"Build Back Better" -- Socialism for the RichThe Throne Speech and pay-the-rich program of the Trudeau government underscore the extent to which the situation has become absurd. Who would ever have thought that the government would pay the majority of wages for workers of private enterprises?[1] The Throne Speech declares, "This is not the time for austerity," and it further opens the floodgates of pay-the-rich schemes and government borrowing without limits from private moneylenders.[[2] In his address to the nation on the COVID-19 situation on the evening of September 23, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced the idea of a covenant between the government and the people, as if the social contract can be replaced on his say so with a "new covenant" nobody has participated in setting. "There is a covenant between government and the people government serves. You need to know that you can rely on us, just like you can rely on each other," he said. To speak of a "covenant" between the government and the people in such a loose manner shows the arrogance of the Trudeau government and its disrespect for the intelligence of Canadians. Trudeau's "covenant" is a variant on his "we are all in this together" mantra which nobody except the apologists of the pay-the-rich schemes and failed liberal democratic institutions believe.[3] The Throne Speech says:
"With interest rates so low, central banks can only do so much to help. There is a global consensus that governments must do more. Government can do so while also locking in the low cost of borrowing for decades to come. This government will preserve Canada's fiscal advantage and continue to be guided by values of sustainability and prudence." The other mantra to justify the pay-the-rich economy as the only option to deal with the pandemic and "restarting" the economy and "build back better" is the grooming of the so-called middle class. The speech states: "The third foundation is to build back better to create a stronger, more resilient Canada. To do this, we must keep strengthening the middle class and helping people working hard to join it, and continue creating jobs and building long-term competitiveness with clean growth. We must also keep building safer communities for everyone." Liberal-speak about
addressing inequality and strengthening the middle class is intended to
fool the workers into thinking that under this neo-liberal system there
is a possibility for a new social contract if the workers give up their
own agenda and stop fighting for rights, a new direction for the
economy, to make Canada a zone for peace and to humanize the natural
and social environment. Who precisely belongs to this "middle class" is
a matter of a nebulous definition but we are to understand it comprises
a battered strata of the people who exist above the "working class" in
an upwardly mobile sort of way, whose support the Liberals need more
than ever. The Throne Speech pretends to be some sort of a nation-building project by promoting the development of clean technologies. It says: "Canada has the resources -- from nickel to copper -- needed for these clean technologies. This -- combined with Canadian expertise -- is Canada's competitive edge." This means putting all these resources and Canadian expertise at the disposal of the oligopolies. That is called a way to build back better and ensure Canada's "competitive edge" -- one of those incoherent buzz phrases taken from the lexicon of marketing agencies. All we need to know about it is that to be competitive is "a good thing." It is desirable. Everything must be done to make it so. Trudeau's remarks following the Throne Speech further outline the socialism for the rich his government is putting in place. "Maybe your boss was able to keep you on the job or hire you back because the Emergency Wage Subsidy helped with the payroll. People still need this program, so we're extending it right through to next summer. Or perhaps you're a business owner needing extra help to bridge to better times. For you, among other measures, we're expanding the Canada Emergency Business Account," Trudeau said.
Cloaking its commitment to pay the rich with the slogan "build back better" does not mean better to serve the people and bring the economy under their control but better for the global oligarchs, the oligopolies and their cartels and coalitions marauding the planet to make themselves richer and more powerful and to block the working class from organizing for change. "Build back better" means mountains of public money for the global auto oligarchs to retool their factories for electric vehicles. This public money for the auto oligarchs has already started to flow. Just days before the Throne Speech, the government promised half a billion dollars for the Ford Motor Company. "Build back better" signals vast sums of public money flowing to the big construction companies to build "green" infrastructure and houses, and to retrofit buildings and entire neighbourhoods. The public money is guaranteed to make the global rich even richer and more powerful. The Throne Speech says that the Government will "help more women get back into the workforce" through a long-promised national childcare system. This allays the fears of many in the business community that the crisis may reduce the size of the active labour market resulting in increased pressure on business to meet the claims of the working class on the value it produces. The Throne Speech pledges to make public money available for the airline industry, other businesses involved in transportation, tourism and the retail sector and, of course, the global pharmaceutical industry controlled by the U.S. imperialists. The Trudeau government poses as a saviour by promising millions of dollars to buy vaccines from this and that global pharmaceutical giant without asking the question as to why Canada does not have the capacity to produce a COVID-19 vaccine and other modern drugs. The small independent island of Cuba is already successfully testing its own COVID-19 vaccine. The
Reaganite-Thatcherite palaver about the strength of free enterprise,
being competitive in the global market, and the drive and competition
of entrepreneurs to become rich on the backs of workers and nature
being the guarantee of prosperity has now been replaced with direct
calls for state intervention to pay the rich. The socialized economy needs cooperation for mutual benefit from all its parts and sectors. It is crying out from its own failure for a new direction which resolves the crisis in favour of the people. Notes 1.
The legislation introduced on September 24, Bill C-2, includes a
provision that unemployed and underemploted workers -- not the
monopolies receiving money to pay their workers -- are going to have to
pay back $0.50 on the dollar on earnings of over $38,000 for 2020 and
2021 tax years. (Photos: TML, UNITE HERE 40)
This article was published in Article Link:   Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |
"This is not the
time for austerity. Canada entered this crisis in the best fiscal
position of its peers. And the government is using that fiscal
firepower, on things like the Canada Emergency Response Benefit and the
Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, so that Canadians, businesses, and our
entire economy have the support needed to weather the storm. Canadians
should not have to choose between health and their job, just like
Canadians should not have to take on debt that their government can
better shoulder [...] This government will preserve Canada's fiscal
advantage and continue to be guided by values of sustainability and
prudence."
Thank you very
much say the oligarchs in control of the Silver Hotel Group, which owns
20 hotels in Canada, including Hilton, Delta and Novotel locations in
major cities. Hotel operators are amongst the biggest abusers of the
Canadian working class. Deepak Ruparell, President of Silver Hotel
Group, said of the extension of the wage subsidy program: "It's a big
relief because that means we can continue to operate. If that wasn't
there, we would be looking at laying off more people and shutting it
down."