[homeles_ot-l] Fwd: [SDOH] WI backgrounder: Federal Throne Speech - not much of anything...

Thu Nov 20 19:52:22 EST 2008

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Michael Shapcott <Michael at wellesleyinstitute.com>
Date: Thu, Nov 20, 2008 at 7:00 PM
Subject: [SDOH] WI backgrounder: Federal Throne Speech - not much of
anything...
To: SDOH at yorku.ca

 < Apologies for the delay in getting this out >

The Canadian federal government's Speech from the Throne <
http://www.sft.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=1383 >, which was read on Wednesday
afternoon in the House of Commons, was short on specifics, and even the
generalities were less than sweeping.  And compared to some of our
international partners, such as Australia and China, Canada's federal
government is coming up far short in responding to the global recession.
Those countries recognize that the economic crisis is hurting people, and
they are investing in policies and programs that help people, while our
federal government is propping up the financial sector, even as it proclaims
in today's Throne Speech, that "our banks are among the strongest and best
regulated in the world."

Angel Gurría, the secretary-general of the Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development (the club of 30 of the richest economies in the
world, including Canada) recently warned: "The current economic crisis
demands tough decisions now, but it must not distract our attention from the
other grave structural challenges that we confront." Growing health
inequities and growing housing insecurity are two of the biggest structural
challenges facing Canada – and the Throne Speech was mostly silent on these
issues, merely repeating previous announcements (which were very limited).

Just a few weeks ago, the OECD released a powerful new research report on
growing poverty and income inequality <
http://www.oecd.org/document/53/0,3343,en_2649_33933_41460917_1_1_1_1,00.html>.
The OECD reported that poverty in Canada has been growing in the past
decade, and so has income inequality; adding that the poor in Canada are
more likely to remain poorer for longer than in other OECD countries.

The Wellesley Institute has supported research that links poverty and income
inequality to growing health disparities and a rise in the number of
Canadians who are precariously housed; and many other research reports in
Canada and internationally have made the links.

Throne Speeches are supposed to give a flavour of the legislative priorities
of the government as a new session of Parliament is opened, but the federal
Speech was noticeably thin. The global economic tsunami that is washing over
Canada is a major (though not the only) concern of Canadians, and this is
acknowledged in the Speech:

"Embarking on its renewed mandate, our Government is committed to providing
the strong leadership that Canadians expect. It will protect Canadians in
difficult times. It will work with Canadians to secure our future
prosperity. It will support Canadian workers and businesses in their pursuit
of a better future. And our Government will continue its pursuit of
distinctly Canadian policies that will contribute to a better economy."

To date, the "distinctly Canadian policies" of the federal government and
the Bank of Canada have consisted of an $85 billion bailout for banks and
the financial sector. Now, restoring stability to the financial markets and
easing the credit crunch are important initiatives, but they are not the
only parts of the economy that require attention.

Compare Canada with the economic stimulus package announced by Australian
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on October 14 to "strengthen the national economy
and support Australian households, given the risk of a deep and prolonged
global economic slowdown" – a total of AU$10.4 billion, or one per cent of
that country's Gross Domestic Product <
http://www.pm.gov.au/media/Release/2008/media_release_0550.cfm >.

Rudd's economic rescue plan has five key elements:

*  "$4.8 billion for an immediate down payment on long term pension reform."

* "$3.9 billion in support payments for low and middle-income families."

* "$1.5 billion investment to help first home-buyers purchase a home."

* "$187 million to create 56,000 new training places in 2008-09."

* "Accelerate the implementation of the Government's three nation-building
funds and bring forward, the commencement of investment in nation building
projects to 2009.

The Chinese government announced on November 9 that it was investing four
trillion yuan (about US$580 billion) in a financial rescue plan that
includes, as a key component, investment in affordable housing for
low-income households.

Meanwhile, back in Canada, on October 10, October 14 and November 12,
federal finance minister James Flaherty and the Bank of Canada announced
plans to buy $75 billion in mortgage-backed securities from banks and to
pump $10 billion in liquidity into the financial sector. That $85 billion in
one month to rescue the financial sector is equal to the entire federal
spending over a year in all these areas combined:

* labour ($2.2 billion)

* health ($25.8 billion)

* housing ($2 billion)

* education ($5.6 billion)

* environment ($3.8 billion)

* recreation and culture ($4.4 billion)

* foreign affairs ($5.9 billion)

* regional support ($554 million)

* research ($3.6 billion)

* protection for people ($28.6 billion)

* transportation and communications ($2.8 billion)

A final observation: The government stresses its "renewed mandate" from the
recent federal election no fewer than four times throughout the Speech. The
real numbers tell a slightly different story:

In 2008, the Conservatives earned fewer votes than the last election, but
received more seats in Parliament. In 2008, the Conservatives received
5,205,334 votes – that's 168,737 votes less than the 5,374,071 they received
in 2006. The Tories got fewer votes, but they received 143 seats, up 19 from
the number of MPs elected in 2006. So, they didn't get more votes, but they
got more seats in Parliament thanks to some lucky vote splits in various
ridings. In 2008, the Conservatives received 37.6% of the national vote, a
slight increase over 36.3% in 2006 – but that is a statistical aberration
created by a drop in the number of voters who bothered to turn out in 2008.

- Michael

* * *

Michael Shapcott, Director of Community Engagement

The Wellesley Institute, 45 Charles Street East - #101

Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4Y 1S2

Telephone - 416-972-1010, x231

Mobile - 416-605-8316

Facsimile - 416-921-7228

www.wellesleyinstitute.com

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-- 
Terrie ( mocharebyl at gmail.com )
"If you see an injustice being committed, you aren't an observer, you are a
participant." June Callwood
Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and
renders the present inaccessible.  Maya Angelou
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