Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Restoring balanced economy key, Mulcair tells London audience

Canada is losing its balanced economy and must focus on trade deals that consider labour issues and the environment, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair told reporters in London on Tuesday.

Speaking to the media after a roundtable discussion with the London Chamber of Commerce, Mulcair said his party is getting a good reception from business leaders as he travels across the country.

“In an area like this one, where you’ve seen a hollowing out of the manufacturing sector and lots of good-paying jobs leaving the area, people want to know what the NDP would do differently and that’s what we’re able to talk about,” Mulcair said.

Chamber general manager Gerry Macartney said Mulcair seemed to have “a good grip on the issues” but added he’s concerned about how NDP policies on natural resources would affect manufacturing.

Macartney said Muclair’s visit was an opportunity to get to know the official opposition.

Former London mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best and Conservative MP Ed Holder were among those in attendance.

“The key word in our discussions with the chamber this morning was balance,” Mulcair told reporters.

“We’re losing the balanced economy that Canada had built up since the Second World War. It’s been destabilized by the choices of the Conservatives.”

Long-term, good-paying manufacturing jobs with pensions are being replaced by part-time jobs in the service sector that don’t come with a pension, Mulcair said.

Canada has put “all its economic eggs in the resource basket,” he said, and must include the environmental costs of developments such as the oilsands if it wants to compete internationally.

“That’s had an effect of artificially raising the value of the Canadian dollar, which has made it increasingly difficult for manufacturing companies in this area to export. That’s one of the leading causes of the hollowing out of the manufacturing sector,” Mulcair told reporters.

“We’re not against the development of the oilsands, that would be foolish. We are saying that we’re against the development that’s going on now because it’s not sustainable.”

Original Article
Source: lfpress
Author: Kate Dubinski

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