An Active Government for a Fair Economy

NDP MP Peggy Nash, The Mark:

We’re at an interesting and unusual moment in time, both here in Canada and around the globe. The understanding that profound inequality does exist within our economy has begun to take hold. With its populist slogan, “We are the 99%,” the Occupy movement has struck a chord with many of us.

I have entered the race to become the leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, but this is also the start of the campaign to become the next prime minister of Canada.

Canada needs, and deserves, a prime minister who understands that the economy must work for the benefit of us all, and who sees job creation as an important step in building a fairer society.

The two million Canadians who are effectively unemployed, or whose jobs are eroding, becoming temporary, part-time, or precarious, know that Stephen Harper’s policies have failed. The millions of Canadians who are living paycheque to paycheque, or who go from contract to contract, know that something has to change. Stephen Harper’s strategy of blindly giving away tax breaks to profitable corporations has failed. There’s no evidence that it creates the jobs he promised. Instead, it has left the social programs that so many Canadians rely on vulnerable.

A strategy to create value-added jobs, where we not only harvest our country’s vast natural resources, but also focus on keeping the processing sector in Canada, will mean we’re not exporting jobs along with our raw materials. The resulting value-added jobs will demand high skills, and will bring Canadian workers high pay. This will also mean that companies will create research and development centres close by in order to support workplace innovation and productivity, thereby reviving local economies and creating opportunities for local suppliers and businesses.

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