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Op-Ed: Government

OPINION

Pandemic has proven we’re a caring society; government budgets should reflect this

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JOLI SCHEIDLER-BENNS

Michael Wesch, a cultural anthropologist and professor, says there are three main questions that unite all of humanity. “What am I doing here? What am I supposed to be doing? And am I doing it right?”

COVID-19 has all of us asking these questions again even if we thought we had them figured out. Our gov ernments, for example, are starting to conclude that no, they had not been doing things right. Austerity measures our society has experienced over the last 40-plus years (from both Conservative and Liberal budgets at different levels) were based on notions of self-interest and greed.

I would argue our society is founded on ideas of care and social well-being.

That’s why governments are going to revisit their long-term care funding and approach. If we weren’t a caring society, then there wouldn’t have been the great national swell of sadness and outrage over our elderly dying the way they did in long-term care homes, like what occurred at Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon.

A pure capitalist would see the elderly as a drain on society and this outcome as a relief to our health care system. Obviously, this is not how we responded as Canadians. Instead we demanded to have an inquiry and expressed outrage over the needless loss of lives.

Prior to the pandemic we were already seeing cuts to our healthcare, education and social programs. Our long-term care home infection rates are shown to be a direct result to provincial cuts that had continued over several years.

Chicago School economists would say that gov ernments need to keep their hands off and let the free market handle things. This theory would say that everyone in competition with each other means that the strongest survive. Even if this were remotely true within a pure free market, the free market has never truly been free and is especially broken now. It rewards, dispropor tionately, the CEOs and shareholders; it disadvantages the rest of us — those who make up most of society.

A full 77 per cent of Canadians want to see more federal support to municipalities. Without support our city will be left with battered social services and broken infrastructure.

Municipalities will be the hardest hit having received less redistribution over the last several years. A full 77 per cent of Canadians want to see more federal support to municipalities, according to a recent Angus Reid poll. Without support our city will be left with battered social services and broken infrastructure.

There are ways to ensure we keep our social pro grams in place and from the same report 75 per cent of Canadians support instituting a wealth tax on the richest in society. Our economic budget should reflect our values of a caring society, focused on our social well-being and a fair recovery, rather than once again turning to cold and unnecessary austerity measures against the people.

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