The Theory of the Canadian Politics
Power and control is what the Canadian government try”s to establish. Government engagement in business is becoming too strong as “in 1992, 6 of Canada”s 100 largest corporations were operated by, government or government agencies throughout Canada”, (Canadian Democracy pg. 88). The problem with government control in business is that it restricts sole proprietors from investing in certain aspects of business such as Ontario”s liquor industry.
In order to restrict government control of business three issues need to be taken into consideration; laws allowing privatization on crown corporations, more government attention establishing social issues that are out of reach to Canadian entrepreneurs for example education and health care. Furthermore incorporated laws need to be developed in order to minimize government control. As Canada moves into the 20th century economic policies are becoming too government controlled and as a result of this Canada is leaning towards a government run bureaucracy.
Minimal government control of Canada”s business will contribute significantly to a more prosperous Canadian economy. Which is why it is important for government control to be minimal and allow for privatization of crown corporations. In Ontario liquor sales are down 22% compared to a provinces such as Quebec who have a privatized liquor industry. Since Ontario currently has a greater population than Quebec, obviously liquor sales are higher due to privatization of the industry, which allows more business to be established which makes it more convenient for the consumer to buy because there are many more liquor stores.
However the liquor industry is only one of the primary companies that are government controlled. “Canadians who buy their gas at Petro Canada who watch CDC, TVO or Radio Quebec or who watch other provincial educational T. V networks, who travel Via rail or who pay electricity bills”(Canadian Democracy), are all contributing to government run alliances. To prove privatization has been successful the Quebec liquor industry, as well as the MBA programs at Universities such as Queens and McMaster are both that privatization is a success.
Since the government was unable to fund such programs to it”s potential, privatization was an obligation in order to have an efficient program (statistics shown on Queens and McMaster university web pages). Students in the MBA programs at these schools agree that privatization was effective as they now have more advanced resources to work with. Clearly facts have proven that a privatized business/program/industry, is more beneficial not only a Canadian economy but as well as society.
Another problem that Canadian”s face is that the government doesn”t focus enough of his attention on social issues concerning Canadians such as; education, health care, environment, welfare, foreign inspections on imports and Income tax. Many of Canada”s collage and university students are moving to the United States because the job opportunities are more abundant and income taxes are much lower. “Because the bulk of the education is paid for by the government (taxpayers) we are effectively subsidizing US industry by providing skilled labor.
Many conservative people argue that this is one reason why students should bear the entire cost of their education. This alternative would close the post-secondary door on many poor people in this country” (www. watleo. ca/~cdsmith/txs/education). An alternative is that the government should turn aside the money that they are currently paying colleges and universities into student loans. Once the student graduates and receives employment this loan could be paid back in the form of income taxes.
However if the student decides to work in the US their income tax will no longer compensate for the student loan, as they will have to pay off the loan personally. This method of educational funding would increase the number of students attending post secondary education because finance is a capital reason why some students do not attend collage or university. Another issue facing the Canadian education system is private schools vs. public schools. Canadian statistics prove that students attending private schools are more likely to attend university compared to people enrolled in the public system.
The government needs to offer better educational funding in order to provide additional teachers to cut class sizes, as well as more resources. These changes will decrease class size, which will offer more one on one student to teacher attention that will help students prepare for a higher education. Healthcare is another major social issue that the government needs to establish; it is important for Canada to reduce the cost of basic healthcare services.
Although Canada”s healthcare administration costs are low compared to the US, the US is associated with higher levels of medical research and development as well as increased amounts of advanced equipment i. e. “the city of Philadelphia has more MRI machines than all of Canada combined”(www. watleo. uwaterloo. ca/cdsmith. health. html. com). In Canada there are many people who abuse the healthcare system, in order to stop this, government should stop charging a basic fee for medical services and offer a tax refund for those who do not use the medical service provided.
This would increase the efficiency of the current universal medical system in Canada and wouldn”t cost the government any money, as the refund would be proportional to the savings, because not as many people would then use the medical system. In addition to social issues in need of government assistance, environmental funding is needed to research issues such as air pollution, water conditions, the ozone and animal habitat which is always an on going environmental issue.
On the topic of environment and health, the Toronto Star reported that inspection laws associated with NAFTA need to be stricter as poisonous strawberries imported form Mexico are currently being sold in the Canadian market. The National Post is reporting that 85% of Canadians are upset by the amount of money they pay in tax. StatsCan figures released on April 14th state that Canadians incomes are not keeping pace with economic growth. “We”re all working harder than ever and we”re not seeing our take home pay rise. It”s got to stop.
Governments must take action to cut taxes and increase real take home pay”(Ontario PC Party). The government also needs to flatten income taxes because each province in Canada pays a different income tax rate Quebec than BC being the highest. We could also lower our income taxes if we were to be like the US and impose income tax on inheritance and lottery winnings, which would allow government to reduce personal income tax. A further social government issue that needs to be worked on is welfare. Welfare laws need to be modified because people on welfare have no incentive to look for a job or enroll in training.
Welfare fraud is a big issues in some provinces of Canada (fraud and welfare abuse cost Ontario taxpayers an estimated $100 million last year), as well Canada needs to eliminate welfare payments to jail inmates as this is contributing to the millions of dollars wasted each year. It is made clear through the facts and evidence stated why the government needs to focus more upon social issues such as welfare, taxes, education, healthcare and foreign import laws. These government run programs are out of reach to entrepreneurs.
Thus Canada needs the government to concentrate and control theses issues, rather than infringing upon Canadian business and economy. Lastly Since research has proven no laws limiting legitimate government control over large companies these laws need to be established and enforced because the government already has to much control over the Canadian economy. Laws need to be created in order to monitor government control and creation of monopolies. Trough extensive research currently there were no laws found that entail government control of business.
Government already has a big impact on the pass of laws so this could be why there are no laws limiting their control of business i. e. Ontario liquor, CBC, Via rail, TVO, Petro Canada etc. However the part of business the government must stay in charge of are companies that produce money, the mint, nuclear power plants, army, police forces etc. These are all government run agencies that can not be privatized due to obvious reasons. If anyone could produce money than the Canadian dollar would have no value and the Canadian economy would crash, i. e. the Russian economy.
The issue concerning too much government control over business that can be run by entrepreneurs can be resolved by passing “fair” laws concerning government control over business. This law would limit the amount of control and what the government can control in the Canadian economy. In conclusion as facts have proven above Canadian economic policies are becoming too government controlled, which is resulting in a government run bureaucracy. As government monopolies are becoming to strong it begins to decrease entrepreneurial opportunities for Canadian citizens and is why all business should be privatized.
If the government were to allow privatization of some industries it would allow for more job opportunity, profit and a better Canadian economy. As well the government should concentrate more on social issues concerning Canadians such as healthcare, education, taxation etc, these issues could be emphasized on more by privatizing some crown corporations. Lastly law issuing limiting government control is allowed will result in a more prosperous economy. Therefore if all of these issues are handle more efficiently as outlined than Canada”s economy will be booming and it will create more opportunity in the job market for Canadian citizens.
