 cents to fund
public transit. Beyond that proposal to help curb pollution and greenhouse
gases, the deal contains an additional measure to spur energy efficiency
through an incentive to help low-income Canadians retrofit their homes.
Martin and Layton have also agreed to strengthen Canada's commitment to the
developing world with a $500 million increase in foreign aid.
There also is a concession from Martin to put $100 million into a fund to
protect the pensions of workers whose companies have folded.
The best thing about these worthwhile initiatives is that each of them
would improve the quality of life for Canadians who can use the help.
The second best thing is that it seems no one has to give anything up.
Layton had proposed Martin finance the $4.6 billion deal by rescinding
corporate tax cuts worth an equivalent amount in the February budget.
Martin said yesterday that would not be necessary. He said he would
reintroduce the corporate tax cuts in a separate piece of legislation on
the condition that Harper agrees to support the move.
That offer has certainly raised eyebrows on Bay Street. Martin would have
to show Canadians how it could be done without sending the country back
into deficit. If he can do that, it is hard to see how or why anyone would
want to defeat a plan that would make the country better off.
On a political level, however, some Canadians will accept Harper's argument
that the deal with the NDP is a sign of just how desperate the Liberals are
to cling to power. Martin's critics will portray the proposed new spending
as a bid to buy Canadians off with their own tax dollars, and make every
effort to paint it in the same light as the sponsorship scandal.
But all that is to deny a fact of life in Canadian politics that many
Canadians say they like. Whatever its stripe, every minority government
since Confederation has had to make deals with opposition parties to stay
in power. Of all people, Harper should know this. Think about the $4.6
billion in corporate tax cuts in the budget. Corporate tax cuts were not
part of the Liberal platform in the last election. Yet they were put in the
budget seemingly to win Harper's support. Harper believes more tax cuts are
needed to keep Canadian businesses competitive with U.S. firms.
Harper was an immediate fan of the Liberal budget and said he would support
its passage * until he decided his party's interests were better served by
trying to defeat the government over the damaging testimony coming out of
the Gomery inquiry into the sponsorship scandal.
Having lost his Conservative ally on the budget, it was only natural for
the PM to seek out a new ally in Layton to get the budget through. In
demanding a price, Layton only did what any good opposition politician
would do in a minority situation.
Canadians have benefited from such deals before. That's why they seem to
like minority government. We believe Canadians will like this deal, too.
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