Jack Layton - Prime Minister Harper's Economic Policies are Hurting the Middle class

NDP leader, Jack Layton never seems to quit amazing me with his ill-informed statements. At the NDP leaders summit meeting, he accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper of mismanaging the economy by cutting taxes and allowing market forces to prevail without government intervention. He also said that the Prime Minister’s economic policies are hurting the middle class.

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper is mismanaging the economy and hurting middle-class Canadians, New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton charged Sunday as his party began its first ever summit meeting of NDP leaders from across the country.

Speaking to reporters, Layton gave a glimpse of what could very well be a key plank in the NDP's platform heading into the next election, painting his party as better stewards of the economy than the Conservatives who tend to favour letting market forces prevail with little government intervention.

One thing that seems to becoming very clear is that the NDP does not believe that leaving more money in people’s pockets instead of the government coffers is a good thing. They want Canada to follow the policy of overtaxing its population to pay for new government programs that would supposedly help the marginalized in our society. In most cases, the new tax money never reaches these people, but just ends up in the government coffers to fund a new bureaucracy.

"We believe that Mr. Harper has been reckless in the way that he has approached financial matters."

For example, the Conservatives bring in tax cuts that help industries already doing well such as banks and oil companies, allowing them to make even greater profits, Layton argued. Meanwhile, high oil prices are fuelling the high dollar which is hitting other industries such as manufacturing, forestry and agriculture.

Nor is it about to get better, Layton predicted.

The NDP seems to believe it is a bad thing when there are industries in the Canadian economy that are doing well. To them an industry that is making too much profit is a bad thing. What is also quite surprising is that the NDP is talking about how Harper’s policies are hurting manufacturing, forestry and agriculture. But if we examine some of the central planks in the NDP’s policy; they will have an even more devastating effect on these industries.

The NDP wants the government to implement the Kyoto accord and carbon taxes immediately to reduce CO2 emissions. The effect of this would immediately have an effect on gas prices and industry through increased costs at a much higher rate than presently exists.

The NDP complains about the middle class being squeezed by the Harper government, but the NDP’s policy of higher taxation and immediately implementing the Kyoto accord will result in industry being forced to charge higher prices for its products, which will only serve to further squeeze the poor and middle class that are trying to make ends meet. It will also mean less manufacturing jobs and more layoffs, especially if the cost of goods and raw materials increase as a result of higher taxes and being forced to immediately comply with the Kyoto accord.

The other thing that the NDP fails to admit is that higher taxation, which they favour, and government interference in the market in a majority of cases hurts more than it helps. It causes capital flight and investor uncertainty, which in the end results in less money being invested in our country and less jobs for our citizens. It is these socialist policies that have sunk the economies of several countries in the third world.

"Now we're seeing the members of Parliament being blackmailed by Mr. Harper saying that the only way there will be any assistance to the laid off workers is if we vote confidence in the Harper government and their approach to all things."

It quite amazing that Mr. Layton, who forced former Liberal Prime Minister, Paul Martin’s hand in supporting billions of dollars increased spending on government programs and canceling corporate taxes as his price for supporting the 2005 federal budget is now accusing the Conservatives of blackmail, when they link $1-billion in economic assistance to the passage of their next budget.

Mr. Layton can afford to make these statements because his party right now does not have a reasonable chance of forming the government in the near future, so he will never have to be accountable for them.