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Prime Minister too expensive

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservatives are unaffordable economically, democratically and environmentally.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservatives are unaffordable economically, democratically and environmentally.

Since taking office, their policies — not the recessions or oil prices — have nearly doubled our debt to $700 billion.

Why is the Canadian Taxpayer Federation (CTF) not shouting about this? The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is. Their 2014 report identified direct tax-payer subsidies to “extractive industries” while not taxing them for “externalized costs” (ex. environmental degradation and health problems due to pollution) as factors in Canada’s alarming debt growth.

The IMF calculates this subsidy to be $34 billion-plus a year. Why?

Among other things, investigative journalist Michael Harris documents Harper’s long-standing connection to the Koch Brothers network in his 2014 Party of One. Online Spiegel (09/10/15) documents the Koch’s network to be more of a political entity in the U.S. than either political party. Even Donald Trump quips about them.

They are active in Canada. The Kochs are American multi-billionaires whose fortune flows from oil and related industries.

According to Harris, they have been involved in the Alberta tarsands for more than 50 years, controlling half a million hectares while heavily invested in shipping (incl. pipelines) and refining diluted bitumen.

Is this why we are not refining the bitumen on site, generating Canadian jobs while shipping a less toxic, more value added product?

How is this good economics?

Meantime, actual publicly funded independent social and environmental scientific researchers are silenced while their capacity to do research is destroyed (Maclean’s Sept. 18/15).

Without accurate information and transparency, we have neither a functioning democracy nor a market economy.

We need change. If you agree, please consider the NDP’s Gord Johns. Johns has a proven environmental record; owns an eco-business; and has illustrated he works well with others.

Yvonne ZarownyQualicum Beach