Part I
I have long appreciated how fortunate I am to live in a country where fairness, tolerance, bridge building between nations and strong domestic social policies have always been championed. However, for some time I have grown increasingly concerned as I’ve watched our nation undergo a consistent and seemingly deliberate transformation away from these [...]
Archive for the ‘Economy’ Category
Has Canada Lost Its Way?
Friday, October 1st, 2010Prevent Job-Killing Foreign Takeovers
Thursday, September 23rd, 2010A private member’s bill tabled by New Democrat Mining Critic Claude Gravelle (Nickel Belt) would amend the Investment Canada Act to prevent job-killing foreign takeovers of Canadian companies.
As it presently stands, when a foreign company proposes a takeover of a Canadian firm, the information it provides to Industry Canada is confidential, and cannot be disclosed [...]
MP Atamanenko Slams Newspaper Closing
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010Decries media concentration & loss of more rural jobs
Castlegar, BC – “The closing of the Nelson Daily News and the loss of 25 jobs in this community is another blow to rural BC,” said BC Southern Interior MP Alex Atamanenko, today.
He was reacting to yesterday’s news that BC media chain Black Press purchased [...]
EI in Dire Straights
Monday, June 28th, 2010My colleague, Jean Crowder – Nanaimo - Cowichan recently issued the following Op-ed which I would like to share with you.
With the clouds of recession still casting a deep shadow over many Canadians, I hoped the federal government would do everything it could to help workers and small business.
Instead, they’ve done the opposite.
The Conservatives [...]
Federal NDP Steps Up Pressure on Harper Gov’t to Halt HST
Friday, June 11th, 2010 OTTAWA – With less than a month to go before the HST is set to kick in, the federal New Democrats are launching an all-out effort to convince the Harper government to respect the fight-HST petition process and stop the new tax before it starts.
“British Columbians are making history with the first ever successful [...]
Atamanenko Slams Budget Bill
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010OTTAWA – B.C. Southern Interior MP, Alex Atamanenko is extremely disappointed that the Conservative budget bill C-9 was adopted in the House of Commons on June 8th.
“This bill paves the way for the privatization of Canada Post and authorizes the sale of the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. with no debate or public scrutiny. [...]
Background and Debate on Budget Implementation Act
Friday, June 4th, 2010On June 3, BILL C-9 – The Budget Implementation Act - was debated. Alex Atamanenko and other New Democrats argued for the need to extract non-budget items of business for full debate and scrutiny. Read Alex debating here
BACKGROUND TO THE DEBATE:
There are several issues within the Budget Bill C-9- The Budget Implementation Act - that [...]
Pension Reform and Retirement Security
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010Public vs. Private Plans
In March the government released a discussion paper intended as background for its Canada-wide public consultation on pension reform and Canada’s Retirement Income System. If you haven’t heard about it, it’s not surprising. It involved only three town-hall meetings, three by-invitation expert roundtables, and a voluntary on-line component. You could also write [...]
Employment Insurance
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010Despite federal Finance minister Jim Flaherty hailing what he calls signs of Canada’s emergence from the global recession, the national unemployment rate stands at 8.2% at the time of this writing. While BC premier Gordon Campbell basks in the glory of the Vancouver Winter Olympics, a provincial government website states that “unemployment is expected [...]
Corporate Tax Cut Myths
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010Do they really help create jobs?
In 2000, then Liberal Finance Minister Paul Martin cut corporate income tax rates by a quarter, from 28 percent to 21 percent, phased in over five years. The Harper Government has continued those cuts from 21 per cent in 2007 to 18 percent today, and is ignoring NDP advice and [...]