As October鈥檚 federal election draws near, elements of the party platforms begin to take shape. And in the broadest of generalizations, the same can be said of each. They follow the time-honoured practice of attempting to bribe taxpayers with their own money.
The Liberals are promising a new tax-free child benefit, reduced EI premiums, and more generous compassionate care benefits. Their campaign slogan, 鈥淐hoose Forward,鈥� is a perfect example of banality over substance.
The Tories are offering a $2,000聽tax credit for single seniors, an increase in the sa国际传媒 Savings Disability Grant for low income families, and a new home renovation tax credit. And not to be outdone, their theme is 鈥淚t鈥檚 time for you to get ahead,鈥� the essence of vacuity.
The Greens will axe university tuition by 2020, offer a guaranteed livable income and forgive all student loans over $10,000. No cost figures are given for this package, but a fair estimate lies in the region of $45 billion.
The NDP platform, which has been released in its entirety, would cost about $85 billion, hiking the federal budget by 25 per cent and bringing the country to the verge of bankruptcy.
True, there are some tax increases scattered here and there, mostly benefiting middle-income families while soaking the rich. But as history shows, this is magical thinking. The rich either leave or move their money offshore.
The result is that none of the party platforms face reality. And the reality is this.
Over the past three decades, our governments, federal and provincial, have been living a lie.
They pretend to offer more of everything, while actually delivering less of the services that matter.
You can see the effect across the public sector. In health care, too few family physicians, over-long wait times, insufficient residential care beds for our aging population.
In our court system, endemic trial delay, overcrowded prisons and high-risk inmates parked in minimum-security facilities such as William Head in Metchosin.
Meagre child-care services. Lack of affordable housing. Disgraceful conditions on rural Aboriginal reserves. Poor roads. Failing infrastructure. Inadequate urban transit.
How did this come about? A little history tells the story.
In 1957, federal spending stood at 16 per cent of GDP. This was arguably sufficient back then, because most of the safety net services that exist now, universal healthcare among them, were not in place.
However, as those services were introduced over the following 30 years, our politicians paid for them not by forcing efficiencies, but by borrowing. That is to say, they served the present by robbing the future 鈥� the future we live in now.
By the mid-1980s, federal spending had reached 26 per cent of GDP, momentarily adequate to the vast expansion in government scope.
But there was a catch. By that point, Ottawa was running annual deficits of nearly $80 billion, or $178 billion in current dollars, an unsustainable sum.
Of course, if something can鈥檛 last, it won鈥檛. Thereafter retrenchment set in.
And here the lies began.
Savings weren鈥檛 effected by unloading nonessential services to make room for the truly imperative. They were accomplished by scrimping across the board, in effect cutting the heads off flowers and weeds alike.
The result is that our public sector has been hollowed out to the extent that nowhere are there sufficient resources to meet our needs. But none of this was admitted.
And now, in the party platforms, we see more of the same.
So what might a solution look like? If we are to fund essential services adequately, the non-essential must be dumped.
In sa国际传媒 we鈥檙e talking about major scalebacks in ministries such as Agriculture, Energy and Mines, Environment, Forests and Tourism (combined budget $1.5 billion). All of these overlap with private-sector operations that can, to an extent, take up the slack.
Then axe the hundreds of feel-good grants we give to outfits such as the Nanaimo Curling Club, the Assembly of sa国际传媒 Arts Councils or the Potato and Vegetable Growers Association. I鈥檓 sure they鈥檙e all lovely people, but they don鈥檛 run an ER or rescue kids from abusive homes.
Do cuts like these sound ugly? Yup. Will they ever happen? Nope. They are the essence of vote buying.
But this is the price we pay for living far beyond our means. A slow, drawling retreat into mediocrity, even as we鈥檙e promised a brighter tomorrow.
