☆ Bill C-38 ☆

The Conservative government has passed Bill C-38, proving, once again, that Adolf Harper is ignoring the tens of thousands of Canadians who spoke up against it and that our government does not give a damn about the supposed "Democracy" of our country. The truth is, our voices are not being listened to, even though they are being shouted loud and clear, and the Conservative Government continues to do what they please without Canadian citizen's consent. 

Okay, so what is Bill C-38? 

Bill C-38 is the Budget implementation bill in response to Harper's 2012 Economic Action Plan. This implementation bill is numbered C-38 and is wrongly titled by the government "The Jobs, Growth and Long-Term Prosperity Act." What a joke! The opposition put forward hundreds of practical amendments to stand up for the things we care about most, but all of it was ignored. 

This budget is a whopping 452 pages! If the Conservatives truly believed their changes were good for Canada, then why did they hide them in a 425-page budget bill?

And they are hoping Canadians wouldn't notice. 

Hiding in this bill are:

Changes to the Old Age Security Act by raising the retirement age to 67, making it harder for seniors to retire in dignity and security.

Employment Insurance made more difficult for hard-working Canadians to access when they need it most.

A $31 billion cut in health transfers, chipping away at the health care system. They have also weakened food and drug regulations, risking everyones safety and health. 

Nearly 300, 000 immigration applications are being dumped, so that the government can start off with a "clean slate," robbing those 300, 000 people of all the hope and time they've put into trying to get into Canada. 

Canada’s environmental protections have been gutted! The bill cuts back the environmental assessment of development projects, easing the way for industrial developments (such as pipelines) that could put the future of our land, water and climate at risk. 

There have also been 776 job cuts to Environment Canada. 

Attempts to silence voices of dissent against such developments by making it more difficult for environmental charities and agencies to participate in the public policy process. 

The budget will shut down agencies such as: National Council of Welfare, the Public Appointments Commission, Rights and Democracy, the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy, the Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal and Assisted Human Reproduction Canada.

It also changes the rules about acceptable donations to charities, by reducing the amount of money people can donate to charities that are considered too politically active and allowing the minister to withhold tax receipts from a charity if he or she feels the money is being used for political campaigns.

Meanwhile, while our environment is being slashed, the bill gave oil and gas insiders more authority to go ahead with big pipeline projects. 

(As you read this, a major cleanup operation is underway near Red Deer Alberta. More than 3000 barrels of oil leaked into the river, one of 600 leaks in the last year.)

Stand Up!

Aside from this bill being horrendous and a sneaky 452 pages long, the other problem is that, as well as the opposition, Canadians DID speak out against this bill in numerous ways. The massive "Black Out Speak Out" campaign formed the largest coalition of organizations ever assembled to demonstrate clearly Canadians do NOT support Bill C-38 and that Canadians do Not want it. There were also several petitions and demonstrations with thousands of voices. Parliament heard and they ignored those tens of thousands of voices. 

Canadians are not happy, and if you're not mad about these changes to our beautiful green country yet then you should be. Because this bill affects you and it will affect your children. That is unless something is done about it. Just because this bill has passed does not mean it's over. On the contrary, this is the time to speak out and get involved like never before. Environment charities and organizations are certainly not staying silent and they will be speaking out as well, so let's stand beside them and let the Harper government hear our voices roar!  

Let's help Canada get back on track! Open your eyes, speak up and speak out! Spread the word! Spread the message! Get involved in anyway that you can.  

"They want us to fail. We will not."

If you found this article to be helpful, please consider a small donation or visit the shop. Thank you for your love and support.