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Federal government brings stable Canadian economy

Recently a letter was published to discredit the work the federal Conservative government has done since receiving a majority

Dear Editor:

Recently a letter was published written by Kyle Morrow, former Liberal MLA hopeful, in attempt to discredit the good work the federal Conservative government has done since receiving a majority mandate in the last election.

Mr. Morrow’s letter outlines various changes our government has made to keep the EI system sustainable for the future. According to Mr. Morrow, making sure future generations of Canadians will be able to have the same quality of life that the current generations do is a bad thing.

Our government disagrees. Mr. Morrow points to our shrinking deficit as a reason that our government’s record has been “abysmal.”

Unfortunately for Mr. Morrow, every other major organization in the world points to Canada as having one of the most stable economies in the world.

Forbes magazine has ranked Canada as number 1 in its annual review of the best countries for business; for the fifth year in a row, the World Economic Forum has rated Canada’s banking system as the world’s soundest; and both the IMF and OECD expect Canada to be among the strongest growing economies in the G-7 next year. The economy has added almost one million new jobs since 2009 and Canada has some of the strongest growth numbers in the G-7.

Our government has stimulated the economy when it was needed, and has a detailed plan to balanced budgets which we are on track to do within four years. Part of these changes includes changing the pensions for public servants and MP’s, saving taxpayers $2.6 billion over the next five years.

According to Mr. Morrow, saving taxpayers that much money is a bad thing. Our government disagrees.

Mr. Morrow’s letter also complains about our budget cuts while at the same time complaining about deficits, which is a laughable position. I am not sure where Mr. Morrow learned that you can cut deficits without budget cuts unless we follow the Liberal agenda to raise taxes.

Our government has cut taxes more than 140 times and we have no plans to raise them again. The budget cuts we made in the most recent budget were uniform across the board.

Our government understands the number veterans who served our country during the Second World War and the Korean War are sadly dwindling. The amount of money needed for these veterans accordingly decreases and these dollars are put toward our new veterans, who have returned from missions such as Afghanistan. For Mr. Morrow to assert that it is the Conservative government who is turning their backs on the military and veterans, while being a former Liberal candidate is laughable. There is a reason why the military refers to the years of Liberal governments as the “decade of darkness.”

According to Mr. Morrow, spending money to re-equip our military after years of Liberal cuts and investing in programs for our veterans is a bad thing. Our government disagrees.

Lastly, Mr. Morrow talks about member of Parliaments salaries in a last ditch effort to smear the government. What Mr. Morrow does not mention is that both MPs ’ salaries and operating budgets have been frozen for almost five years now. As I mentioned, further changes to public service and MP pensions will save Canadians billions of dollars in the coming years. Our government’s plan is going to benefit Canadians for years to come. It is a shame that Mr. Morrow would rather tax and spend during times of fiscal restraint.

Blaine Calkins, MP, Wetaskiwin