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Just felt like throwing some Canadian cold water into the mix. If this man
is elected in 2004, life in Canada will be even worse than at present.
Darryl
Chris Gupta http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2003/11/23/ceo_in_the_pmo.htm --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Controversial best selling author Murray Dobbin will be warning Londoners about Paul Martin, Canada's next CEO, on Tuesday December 2, at 7:00 p.m. at the London (Canada) Central Library. "Paul Martin is the man who 'slayed the deficit dragon', right?" says Dobbin. "Wrong. He is the man who used the deficit 'crisis' to do what he really wanted to do: end 30 years of federal leadership in social programs." In Paul Martin: CEO for Canada? Dobbin contends that our future prime minister thinks and acts as a CEO, not a public servant, in his political role. For Canadians who want Ottawa to do more in health care, education, social services and culture, Martins accession may mark a significant step backwards. As a biographer Dobbin is less concerned with the political and personal landscapes that shaped Martin's career and more concerned with the man's actions as a business executive and politician. These actions say much about what we can expect of him as a prime minister. In Dobbin's view, Martin is committed to business growth at the expense of public services, as well as tax cuts that favour the already well-off. "In his 1995 budget Paul Martin boasted about taking spending back to the level of 1951. Mulroney had cut social spending by 25% in nine years; Martin out did him, cutting it a further 40% in four years." Dobbin asks us to consider Martin's restructuring of the unemployment insurance system. With tighter eligibility requirements and fewer payouts, EI has been taking in far more than it pays out. In 2003 the surplus reached about $40 billion. Martin treated this surplus as a tax and dumped it into the general coffers to help "slay" the deficit. Many have questioned the legality of this tax (including two successive Auditor Generals) but so far the Liberals have only promised to "consult" on a permanent rate-setting process that will balance the income and outflow. In Paul Martin: CEO for Canada? Dobbin describes how the then-finance minister closed loopholes that had allowed Canadian corporations to avoid taxes through offshore holding companies. He shut down all tax havens except for one: the Barbados. A year later Martin's own company, Canada Steamship Lines (CSL), moved its operations to the Barbados. CSL's nine shell companies are among about 1700 other Barbados "affiliates" that bring their profits into Canada and pay no Canadian taxes. Murray Dobbin has been a journalist, author, broadcaster, and media analyst for over thirty years. He is the author of Preston Manning and the Reform Party and The Politics of Kim Campbell (both bestsellers), and more recently, The Myth of the Good Corporate Citizen. He has prepared several programs for CBC Radio's Ideas series, including one on taxes and an exposé of the New Right revolution in New Zealand. He is a research associate and board member of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. All are invited to hear Murray Dobbin speak at the AGM of the Council of Canadians (London chapter) on Tuesday December 2 at 7:00 p.m. The free event will be held at the London Central Library, 251 Dundas, in the Stevenson Hunt room. Visit www.canadians-london.org or call 672-6675 for more information. contacts: John Pope, President, Council of Canadians London Chapter 672-6675 (day) or Beverley Wagar, Media Representative, Council of Canadians London Chapter 679-5511 [EMAIL PROTECTED] |
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