[news] (no subject)

[Sara Ehrhardt]

from :  
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/ 
RTGAM.20040616.wcodobbin0616/BNStory/specialComment/? 
query=Murray+Dobbin

The Greens are right, right?
  By MURRAY DOBBIN
  Globe and Mail Update
  POSTED AT 6:51 AM EDT
  Wednesday, Jun 16, 2004
It is intriguing to watch the coverage of the Green Party in the  
federal election because the conventional wisdom -- that it will take  
votes from the NDP -- is confounded by the party's actual policies.  
While the analysis is likely correct, a look at Green policies reveals  
that this party is really a Conservative alternative, not a social  
democratic one. Its fiscal, economic and even environmental policies  
would be a near perfect fit for the old Progressive Conservative party.

In fact, the Greens are led by a former Tory, Jim Harris, and under his  
direction have become the quintessential small government, pro-market  
party.

Their social analysis says virtually nothing about the structural  
causes of poverty, and their solutions borrow from both the former PCs  
and the Alliance. They talk about how a Green government would "enhance  
the existing network of . . . school nutrition . . . and food-bank  
programs . . ." to eliminate hunger in Canada. Those who study poverty  
with a view to ending it see food banks not as a solution, but as a  
symbol of everything that is wrong with the way governments approach  
poverty.

The party is committed to smaller government in a way that no other  
party is, except the new Conservatives. With respect to the devastated  
federal public service -- characterized by massive downsizing,  
unprecedented stress levels, completely inadequate staffing to carry  
out department mandates and years without real increases in pay -- the  
Green Party has a single response, and it sounds a lot like Stephen  
Harper's: "Reform the public sector to be more responsive and  
accountable." This is union busting by another name, and seems to  
promise the continuation of the right-wing assault on government  
employees. If you want the public service to be "responsive," the  
logical solution is to return it to functional staffing levels.

The Greens' fiscal policies are among their most reactionary and  
problematic. They toe the Bay Street line by promising to "lower taxes  
on income, profit and investment, to promote increased productivity and  
job creation." As for addressing the problem of chronically high  
unemployment, the party takes a page out of Paul Martin's book of  
maintaining extremely low inflation -- Greens will still fight  
inflation by putting people out of work unless unemployment rises above  
10 per cent. These policies have been notable failures for the past 15  
years -- lowering wages, increasing the productivity gap with the  
United States and creating mostly low-wage jobs -- and certainly have  
no place in the platform of a party that pitches its appeals to social  
democrats.

Any increase in revenue from promised Green taxes on "harmful  
activities" would be neutralized by lowering income taxes, the most  
progressive and fair taxes we have. The Greens also call for an  
increase in property taxes, a regressive tax. They are committed to  
using surpluses to ". . . reduce the national debt." In other words,  
the party is to the right of all the major parties, which are now  
committing billions for spending on social programs that Canadians say  
they want.

One of the most remarkable aspects of the Green platform is the lack of  
any commitment to using government legislation or regulation to  
accomplish core environmental goals.

Here are just a few examples: "The Green Party will: Empower  
[bioregional] stewards to seek intervenor status in legal actions that  
impact the health of the ecosystem; . . . work with local environmental  
groups to reduce pollution levels in the air, water and soil; promote  
sustainability through education; and monitor the diversity of species,  
the levels of pollution and the health of the ecosystem."These are not  
the actions of a government committed to using its mandated power to  
actually protect the environment. The party also supports the corporate  
sector's position on self-regulation: "The Green Party will assist and  
encourage Canadian companies to attain ISO 14000 certification, the  
international standard for management." The ISO 14000 has been almost  
universally condemned by the international environmental movement as  
ineffective and unreliable.

Those Canadians thinking of voting Green because they believe it is  
progressive had better do their homework. There is more to this party  
than the user-friendly name would suggest.

Murray Dobbin is author of Paul Martin: CEO for Cana
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 5142 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/news/attachments/20040616/1317fa1d/attachment.bin>