February 11, 2010

Attendance – approx. 25 constituents
Meeting Format:

The format of the meeting invites participants to address their comments and concerns about the upcoming Budget 2010.  The meeting begins with opening comments from the M.P. to set the context of the forum.  Speakers are allowed to speak more than once, though preference will be provided to participants who have not yet spoken.   The M.P. will Chair the meeting.  There is no time limit for each speaker per sé, however the Chair will intervene to restrict time so that all interested participants will have an opportunity to bring their comments and questions forward. 

The Chair and his staff representative will keep notes on the verbal presentations.  Written submissions are welcomed individually or in support of oral presentations.

Participants were invited to list their name upon arrival with the staff representative to that they may receive a copy of the report to the Minister of Finance that will be completed once all the town hall consultations are completed.

The Chair may ask questions for clarity, provide answers to questions, and make statements of explanation as needed.

Though the meeting was specific to the coming 2010 Budget, participants were welcome to pose other questions not necessarily related to the Budget.

Budget 2010 Context:

• We are half way through a Two-Year economic action plan (EAP)
• The 2010 budget is not expected to be as expansive as 2009
• The economic action plan encompasses three themes:
• Investments in infrastructure, stimulus investments
• Tax relief for Canadians – e.g. Home Renovation Tax Credit
•  Support for unemployed workers, those displaced by the economic down turn
• Budget discussions for 2010 could consider:
• The current EAP; are there components that could finish earlier than planned; are there parts that should be extended
• The need to look ahead to reducing the budget deficit and return Canada’s budget framework to balance and eventually surplus
• The need to strengthen Canada’s economy into the future

Note from the Member of Parliament, Bruce Stanton:

What follows are the comments and in some cases the consensus of opinion, summarized for clarity and brevity, of the participants at this consultation.  I want to thank them all for their candid and thoughtful comments, suggestions and questions.   Here is what I heard at the meeting:

Reducing the cost of government

1. Reduce the size of government – the civil service – it’s largesse – its perceptively higher wage scale than comparable positions in the private sector.
2. Ensure the public service is accountable for holding the line on costs – apply strict cost controls to eliminate expenses on unnecessary activities, duplication of effort – all without removing service from the public to the greatest extent possible.
3. Tighten up accountability and controls on spending of First Nations communities – ensuring the governance and accountability mechanisms are followed – that public dollars are not wasted or spent improperly.
4. Refrain from using public investments to bail our private pension plans, as the government seemed to for Chrysler and GM last year.
5. Keep professional staff in government departments longer in their roles.  Don’t move them around so much, particularly Deputy Ministers, so that their isn’t so much time taken familiarizing a new DM with a new portfolio.

Taxes

1. Consider increasing the GST temporarily until we get back to surplus, then scale it back to 5% again; provide a higher GST tax refund for lower income earners so that they will not be burdened by this additional tax on purchases.
2. Decrease income taxes – offset by an increase in GST (with corresponding GST credits for lower income individuals).  This will leave more $$ in the pockets of working families – the people making the greatest contribution to the economy.

Seniors Issues

• 1.HST is a serious problem for seniors.
• 2.Older citizens are having problems accessing programs e.g. renovations to their homes for accommodating disabilities.
• 3.CPP and OAS
  a.CPP not available to spouses who didn’t work – survivor benefits and death benefits are not sufficient or too difficult to access.
  

Programs of the Federal Government

1. Employ more strict enforcement of immigration rules – so that if a newcomer defies their commitments and responsibilities, or commits criminal activity that their residency privileges are revoked and they are sent back to their country of origin.
2. Find ways to restrict excessive payments and bonuses to bank executives and corporate executives – perhaps through more punitive tax rates – up to 90%.
3. Don’t be reluctant to impose rules and levies for foreign companies since this is a normal circumstance in other countries around the world.
4. Government is not upholding its commitments to African development aid. The cancellation of funding of Kairos is a blow to development programs in African countries (Grandmothers to Grandmothers).  Shipments to Africa have allegedly been denied.
5. Reduce the number of government employees.  The influence of the paid bureaucracy is excessive.  Wages should be on par with the private sector.
6. Seek greater accountability of the provinces and territories for the federal public dollars they receive.  They should not be able to just absorb these funds and not account for how they were invested to meet the program objectives connected to their transfer.
7. Ensure transfers from the federal government to Ontario are fair, relative to other provinces.
8. Service Canada – EI staff have not been easy to work with. Note from Bruce: this specific issue will be passed along to constituency staff to inquire about.
9. Infrastructure projects should make more use of local contractors not “out-of-town” trades.  “They are supposed to create jobs, but the only job’s they’re creating is from other parts of the Province.”

Note: One specific intervention came from speech pathologist Barb Gayle – Quill to Quill – an initiative of hers to unite the Ministry of Education (Ontario) and Aboriginal Affairs or Heritage Canada – to use her program to advance the residential school apology.

 

Improving our economy

1. Find ways to break down barriers between provinces for the mobility of labour and resources e.g. medical and professional credentials should be uniform across the country.
2. Employ policies to attract more industry and revitalize our lost industries – manufacturing, agriculture.
3. Policies should continue to support rural Canada – keep jobs in locales where people currently live.  If we lose the rural economy we’ll lose the fabric of Canada’s communities.
4. More investments in rail transportation – freight and passenger service.
5. Expand our trading partners beyond neighbours to the south.
6. Consider program to allow municipalities to develop facilities to receive and treat ballast and bilge water from Great Lakes ships – it would be a revenue source for them and possibly make their wastewater facilities more financially feasible; less a burden on users of the systems.