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There has been much commentary on the passage of Bill C-13 which gives
the governing Liberals extensive spending powers through to September 30th,
2020. The opposition has been criticized for allowing this to take place.
Time for a reality check.
 Parliament is due to return
from recess on April 20th, just 21 days from today. The
Commons chambers cannot fit 338 MPs and conform to social distancing
rules currently in effect or comply with the prohibition on large
gatherings. The emergency session held on March 24th
recognized the problems and had an agreed number of MPs present to
minimize infection risk.
I expect the spring session
will be postponed until there are clear signs that the coronavirus threat
has diminished substantially.
We do not know the economic
impact of the coronavirus social distancing and self-isolation rules. For
example, the wage subsidies to small business (10%) were badly
underestimated. The government is now looking at a 75% subsidy plus other
measures. It is clear that:
- we cannot afford to lose a skilled workforce; and
- we need to have jobs waiting when we return to more normal
activities; and
- we can’t allow small businesses to close without risking a
very slow and painful economic recovery.
We are between a rock and a
hard place.
As details develop on the economic impacts both business and
personal, the government has to be able to pivot quickly to meet
challenges.
Parliament usually recesses for
the summer months. Parliament was due to recess from June 23rd
to September 21st in 2020 (90 days). It would make far more
sense for parliament to delay the spring session until the worst of the
coronavirus threat is over, and then reconvene for a summer session. It
is pointless to allow for a summer BBQ circuit if social isolation is
still the order of the day.
The spring session would
normally have run from April 20th to June 23rd,
(roughly 64 days with a one-week break). Just because the coronavirus
threat is sucking up all the oxygen in the room at present does not mean
we don’t have other government business that desperately needs attention.
We have to get serious about
creating a fair deal for aboriginal people. We have kicked that can down
the road for so long that the remaining shards are unrecognizable as part
of anything.
We have driven away billions of
dollars in energy sector investments and the colossal stupidity of those
policies are coming home to roost. We desperately need to create a stable
environment for energy investment to recover from the economic hit we
face. Look at the bulleted list above. That is what we did not follow
with our energy sector and now we pay the price in terns of diminished
living standards.
We need to get serious about
foreign interference in our governance. We are allowing foreign funded non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) to drive our government policies and that has to
stop.
We need a protection wall to keep
foreign economic viruses out. We need a healthy economy as well as a
healthy society. We must shut down any non profit organization that
receives funds from foreign sources, and prohibit any indigenous bodies
from receiving funds from a foreign source with severe penalties for
infractions.
Carbon taxes are off the table.
We can’t lumber a struggling economy with (increasing) taxes when we are
in self-isolation which is reducing carbon use in a way that taxes
cannot.
We need to address a dysfunctional
equalization program. That is a priority which can be resolved with a
conference on the issues.
We need to hold a federal -
provincial conference on the constitutional authorities of the provinces.
The current mishmash of jurisdictional overlap cannot be allowed to
continue.
We need to block federal
subsidies to large business. The federal government must create a climate
that allows free enterprise to operate without subsidies. Bombardier is a
classic example of pouring funds into a failing enterprise. These
organization are run by professionals who clearly understand business
risks and rewards far better than bureaucrats ever will.
We need to break up the news
monopolies that are killing our freedom of expression. We have tens of thousands
of capable, experienced journalists whose voices are muted by executive
level editors who have to follow the mandates of their employers. If we
don’t break up the monopolies, freedom of the press in Canada is history.
We need to get the government out of the media business.
The CBC has to be privatized as
part of the media conglomerate breakup. Turning the CBC into a publicly
owned Public Broadcasting System is not off the table. We have to
innovate to deal with the new realities of our existence.
Many of you can no doubt add to
this list. As the coronavirus threat diminishes, we are not picking up
where we left off. We are hitting a reset button to deal with stark new
realities. Following the failed initiatives of the past will not work.
John Feldsted
Political Commentator, Consultant & Strategist
Winnipeg, Manitoba
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