As the Harper Government tries to mount American Republicanism on the Canadian body politic, Canadians should be asking themselves "why?" What can American-style conservatism bring to Canada that we cannot achieve with traditional Canadian approaches?
The answer can be found by the simple expedient of following the money.
Take an example: the Harper Government, represented locally by Dick Harris of "stupid and blind" fame, would have you believe that the way to higher employment, and therefore better public services, is by lowering corporate taxes.
Since this blatantly fails the common sense test, the Harper Government uses complicated economic arguments imported from the U.S. to try to convince us that bringing in _less_ tax revenue will result in better government services.
Here is a simple test: what corporate tax rates do other countries have, and would we want to live there?
A quick Google search reveals the following: some famously well-run countries with great social services have high corporate tax rates, for instance Norway (28%), Sweden (26%), and Luxembourg (30%). Some places you might be less excited about moving to have low corporate tax rates, like Kazakhstan (15%), Montenegro (9%), and Uzbekistan (9%).
The point is that higher corporate tax rates are absolutely no impediment to a high standard of living and great social services.
So why is the Harper Government trying to bring Tea Party politics to Canada? Simple - conservative parties are supported financially by wealthy individuals (who own big companies) and by large corporations. Think the Koch brothers in the U.S. So the conservatives want to lower corporate taxes to make their rich supporters richer.
It's really not that complicated, and anyone who tries to make it seem so is probably trying to sell you something you don't want.
Stephen Rader
Prince George
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