I was a bit puzzled by the coverage (Western News, July 3, Liberal heavyweight stops in Penticton to give support) of last week’s visit to Penticton by Ralph Goodale, the Deputy leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and former Finance Minister.
Mr. Goodale’s talk was almost entirely devoted to the state of Canada’s economy. He pointed out that instead of growing, our economy is actually shrinking, that we are importing far more than we are exporting (creating a huge and growing trade deficit) and that, contrary to Mr. Harper’s propaganda, we are not doing better than other G7 countries. In fact, Mr. Goodale pointed out that after almost 10 years in power, Stephen Harper has the worst economic record of any prime minister since R.B. Bennett in the depths of the Great Depression.
Mr. Goodale then laid out Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s five proposals to restart Canada’s economy, including the non-taxable, need-based, indexed Canada Child Benefit that will help nine out of 10 Canadian families with children. Also mentioned: immediate and large scale government investment in infrastructure, better access to post-secondary education, incentives for more scientific research and a commitment to a new environmental policy that will get Canada into the new green economy and restore our world reputation.
Very little of the Goodale speech was mentioned. Instead, the reporter concentrated on a question from a man who might have been an NDP plant.
Bob Nicholson
Penticton