Workers' Forum Online

Bill C-14, An Act to implement certain provisions of the economic statement tabled in Parliament on November 30, 2020 and other measures seeks to give the federal Cabinet unlimited power to borrow money from the global private lenders. This brazen Act before Parliament concentrates more power in the hands of the federal Cabinet to act with impunity.

The borrowed money is a double-edged sword to pay the global rich. The money is used for ill-gotten payouts to the most favoured cartels and monopolies, and the ongoing servicing of the debt becomes a guaranteed slush fund for moneylenders that keeps giving for decades and can explode in size at any time when inflation hits causing destruction and misery.

Bill C-14 immediately increases the government's borrowing authority to $1.8 trillion. This amount is significant as it will push the federal debt past Canada's 2020 GDP of $1.71 trillion. In fact, no real limit to borrowing from private lenders will exist as the Act specifically states: "The Minister may borrow an amount under an order made under paragraph 46.1(a) or (b) of the Financial Administration Act even if that borrowing causes the maximum amount referred to in section 4 of this Act to be exceeded."

Paragraph 46.1 of the Financial Administration Act reads, "In any fiscal year, the Governor in Council may by order authorize the Minister to borrow money for (a) the payment of any amount that is required to be paid in that fiscal year in respect of any money borrowed under the authority of this Act or any other Act of Parliament; (b) the extinguishment or reduction of any liability of Canada, if the Minister is of the opinion that the liability should be extinguished or reduced."

The Minister could identify any existing debt or other government liability and order money be borrowed to extinguish or reduce it. The liability could be something similar to the government purchase of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project for $4.5 billion from its distressed U.S. owners who wanted out without losing their shirts. The liability could be the $19 billion the government proposes to spend for new fighter jets from the U.S. war economy.

Through stealth the Cabinet and Ministers from whatever cartel party is in power are seizing more and more prerogative powers over policy and government actions and financing them through borrowing money from private lenders and taxes on individuals. The increasing prerogative powers are the police powers of a small cabal of dictators who serve the global oligarchy.

The Parliament as a talk-shop to discuss and debate issues has even lost that function, becoming a non-essential disinforming service engaged in nonsense to spawn scandals and divert attention away from what the Cabinet and Ministers are doing by stealth. The role of the other cartel parties is to permit this as they strive to position themselves to become the Cabinet and take over the prerogative police powers of the cartel party in power. The people are subjected to a never-ending media barrage according to which the Liberals are popular or that change will come with a different cartel party in power. All of them support a system which is ruled by prerogative police powers to keep the people disempowered.

Workers' Forum denounces the corruption of Bill C-14 which, amongst other things, expands public borrowing from private lenders. It calls on all working people to take up the call to Stop Paying the Rich; Increase Funding for Social Programs. The cabal in power has turned Canada into a massive slush fund for the global oligarchy. The entire gang in power should be removed from office.

Democratic Renewal Is the Order of the Day!
Stop Paying the Rich; Increase Investments in Social Programs!

Liberal Pay the Rich Scam to Increase
Borrowing from Private Lenders

Writing for nationalnewswatch.com, K.W. Grafton provides alarming information about Bill C-14, An Act to implement certain provisions of the economic statement tabled in Parliament on November 30, 2020 and other measures. The bill has passed second reading and has been sent to the Standing Committee on Finance, with the most recent discussion in the committee occurring March 11.

The information provided by Grafton is one more example of how governments are concentrating more and more power in their hands to act with impunity. What is hidden is that this borrowing is a huge scam to pay the rich because the borrowing is from private lenders who reap an ill-gotten fortune guaranteed by the government of Canada.

Bill C-14 was introduced into parliament on December 2, 2020 by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland with the Liberal government's Fall Economic Statement 2020. It is designed to allow the government to continue operating without having to table a budget which has not happened since March 19, 2019.

Grafton explains that, in part, the bill deals with federal borrowing.

"The summary states, 'Part 7 amends the Borrowing Authority Act to, among other things, increase the maximum amount of certain borrowings and include certain borrowings that were previously excluded in the calculation of that amount. It also makes a related amendment to the Financial Administration Act.'

"Those 'borrowings' were the subject of discussion during the 'Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the 2021 Budget' held by the Standing Committee on Finance in January, whereby it became known that Freeland intended to increase government borrowing authority to $1.8 trillion -- more than Canada's $1.71 trillion GDP in 2020," Grafton explains.

Saying that the devil is in the details, Grafton explains that the details are in Part 7 of the bill.

"Part 7 Borrowing Authority Act includes amendments to the Act that increases the total amount of borrowing by the Minister of Finance from $1,168,000,000,000 to $1,831,000,000,000."

Grafton continues:

"Then, there is a qualifier.

"It also includes the following amendment, '6. The Minister may borrow an amount under an order made under paragraph 46.1(a) or (b) of the Financial Administration Act even if that borrowing causes the maximum amount referred to in section 4 of this Act to be exceeded.'

"Paragraph 46.1 of the Financial Administration Act reads, 'In any fiscal year, the Governor in Council may by order authorize the Minister to borrow money for

(a) the payment of any amount that is required to be paid in that fiscal year in respect of any money borrowed under the authority of this Act or any other Act of Parliament;

(b) the extinguishment or reduction of any liability of Canada, if the Minister is of the opinion that the liability should be extinguished or reduced; or... '

"Therefore, although the borrowing limit is set at $1.8 trillion, the minister can ignore that limit and borrow more say $2 trillion $3 trillion $10 trillion -- there is no real limit, beyond the market realities of Canada's diminishing credit rating.

