I’ve always said I’m really for post secondary education and I think we really need to consider that in the 2011 Canadian Federal Election especially. It’s one of the most important decisions we make this year with post secondary education costs rising.

The Liberal Party lead the investment for post secondary education with $1 billion.
The NDP has committed $700 million to post secondary education.
The Conservatives have also committed $700 million to post secondary education.

So at what cost to Canadians does this come at?

The Liberal Party

The Liberals want to increase corporate taxes by 3% above the proposed conservative corporate tax rate of 15% which essentially means the equivalent of a hidden 3% HST for Canadians.

The NDP Party

The NDP party wants to reduce small business taxes, and increase spend on most social programs which many see as too extravagant in the spending for a recessionary period. Looking at the NDP’s financial history they certainly haven’t demonstrated the ability to balance the economy.

The Conservative Party

The Conservatives are able to still commit $700 million new tax dollars towards post secondary education while being committed to reducing the national debt and leading the world economically. With their $13 billion committed towards jails I think we need to make them shift tax dollars towards education instead.

Questions We Need to be Asking

Just like any credit card company or bank we need to be asking at what cost these budgets are coming. Lets face it if every Canadian gets $1k a year for a 3% hike on prices for everything that’s probably not going to be worth it especially if there’s the potential those tax dollars are being taken away from the schools. The Family Pack proposed by the Liberals seems great but it’s going to come with a real cost that most people don’t see.

It seems very clear we need to make the current government more accountable to more spending on education and less on jails. When has any nation ever prevailed from putting people in jail? While I agree we need to be more strict on jail sentences I think we can all agree it’s time we recognize the significance of investing in education. Canada currently depends far too much on natural resources and commodity exports. In a time when 75% of our exports are going to the US it’s a clear sign we need to diversify our markets into more of a service oriented market by increasing education budgets, and investing in business. This should be a top priority for Canada as we all know the real wars are not fought on the field anymore… they’re fought in the classroom.

Make Your Vote Count in 2011

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Posted in Politics by Adam J. Humphreys No Comments Yet