To the Editor:
The Royal Canadian Legion questions how the Harper government can spend millions of dollars to celebrate the War of 1812, but cannot afford decent burials for contemporary war veterans.
Most Canadians share that angst. This government's priorities are warped. Conservatives claim the deficit forces them to make budget cuts, but it's important to remember that that deficit is largely self-inflicted. And it's exacerbated by on-going Conservative waste.
To put the situation in context, on taking power in 2006, Mr. Harper inherited unparalleled financial strength from his Liberal predecessors.
Budgets had been solidly balanced for a decade. Debt and taxes were steadily falling. The economy boasted three per cent annual growth. Over 3.5-million net new jobs had been created. The federal surplus was running at $13-billion/year and fiscal flexibility over the ensuing five years was projected at $100-billion.
Then what happened? Mr. Harper squandered all that success. He overspent by three-times the rate of inflation. He eliminated all contingency reserves and prudence factors that had brought integrity into the federal budget-making process. And he put this country back into deficit again BEFORE any recession arrived in late 2008.
And since then, the Conservatives have run-up the biggest deficits in history. On their watch, federal debt has grown by $140-billion to a record-breaking $600-billion altogether.
Part of their problem is wild mis-spending, like their scandalous misappropriation of millions of dollars for ornamental gazebos and sidewalks-to-nowhere to puff-up Muskoka during a superfluous session of the G-8. The Harper regime continues to pour millions into self-serving government advertising, expensive consultants, a wasteful Cabinet, and dubious projects like their 1812 extravaganza and the addition of 30 extra Members of Parliament.
So who gets the short end of the stick when their debt begins to bite?
The families of 20,000 veterans whose applications for burial assistance were denied;
The jobless who can't get anyone to even answer the phone to help with an EI claim;
Newcomers to Canada who are told if they fall ill and die while waiting for their refugee claim to be processed - well, that's okay with the Harper government;
The lowest-income Canadians, still under the age of 54, who will have $30,000 slashed from their Old Age Security;
Low-income families who are denied eligibility for federal tax credits which more wealthy people receive routinely.
These are just a few of the folks who are forced to pay the price for the Harper government's financial incompetence.
Ralph Goodale, MP, Wascana, SK.
