Getting over the Harper hangover
Re: “Harper can’t be blamed for everything,” Sept. 7, 2016
Dear Editor,
Communities across Canada were damaged by the Harper government, which for 10 years sought to make this country unrecognizable. Few communities were hit as hard as Oshawa by Harper’s decision to turn his back on manufacturing in favour of chasing petro dollars.
The fact is Stephen Harper – despite the efforts of his supporters to say he did great things for our economy – was a terrible economic manager.
A recent letter to the editor from Russ Horner claimed that Harper’s economic policies were “good for the Canadian economy going forward, such as a balanced budget.”
He couldn’t be more wrong, and the numbers prove it.
Far from balancing the budget, the Harper government spent more money than it took in through most of its years in power.
The decline started right way. After inheriting a $13.8-billion surplus from the previous Liberal government, Harper managed to bring in a much smaller surplus of $9.6 billion in his first year in power, and then posted $5.6 billion in his second year. After that, he fell off a deficit cliff, racking up deficits of an incredible $55.6 billion, $33.4 billion, $26.3 billion, $18.4 billion and $5.2 billion respectively over the next five years.
Only after selling the federal government’s share in GM at bargain basement prices and taking $3.8 billion from the EI fund and $2 billion from the Contingency Fund, as the 2015 election loomed, did he eke out a tiny surplus of $1.9 billion.
People like Horner credit Harper for helping GM through the financial crisis, but we must remember that his government had to be dragged kicking and screaming to do so, and failed ultimately to implement policies to ensure the long-term prosperity of the industry.
In Unifor’s discussions with government, we don’t advocate one-time efforts for this or that company, but emphasize a comprehensive push for investment to ensure a stable and growing auto industry to help secure a future of good jobs for current workers, and for the next generation.
This isn’t about getting through a crisis. This is about building a future – something Harper never understood. While countries around the world made real and substantial efforts to attract manufacturing – and auto in particular – Harper’s policies allowed our manufacturing sector to shed some 450,000 jobs.
Nowhere is that felt more keenly than in Oshawa, where the future of General Motors hangs in the balance. That’s why Unifor picked GM as the target company to set the pattern in the current round of bargaining with the Detroit Three automakers, with investment in Canada as our top priority.
Where others have failed to step up to the plate, Unifor has taken action. As with all contract talks, we are discussing the hopes and dreams of our members, but there is much more at stake.
At stake is the future of this industry in Canada, and the type of economy we want. That’s what people like Horner need to understand if we are to get the future we want, and our children deserve.
Jerry Dias
National president of Unifor