REGINA — With the economy posting negative growth in the first four months of the year, some economists say Canada is heading into a recession. But Finance Minister Joe Oliver says the country is still on course to post two per cent GDP growth in 2015. So is Canada entering a recession and, if so, is there anything the government can do about it? As a former finance minister and prime minister, Paul Martin is uniquely qualified to answer both of those questions.
"Recession is a technical term,'' said Martin, referring to the definition of a recession as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. "And we're going to find out if we're in one ... as soon as the next quarter's results are out. But if you look at the projections, they will tell you we are in a recession.''
For Martin, who was in town Monday attending federal Liberal Party meetings, the more important questions are: "What should we do about it, and what should we have done about it.''
Martin, who served as finance minister in the Chretien Liberal government from 1993 to 2002 and prime minister from 2003 to 2006, said when he and Wascana MP Ralph Goodale were finance ministers, they ensured monetary policy and fiscal policy complemented each other.
"It doesn't make much sense, when the Bank of Canada is an expansive mode, for the federal government to be in a restrictive mode and that's what's happening,'' Martin said, citing the Harper government's "failure to invest in infrastructure, discovery research, and education.''
He said the federal Conservatives are fixated on balancing the budget, not building infrastructure, at a time when the economy is struggling to keep its head above water. "Anybody who says 'I'm not going in invest in infrastructure because of the deficit' simply doesn't understand how the economy works.''
The federal government is also underfunding discovery or medical research. "The Canadian health care system is an enormously important social program. We should have invested in pharmacare, we should have invested in home care. These are the best ways of bringing hospital costs down,'' Martin said.
"But the health care system ... also gives us an enormous opportunity in the development of new pharmaceuticals, stem cells, and genomics."
Finally, funding education is the best investment a government can make. "I don't think there's an economist around who would not agree that the greatest return on investment any government can make is an investment in education.''
While education requires more federal funding "across the board," it's particularly needed in "very early years'' education and on-reserve aboriginal education. "The federal government, which is financially responsible for the education (of aboriginals) on reserves, is underfunding it to the extent of almost 50 per cent,'' said the founder of the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative.
If Canada wants to compete with nations of hundreds of millions of people, "you'd better invest in education of the population, and that includes the education of the most vulnerable, who happen to be (aboriginal people),'' he added.
While education requires more federal funding "across the board," it's particularly needed in "very early years'' education and on-reserve aboriginal education. "The federal government, which is financially responsible for the education (of aboriginals) on reserves, is underfunding it to the extent of almost 50 per cent,'' said the founder of the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative.
If Canada wants to compete with nations of hundreds of millions of people, "you'd better invest in education of the population, and that includes the education of the most vulnerable, who happen to be (aboriginal people),'' he added.
Can they be educated or do you just throw money at them with education even though there are no jobs for them on the reserves? Or does all the money just go towards purchasing grog?
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Your completely right, a timber nigger is always that, a timber nigger. The residential schools proved that! You can't simply dress a lion up like a horse and expect him to gallop, now can you?
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-09/indigenous-exchange-with-native-american-visit/6123978 (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-09/indigenous-exchange-with-native-american-visit/6123978)
An Native American woman from a reservation in the United States has arrived in Central Australia to exchange knowledge with local Indigenous groups.
Shalaya Williams is a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
She's currently working with tribal elders to research bush foods and traditional ecological knowledge, and is also a skilled horse woman.
Ms Williams says she's excited to be spending the next month in Indigenous communities learning about everything from camel management to bush foods.
"I came over here not only to tell our side of the story but to grasp their story and bring it home as well.
"Their connection with the land and our connection with the land is very similar, so I think it's great we're sharing these stories."
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So as you can see Somebody in all their wisdom set up a "nigger exchange" between the US and Australia, so the indigenous scum can come meet each other and "get each other's side of the story" about the bad White man!
I mean what were they trying to do ? Breed some kind of human weapon? Some hinderance race where they could drop on Iraq or Syria and trash their economy?
If Canada thinks the prarie niggers could be employed well it begs belief what they are going to throw their money at!
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