As Conservatism Sweeps Across Canada, What Does That Mean For Our Future?
So what does this blue wave look like? I am going to spend this post discussing the negative policy changes the provincial Conservatives have made across the country. Once again, this blog is completely partisan, there is no pretence to look at things from both sides, or to look at benefits of the Conservatives. I vote NDP, Liberal or Green, depending on the election, riding, and many other factors. The issues that matter most to me are; the environment, aboriginal issues, healthcare, and immigration. I am also Pro-Choice, so if you're not, this blog is not for you. Also, of course I will miss somethings but this is just from my perspective with MY priorities in mind.
So let's start with Alberta:
The main concerns of the average Albertan are environmentalism (including the oil industry), privatization, and strengthening the economy; although all three of these issues are inherently intertwined. So let's start by looking at what the conservatives have done so far:
- They have appointed an education minister who use to be the leader of an anti-abortion group. You can safely assume that her beliefs will be reflected in her policies around education. Sex education is the only way to lower unwanted pregnancies, lower STIs and promote safe sex. Part of that education HAS to include abortion education. I suspect however that's not something this minister will promote (cmon prove me wrong!) https://tinyurl.com/y6637xsn
- They have said they will kill the carbon tax. https://tinyurl.com/y244hqg4
- They have plans to dismantle the Climate Change Program, and vilify environmental groups. https://tinyurl.com/y4qprzrz
Manitoba's conservatives so far have:
- Cutting funding for poverty and low-income housing https://tinyurl.com/y3v69mzg
- Cancelled a $25-per-tonne carbon tax https://tinyurl.com/y5mkz36v
- Major cuts to healthcare and advances in privatizing healthcare https://tinyurl.com/ycjyenac
- Cut public services to the Northern communities https://tinyurl.com/yxjjabvf
Skipping over a few provinces to New Brunswick, the main issues there are poverty, healthcare and access to services, and job creation.
New Brunswick:
- Majour cuts to nursing programs, even though there is a huge shortage of nurses province wide https://tinyurl.com/y63jqwh2
- "Child welfare and disability support services will be cut from $316.7 million to $313.9 million"https://tinyurl.com/y6eo6hkq
- Attempting to cancel the carbon tax https://tinyurl.com/y25ng4e9
- Building a large scale oil pipeline transmission project https://tinyurl.com/y6owo3jt
Prince Edward Island:
Since the election was under 3 weeks ago, its hard to say what the Conservatives will do. However, leading up to the election, Islanders said their main concerns were; healthcare, specifically mental health, low-income housing, economic growth and job expansion. So we will just have to watch carefully to see what policies the Conservatives put in place.
Saskatchewan:
Some of the biggest issues for the people of Saskatchewan are unsurprisingly, healthcare, low-income housing, poverty reduction and an increase in jobs. So what has the Saskatchewan Party done?
- "Over 50 million dollars were cut from K-12 education, forcing school divisions to lay off support staff, reduce hours of staffing, and increase class sizes." https://tinyurl.com/y33cfrb2
- Shutting down almost 200 public long-term care beds across the province. Funding was also cut for municipalities resulting in tax increases, service cuts and new user fees https://tinyurl.com/y33cfrb2
- Beginning to privatize health care by user-pay MRI and CT scans despite contradiction to the principles of universal health care https://tinyurl.com/y33cfrb2
Ah, Quebec, my new home province. While we missed voting in the latest election, by and large the two biggest issues were Secularism and Immigration. While the CAQ government is still fairly new, here are some of the things they've done, and some they've promised to do.
- They have vowed to cut the number of immigrants by 20 per cent, to 40,000 annually. Under the CAQ plan, newcomers will have to pass a language and values test in order to get a Quebec selection certificate https://tinyurl.com/y4ba4a8q
- Banning public servants from wearing religious symbols https://tinyurl.com/y4ugr73q
- Increase pay for service healthcare and more privatization https://tinyurl.com/y4ba4a8q
Ontario
Finally, I saved the worst for last. There are too many things to say about Doug Ford and Ontario Conservatism, so I cherry picked what I think are some of the worst:
Finally, I saved the worst for last. There are too many things to say about Doug Ford and Ontario Conservatism, so I cherry picked what I think are some of the worst:
- Killed Cap & Trade resulting in between $3B and $4B in lost revenue https://tinyurl.com/y4ba4a8q
- Fired Chief scientist https://tinyurl.com/y42vujvk
- Has banned Ontario Ministries from discussing climate change with the media https://tinyurl.com/y85lqcpa
- Cuts of nearly $1B from the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services over three years https://tinyurl.com/y4vsz9rs
- Ford cuts $350M from the Ministry of Environment, Conservative and Park’s annual budget https://tinyurl.com/yxros4qs
Ok, so what does this mean for Canada and our future? Well we have a Federal election coming up, and while Federal and Provincial parties differ a lot, as we see a rise in Conservatism across the country, I can't help but predict a Conservative win Federally. As you can see, most people in most provinces have the same concerns (decreasing poverty, the environment, healthcare, etc) but Conservative governments have actively worked against these interests and many others*. If we keep voting in Conservatives there will be dire consequences.
*You may have noticed I didn't discuss provincial Aboriginal issues, because that is largely controlled by the Federal government and it gets really complicated discussing it provincially and federally.
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