2015 ELECTION #6: EDUCATION

VANCOUVER, BC

25 APRIL 2015

In 2011, the federal government earned $244.4 million in interest on student loans. This is net after the generous cost of borrowing from $466.4 million gross. So, exorbitant tuition fees is big business for this government (as it was for the Liberals) having consistently withheld funds from universities since its inception in 2006. Holding young people up with fiscal conditions, that is they can get an education at a very high rate plus the government levy in the form of interest, is not a set of values I would have voted for, nor would young people. So, they don’t vote. The Harper government doesn’t need to wonder why.*

Average annual tuition paid in 2011 was $14,500 or an average of $58,000 for an undergraduate degree plus texts, transport, accommodation. While they work to pay for this they can only hope to cover a small portion of the cost as most work in low-paying jobs which would only net a few thousand dollars a year (and they pay taxes on that, too).

Based on the HRSDC student loan calculator,^[11] and assuming an average prime interest rate of 4.5%, (as of December 2011, the rate is 5.5%) a standard 10-year (114 month) repayment period, and a loan of $30,000:

-       if the Floating Interest option is selected, monthly payments will be $361.02 (principal and interest), resulting in total payments of $41,156.77 ($30,000 principal + $11,156.77 interest) over the life of the repayment.

-        

-       if the Fixed Interest option is selected, monthly payments will be $400.50 (principal and interest), resulting in payments of $45,657.54 ($30,000 principal + $16,657.54 interest).*

Many young people are living on the edge of poverty to get an education such that there are now Food Banks on many campuses. Bunking in is practically a tradition for out-of-towners but now they are doing it in larger numbers every year and putting up with the well-and-truly-hated slob to make it through another year. 

Some female students have resorted to the “Sugar Baby” arrangement enlisting a “Sugar Daddy” to pay for their tuition. In the larger universities, UBC, McGill, UofT, the numbers have skyrocketed.

Canada, before the onslaught of neoliberalism, endeavoured to provide education for everyone who wanted it and we paid for 80 per cent of their tuition; we were an equal opportunity culture.

That’s what we wanted and what we voted for. We are now paying around 40 per cent, the increase, it turns out, is about five times the rate of inflation. Other than housing, which is 30 per cent inflated in some Canadian cities, nothing else has risen to the level of tuition.  

All polls indicate that the large majority of Canadians want all worthy young people to have easy access to higher education and are prepared to pay for it, indeed they are somewhat ashamed at the downward spiral forced on students by the Harper government.

*Canadian Federation of Students: www.cfs-fcee.ca 

2015 ELECTION #5: CLIMATE CHANGE

VANCOUVER, BC

13 APR 2015

The hypocrisy of the climate change deniers indicates a level of ignorance unbecoming of Canadians, never mind those in charge of the country. Harper has dismissed, indeed fired scientists like a know-it-all teenager depriving us of the expertise we desperately need to guide us through this critical era.

Michael Harris says there have been two-thirds fewer global warming media stories since then.

As well, the government’s withdrawal from the Kyoto Accord reneged our commitment and obligation to the rest of the world to do our part to reduce C0². Canadians would not do such a thing and we were not consulted.

Harper’s argument that he won’t commit to reducing emissions until China and India take more measures to control climate change, apparently his perceived solution to a crisis, is a source of embarrassment and shame to this country. The notion of an or-else threat to other countries will cut carbon is a tragic comedy and it leaves the UN members to carry the load for Canada. Why should they cover for us as if we were a third-world country?

As much as Harper has been vilified all over the world for his ignorance and irresponsibility he refuses to change his position. Other countries are announcing their commitment to decrease emissions during the run-up to the Paris climate conference at the end of the year but Harper says nothing. Criticism is the red flag which does double time to close the door and open petty obstinacy and obtuseness.

So, the provinces are going it alone. They are meeting in Quebec to at least start to do the right thing; they are going around the prime minister. Unfortunately, he is standing in the way as he has the power to block the country’s progress to lower emissions regardless of what the provinces and Canadians need and desire. This is not what we require in a prime minister. 

2015 ELECTION #4: ELECTION REFORM

31 March 2015

2015 ELECTION #4

The winner-take-all method has turned our votes into a mockery of democracy and it’s up to Canadians to order change. The desperate need for election reform is here and now but said to be impossible for this year. It is possible if we get off our apathy and demand it. No need for a referendum, just do it.

The First-Past-the-Post electoral system is not serving Canadians’ best interests because it does not result in the actual popular vote. As the name implies, it works like a horserace. The first candidate to get more votes than any other wins the election. The rest take 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th place respectively and the remainder of the votes are never included or counted.

In the 2011 election there were 7,000,000 of those or nearly half of the votes cast.

Proportional Representation guarantees that all votes are counted and elect someone on the ballot, that you will have a candidate of your choice, even your second choice, representing you in the House of Commons. You may also choose the party.

In this way there will never be a need to manipulate an election or vote strategically to get the lesser of all evils to represent you.

It’s possible because Canadians want it. A poll by Environics a year ago found that 70% want PP. The country deserves to have a fair election, now more than ever when so few people want to vote because it’s just not efficacious. The result is we have skewed elections with the worst possible system, first-past-the-post, when we should have Proportional Representation and are deprived of it. As I've said before, the galling thing is the necessity to use the strategy vote to get someone in power who will represent us. 

We are in a very bad place with elections. We are worried about government manipulation of the election in light of the Robocall case when a young man was hung out to dry by the Conservatives, (and we got to pay the bill), and new legislation, Bill C-23, by this government ensures that voter suppression can go undetected. In fact, we just don’t trust the government and very few other politicians.

We have never agreed to unfair elections but have allowed governments to manipulate and propagandize us into thinking our vote was worth something. But have a look at these figures by Fair Vote Canada taken from the 2011 election:

            35,152 votes elected one Conservative MP

            43,810 votes elected one NDP MP

            81,855 votes elected one Liberal MP

            222,857 votes elected one Bloc MP

            572,095 votes elected one Green MP

There should never be another election in Canada where a third of the votes grant one party over 50 per cent of the seats. To allow this to happen again in 2015 will be our fault for not taking the responsibility to demand it doesn’t happen to us again.