IAM Political Action

Stephen Harper has talked a lot about his government’s strength in economic growth. But in recent years, approximately 80% of the new jobs that have been created are part-time. Manufacturing jobs have suffered from the high dollar. Income inequality is growing faster than any other industrialized nation.

Under the Harper government we are seeing a mass exodus as more jobs are lost. This past month, January 2015, we see retailer Target Canada closing its doors, shutting 133 stores across Canada and affecting  17,600 workers. Sony closed 14 Stores resulting in 90 workers losing their jobs. Other closings announced in the recent year: Read the rest of this entry »

Reminder to Liberals – remember that vote on the China-Canada Foreign Investment Protection Agreement?

What have the Liberals been telling Canadians about the Canada-China Foreign Investment Protection Agreement (FIPA)?

The agreement locks Canada in to a secret process giving Chinese companies a say in Canadian investments and natural resources.

If you spent a bit of time on Google, you might find these quotes:

“Liberals have raised concerns about provisions of this agreement, particularly on the issues of transparency during arbitration, termination of the agreement, and the length of time the agreement is in force.”
Email response on behalf of Justin Trudeau, April 25, 2013

“The Liberal Party does have serious concerns with the Canada-China FIPA.”
Joyce Murray, April 25, 2013

“The Liberal Party has raised concerns about provisions in the Canada-China investment agreement”
Wayne Easter, House of Commons, April 18, 2013

But don’t be fooled. When the issue of FIPA was put to a vote in the House of Commons all the Liberals present – including Justin Trudeau – voted in favour of the agreement and with Stephen Harper.

You can see the results here.

That’s on their record.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May is offering to co-operate with the NDP and the Liberals when it comes to running candidates in the next federal election.

The Green Party of Canada concluded its national convention in Fredericton over the weekend and one of the party’s policies is electoral reform.

May said she’s hearing from Canadians who want to defeat Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government.

She says some of these Canadians are telling her that they want to back the candidate who has the best chance of beating the Conservative candidate — whether that means voting Green, Liberal or NDP.

May said it would be better if parties with similar interests could work out a deal before voters go to the polls.

“We’d be prepared to talk to anyone about any form of electoral co-operation that would give Canadians a Parliament that would reflect the way they really voted,” she said.

The electoral co-operation could mean parties would agree not to compete against each other in certain ridings.

May says her offer to NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is only good for the next federal election. So far, May said neither the Liberals nor the NDP have responded to her offer for future electoral co-operation.

For the co-operation to move forward, May said the parties would also have to support electoral reform.

The Greens want to Canada to replace the current first-past-the-post electoral system with a form of proportional representation.

May said the existing electoral system allowed the Conservatives to form a majority government in 2011 with less than 40 per cent of the vote.

Past electoral co-operation

Electoral co-operation is not a new subject for May.

In the 2008 federal election, the Green Party leader ran in the Nova Scotia riding of Central Nova against long-time Conservative MP Peter MacKay. Even though the Liberals decided not to run a candidate against May in the riding, she still lost the election.

May was elected in the riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands in the 2011 federal election, defeating Conservative MP Gary Lunn. The Liberals did run a candidate in that race, but the candidate finished in last place.

Trevor Parsons was one of several callers to CBC’s Maritime Connection on Sunday, who said he plans to vote strategically in 2015.

“People have to decide, I’m going to vote for the person most likely to defeat the Conservative candidate and that’s the only way we’re going to save this democracy,” Parson said.

While some voters may be ready to vote strategically, one New Brunswick political observer said it is doubtful the larger parties would agree to any form of electoral co-operation.

J.P. Lewis, a political scientist at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, said it’s not in the best interests of larger political parties to agree to any form of co-operation.

“I think it’s a very difficult thing to do. And this is a cynical view, but why would you change the rules of the game that you keep winning,” he said.

The Conservative government’s “Fair” Elections Act received Royal Assent last Friday. Despite massive public outcry and dozens of amendments so that Stephen Harper’s own MPs would vote for it, it’s now the law of the land.

How ironic: Stephen Harper pushed through unfair changes to how we vote by banking on his unelected Conservative majority in the Senate.

Remember when Harper said he wouldn’t appoint unelected senators in the first place?

Please check out the new video on Employment Insurance from PSAC. They are under the video tab.