Using the economy to amend the law

During the leadership debate for the May 2011 federal election, constantly hammering the word economy to every question of his opponents, it became clear that the conservative government’s only priority would be the economy and that everything else should subsequently be evaluated in a monetary way. With the restriction of the time for the debate surrounding the deposition of the 2012 federal budget, it has become evident that even the budget and the economy have become a pretext for major amendments to important policies and the law.

Don’t get me wrong, even though I’m not a big fan of this government, there isn’t only bad things that have been included in this budget. For example, the budget includes 110 million per year in funding to the NRC-RAP, which supports research carried out by small and medium sized businesses. There will also be 50 million over 2 years to the Youth Employment Strategy to assist young people to get hands-on experience and the skills they need to enter the labour market. But the fact that this government is planning to change the age of eligibility for OAS from 65 to 67 counteracts that same measure.

The freaky thing about this budget is how it proposes the amendment of 60 laws, eliminates about half dozen others and how it rewrite the Canadian Environmental Act, the Fisheries Act, the Species at Risk Act, the National Roundtable on Energy and the Environment Act. On top of that, they reduced the debate time allowed for the deposition of the budget while it accounts for more than 400 pages!  This budget isn’t simply about fixing an economic plan for our country but it also has the intent of shutting down any opposition in the less amount of time possible. To get big businesses rolling as fast as possible, the Harper government has drastically reduce examination measures on projects that could well harm our environment and affect multiples communities from the West to the East coasts of Canada.

" The number of measures that are going to fundamentally change how Canada works, and doesn't work in fact, are all in this budget billIt's an abuse of their power. It's an abuse of this mechanism. And the government knows it" , says New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen.

It just doesn’t make any sense at all that issues as diverse as business funding, retirement measures and the environment included in this budget are all debated on the same period of time instead of breaking them apart. On top of that, by eliminating the long-form census, the Harper government can claim the effectiveness of their measures since the objective statistics that could of contradicted them are now gone. Not only does this government shuts down every opposition and tends to paint a radical image of them, it makes sure that objective data that goes against its ideology is not available to justify a different approach than what they propose.

Even though majority governments have carte blanche on pretty much every measure it attempts to pass, history shows us that a strong opposition can change debated motions. The Liberals during Brian Mulroney’s premiership have used the media during the deposition of his budget to attract the attention of the public so that growing opposition could provoke an amendment. The Reform Party also successfully used the same tactic during the deposition of the budget under premier Jean Chrétien.

Now it’s the turn of this Opposition, particularly the New Democrats as the Official Opposition, to do the same and transform the deposition of the budget as a debate, as it should be for any amendment of laws. It is the core essence of our democracy that is in danger if we don’t.

The Globe and Mail, April 30th