Check It Out: Distract, Avoid and Censor
By Joan Janzen
The cartoon shows Garfield holding open a door and saying “My door is always open, so feel free to leave.”
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation may feel like the federal government isn’t exactly opening the door and inviting them to come in to chat. Franco Terrazzano said the government is throwing freedom of expression under the bus, yet free speech is needed to hold government accountable. This may be why government is determined to, not only censor, but provide the definition of ‘harmful content’ online.
“What jumped out at me is what’s not included in the Throne Speech,” Franco said, noting the avoidance of any mention of the debt. “Not a single word was mentioned about the massive debt challenges we face in Canada.” That debt places every person on the hook for $30,000 worth of federal debt.
Canadians are waking up to implications of this huge debt load. Franco gave three reasons why they should care, inflation being the first reason. “We’re all learning there’s no such thing as a free government lunch,” he said. The more dollars that are printed, the less those dollars will buy, which has an immediate impact on Canadians.
The second reason is that eventually that $30,000 per person has to be paid back, and how many Canadians have thousands of spare dollars on hand? The third reason is concern for the kind of financial bill we want to leave for future generations.
The solutions offered in the Throne Speech included $10 a day childcare and low income housing. “These expensive programs will throw more fuel on the inflation fire,” Franco explained. “This is being debt financed. Meaning the cost is being passed from the parent on to the kids.”
He suggested the government could provide immediate relief by reducing the cash bill we pay at the pumps, but instead our Prime Minister is moving in the opposite direction in the name of climate change and reducing emissions.
“It’s been tough for the oil and gas industry during the last five or six years and the federal government has been making it tougher,” Franco said. He said the carbon tax is just a tax policy. “We need to take a global approach to emissions. Even if the government brought all our industries to a screeching halt, it wouldn’t do anything for the global environment.”
More wasteful spending comes in the form of the gun grab and buy back program. “Everyone wants Canada to be safe, but this is going to be extremely expensive and ineffective,” Franco said. It will end up costing billions, while the Mountie union observed it will divert resources from targeting crime to targeting law abiding Canadians.
In spite of all the pressing concerns of Canadians, the government continues to distract attention away from them. When MP Pierre Poilievre was asked how many of his colleagues have exemptions for vaccines, he responded, “Do you think I’m going to pick up the phone and distract from my work fighting inflation to call every member of parliament to ask them that question? You’re falling into the Liberal trap. They’re trying to avoid taking responsibility for the working class guy who pulls up to the gas station and only fills up a quarter tank because he can’t afford to pay the rest of the cost. They don’t want to talk about those people; they want to talk about anything else.”
But what can Canadians do? Doug Sharp, President of Canada Family Action suggested Canadians “support those in opposition that are willing to stand up. The degree that we tolerate compromise by the official opposition in our nation, is going to be a direct effect on how this story ends.”