News Items:
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News Items:
<NEW> (posted June 9, 2008) Reality Check: Liberals Suddenly Concerned About Gender Equality
<NEW> (posted June 9, 2008) Reality Check: Liberals Suddenly Care About Auto Industry
<NEW> (posted May 29, 2008) First Nation's National Day of Action
<NEW> (posted May 17, 2008) Boshcoff Embarrasses Northerners
<NEW> (posted May 17, 2008) The Seniors Charter of Canada
<NEW> (posted May 12, 2008) C-J Letter to Editor Response
<NEW> (posted May 12, 2008) Day of Mourning Statement
<NEW> (posted May 12, 2008) Harper's Corporate Handouts
<NEW> (posted May 12, 2008) The Four Agreements are..
John Rafferty: Reality Check
Reality Check: Liberals Suddenly Care About Auto Industry
Today, CAW Local 222 workers remain outside GM headquarters in Oshawa to protest the bad faith bargaining that has resulted in the company announcing that it will cease production of trucks at the Oshawa plant in the third quarter of 2009.
It will come as a surprise to many to find Liberals MPs like John McCallum joining them today.
It will come as a relief to the autoworkers and the community to find that the federal Liberal Party has finally begun to show some interest in the crisis facing Canada’s auto sector.
They sure have come a long way:
- When the CAW rightly criticized the Conservatives’ 2008 budget saying: “blanket corporate tax cuts have had no visible impact at all on business investment spending, which has remained stagnant in Canada despite record business profits and falling business taxes.” (CAW press release, 26 February 2008), Liberal MPs said the exact opposite: “Liberals are in favour of corporate tax cuts. We came to that conclusion before the government did.” – Liberal finance critic John McCallum, Hansard, 2 April 2008
- On Tuesday, when the GM decision was announced, NDP leader Jack Layton led Question Period by challenging the Conservatives to adopt NDP ideas for a green auto strategy in Canada. What did Liberal leader Stéphane Dion ask about on behalf of auto workers?
“Mr. Speaker, before it was made public, was the Prime Minister ever told about Madam Couillard's past by any security official, government official, member of his staff or anyone else?” – Stéphane Dion, House of Commons, Hansard, 3 June 2008
- Over three years ago, when environmentalists and the Canadian Auto Workers were calling for federal leadership to reduce fuel use by cars and trucks, Liberal MPs including Stéphane Dion voted against an NDP motion to “legislate mandatory improvements to vehicle efficiency in all classes of light duty vehicles sold in Canada.” (House of Commons Journals, 22 February 2005)
- In government, Liberals promised an auto strategy they never delivered: “Over the next couple of weeks we will be putting together the final touches on an automotive industry strategy for all of Canada.” – then-Liberal defence minister David Emerson, House of Commons Hansard, 2 November 2004
The fact is, over 13 years in government and now in opposition Liberals have only shown interest in the auto sector when it’s in trouble.
Jack Layton and the NDP are fighting for fairness for autoworkers.
Submitted by John Rafferty, NDP Federal Candidate for Thunder Bay Rainy River.