The prime minister invoked the threat of global terrorism and his economic record to make his case for four more years in the kickoff to #elxn42 Sunday, August 2. But it’s his decade-long tenure that his critics say has posed the biggest risk to our democracy. Check out this score sheet.
42%
Average amount the income of the top 10 per cent of Canadians has grown since 2005. Meanwhile, the median net worth of the bottom 10 per cent of Canadians has shrunk by 150 per cent. Income inequality in Canada is growing faster than in most other OECD countries.
$60 billion
Value of corporate tax cuts since 2006. According to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, lower corporate taxes have caused the Harper government to cut federal spending markedly to balance the budget (some 37,000 jobs have been lost in the civil service), stifling economic growth.
$50 billion
Amount drawn out of the Employment Insurance fund. Under rule changes introduced by the Harper government, only 37 per cent of unemployed Canadians qualify for Employment Insurance.
20th
Canada’s position in Global Gender Gap rankings for 2013 (23rd in the UN Gender Inequality Index). Also worthy of note: 13 per cent of women in Canada live in poverty, and only 22.5 per cent of children have access to licensed daycare.
65%
Drop in overall funding to First Nations organizations, including a $255 million cut to the Aboriginal Affairs Department.
$36 billion
Reduction in federal transfers for health care to the provinces and territories over the next decade under new funding formula announced in 2011.
More than $34 billion
Subsidies received by Canadian energy companies in 2014, according to the International Monetary Fund. At the same time, the government has weakened or repealed some 70 environmental laws.
$20 million
Harper government’s spending on media monitoring of journalists, criticsand opposition parties between 2012 and 2014. Another $13.4 million was earmarked for Canada Revenue Agency audits of some 60 orgs’ charitable status, including environmental groups and international aid agencies. The government has spent some $65 million on self-promotional advertising in the last year alone.
120,000
Canadians who voted under vouching provisions of the Elections Act in 2011 but may not be able to vote in this election because of changes in the so-called Fair Elections Act.
2
Number of times Harper asked the governor general to prorogue Parliament – first to avert a vote of non-confidence in his minority government, second to short-circuit committee hearings into the Afghan detainees crisis.
With research from Broken Covenant: How Stephen Harper Set Out To Silence Dissent And Curtail Democratic Participation In Canada, by Maude Barlow.
