[news] Fw: The Greens are right, right?

[Paul Browning]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Murray Dobbin" <mdobbin at telus.net>
To: <mdobbin at telus.net>
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 2:19 PM
Subject: The Greens are right, right?


> Globe and Mail
> Wednesday, Jun 16, 2004
> The Greens are right, right?
>
> By MURRAY DOBBIN Globe and Mail Update
>
>
> 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 Canada?