"The wording of Paragraph 46.1 also permits the government to borrow any amount to pay back debt. This will come in handy when the current short-term low interest COVID-debt comes due and must be refinanced (at what will almost certainly be higher interest rates). The taxpayers will be borrowing high-interest money to pay off existing low-interest debts."

Grafton points out that "the proposed ceiling of $1.8 trillion will raise Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio to 105.26 per cent." He says that according to the World Bank, countries with debt-to-GDP ratios above 77 per cent for prolonged periods suffer significant reductions in economic growth.

"Since Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio is forecast to stay above 100 per cent through 2025, and 75 per cent of borrowing to date has been short-term (4 years or less), most of this will have to be refinanced at higher rates during a time of stagnant or reduced economic growth.

"Canada will be looking for money under less than optimum conditions; forced to borrow, poor economic growth, high debt to GDP ratio, and diminished credit rating."

(Bill C-14 is an Amex "Black Card" for Liberals, K.W. Grafton, nationalnewswatch.com, March 7, 2021)

Hotel Workers Hold Militant Action on
International Women's Day

On International Women's Day hotel workers in BC launched a campaign to increase awareness of their fight in defence of hotel workers. The campaign, organized by workers represented by Unite Here Local 40, entitled Unequal Women -- 19th Century Treatment in 21st Century British Columbia, was announced at a militant demonstration and press conference at Jack Poole Plaza in Vancouver. Local 40 President Zailda Chan and workers from several hotels laid out the demands of hotel workers -- the majority of whom are national minority women -- that the hotels stop firings and guarantee all workers the right to return to their jobs when the industry reopens.

Workers have held demonstrations, press conferences, and other actions including a 22-day hunger strike at the BC legislature in 2020 to inform everyone of what is happening and to create public opinion in support of their cause. As a result some hotels have agreed to extend recall rights and not fire workers who have been laid off as a result of the pandemic. Other hotels continue to use the pandemic as justification to permanently fire workers and refuse to negotiate extended recall periods. Part of the campaign is to call on hotel customers to take their business only to those hotels that have extended workers' recall rights.

Workers at the Hilton Metrotown Hotel started a partial strike on February 3 against the owners'
attack on workers' rights. Speaking to Workers' Forum about the situation at Hilton Metrotown, Michelle Travis, a spokesperson for Unite Here Local 40, explained that in negotiations on the contract and with regard to the COVID-19-related shutdowns during the past year, hotel management has refused to extend the recall period beyond 12 months, a time frame that is clearly inappropriate in light of the extraordinary circumstances. Hotel owners have been openly begging the government for bailout money, saying that if they do not get public funds workers will lose their jobs, trying to create public opinion in their favour. While putting this face forward, behind the scenes they are attempting to use the pandemic as a cover to get rid of workers, particularly those with the greatest seniority. In contract negotiations, the hotel is demanding concessions that would reduce some workers' pay to minimum wage, cut medical benefits, eliminate pensions, and other rollbacks. "Those most impacted are women who are already disproportionately impacted by the economic repercussions of the pandemic," Travis said, adding "They want to gut medical benefits in the midst of a world-wide medical emergency and use mass firings as an extortionary tactic to gut working conditions. It's outrageous."

The BC NDP government also has to be held to account for consistently refusing to take up its social responsibility to protect jobs through guaranteeing recall rights and prohibiting the manipulation of the labour law by employers. Eight months ago Premier Horgan told a press conference, "We're calling on employers to do the right thing and make sure they're keeping their workforce intact to the greatest extent possible, we expect that to happen, if we need to take steps using the legislature to protect workers, we'll do that." In practice his government has refused to act and has left the workers to fend for themselves.

At the press conference the union reported that they will be organizing other actions to keep up the pressure and hold employers and the government to account in the coming days and weeks until their demands are met.

New Westminster and Victoria City Councils
Support Hotel Workers

City councils in New Westminster and Victoria unanimously endorsed motions in support of hotel workers' right to recall to their jobs, on February 23 and March 4 respectively. Both councils affirmed "that people should not lose their livelihoods due to the pandemic" and committed to writing to the provincial Ministers of Labour and Tourism expressing their support for the right for laid off workers to return to their jobs when the pandemic eases. Each council also decided to contact their counterparts, the Lower Mainland Local Government Association, and the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities, and the Union of BC Municipalities, "encouraging them to host future conferences and events in venues that respect workers rights and pay at least a living wage."

In a letter to the Hilton Metrotown in Burnaby dated March 1, Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley wrote: "The economic impact of COVID-19 on hotel workers, particularly women, has been devastating. Women who have cleaned rooms, cooked meals and served guests for decades deserve fair treatment during these difficult times. Instead, the Hilton Metrotown Hotel has been treating them like they're disposable and this is not acceptable. I urge you to guarantee these women their right to return to work."

New Law to Permit Unlimited Borrowing

Liberal Pay the Rich Scam to Increase Borrowing from Private Lenders

Hotel Workers Hold Militant Action on International Women's Day

New Westminster and Victoria City Councils Support Hotel Workers

Liberal Pay the Rich Scam to Increase
Borrowing from Private Lenders

Hotel Workers Hold Militant Action on
International Women's Day

New Westminster and Victoria City Councils
Support Hotel Workers