Lately labour and trade unions have been portrayed in a negative light by conservative media and business interests. Doing so may serve the interests of those casting the stones but the reality is that we owe unions our thanks for improving the economic and social well-being of working Canadians over the decades that they have been in existence.
OTTAWA –Member of Parliament John Rafferty (Thunder Bay – Rainy River) attended the inaugural meeting of the All-Party Entrepreneurship caucus today.
The stated goal of the All-Party Entrepreneurship is; ‘to be the grassroots voice of small business on Parliament Hill, giving all MPs a true understanding of the needs and aims of entrepreneurs,’ and is something that Rafferty said he fully supports.
In what may serve as the early political shocker of 2013 Alison Redford’s Conservative provincial government in Alberta announced last week that it would collect $6 billion less than expected this year from oil and gas royalties while running their fifth consecutive yearly budget deficit in a row. How can this happen to a province that has so much oil wealth? The answer is simple, bad government and bad choices.
For nearly a century veterans’ groups have been playing a historic role in the development of Canadian society. Unfortunately, in a long era of government expenditure reductions and shrinking membership Royal Canadian Legions are now muddling through difficult financial times. I think the time has come for us to give something back to these institutions and these members who given us so much in the past.
As this is my first column of 2013 I would like to wish everyone a healthy and happy new year. Last year was a very eventful year in Canadian politics, so here’s a bit of recap before we take a look at the coming year in next week’s edition.