OPINION
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Check your privilege at the door: Redefining Canada’s middle class
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till reeling from the outcome of the U.S. election, many of us find ourselves talking about the great middle class. Which party is really fighting for the middle class? What are they doing to create tax breaks and jobs for the middle class? Politicians always seem to talk about the great middle class and how they can help them. In the 2015 federal election in Canada, the Liberal Party was indeed successful due to its appeal to the socalled middle class. A year later, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is criticized for being the opposite of Robin Hood — robbing from the poor to give to the rich. And rightfully so. In the budget earlier this year, for example, the Liberals introduced a new Child Care Benefit. Families making up to $195,000 per year are eligible to receive some of the funds. A household with a total
BRYNNA LESLIE Capital Muse household income of $90,000 is entitled to the full benefit of $5,650 annually, tax-free. But wait a minute. A closer looks shows the biggest misnomer here is the term middle class. The Liberals threw around a bunch of shady definitions – people worried about retirement, those worried about not having a job in 20 years (which is basically everyone in the new gig economy), families worried about putting their kids through post-secondary school. But as the old Scotia Bank
commercials tell us, “You’re richer than you think.” Canada’s middle class, as defined by the federal Liberals, are actually among the richest people in the country. Statistics Canada tells us that individuals who earned $89,000 per year or more in 2013 are officially in the top 10 per cent of income earners in Canada. Despite this, politicians are successfully appealing to them at every turn by redistributing wealth in their favour. And yet, there are 4.5
Liberal’s taking electorate for granted I recently read an article in another publication, in which a key member of the Liberal Party of Canada proclaims the real contest in the anticipated federal byelection in Ottawa Vanier will be the Liberal nomination as opposed to the actual byelection.
I normally don’t like to weigh in on other electoral districts and their electoral decisions, but I have to voice my opinion on this piece of information. When a political party is so comfortable as to publicly state that a byelection is of no concern to them because they know they will
win, I am seriously concerned for the people of that electoral district. Albeit, Ottawa Vanier has been Liberal since its creation, in its present form, I don’t think the Liberal Party of Canada has any right to lay claim to supremacy over the voters that reside there.
million Canadians currently living below the poverty line. A report released in late November, to mark the 26th anniversary of Canada’s pledge to eradicate child poverty by 2000, is a sobering reminder that, by subsidizing wealthy citizens, we are failing the most vulnerable among us. Since the pledge to eliminate child poverty was made in 1989, the child poverty rate has jumped to 18.6 per cent from 15.6 per cent in a single generation. For children under six, the number is 20 per cent. Nearly one in five Canadian children are living in poverty. The statistics are far more dire among Canada’s indigenous populations. In Nunavut, 45 per cent of children are in poverty. In Saskatchewan, nearly 70 per cent of children living on reserves are in poverty. As politicians poise themselves as the defenders of the great middle class, it’s time they redefine precisely who
As a voter, if I resided in Ottawa Vanier, I would be upset at any candidate and party for implying that the byelection is insignificant compared to their party’s choice for the electoral district. Liberal Party of Canada, you have to be chosen by the electors and not just by some Liberal members in a tiny conference room. You have no right to claim who will or
these people are. Hint: It’s not those making six figures who are apparently worried about putting their kids through
and the poor – the 90 per cent of Canadians earning less than $89,000 per year. Even if you’re not a
‘Trudeau’s Liberals are neglecting families that could truly use a leg up. This includes the real middle class and the poor – the 90 per cent of Canadians earning less than $89,000 per year.’ university. If a family’s biggest concerns are whether to buy a second car, if junior can afford those expensive music lessons or “should we buy fair trade organic coffee this week?” they probably shouldn’t be receiving tax-free handouts from the government. By subsidizing the rich under the guise of “helping the middle class”, Trudeau’s Liberals are neglecting families that could truly use a leg up. This includes the real middle class
socialist at heart, there’s a good economic argument for eliminating tax benefits to the rich to target subsidies where they’re most needed. The poor will spend the money, because they have to, in order to put food on the table. Keeping Canadians out of poverty and encouraging spending would offer a much bigger boon to the economy than giving handouts to Canada’s wealthiest to help them pay off their massive consumer debts.
will not be the winner in the next byelection or election based on history alone. Why should the people of Ottawa Vanier continue to support and elect a political party that believes its voters cannot be swayed, that they’ll just keep coming back to the Liberal Party with little to no effort required to convince them? Perhaps the Liberal Party of Canada in Ottawa
Vanier needs a wake-up call? Perhaps they need a reminder that being Liberal doesn’t always mean you’re good enough for the people of Ottawa Vanier. Don’t be so smug in your attitude towards the electorate. It may come back to haunt you! Darcey Dupuis Ottawa
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