Justin Trudeau: the king of corporate handouts
- Details
- Wednesday, 27 June 2018
- Marco La Grotta
Canadian big business has a friend in Justin Trudeau. At the end of June, it was revealed by CBC news via an Access to Information request that the Liberal government wrote off a loan to Canada’s auto industry in March. The exact amount of the loan and its recipients are unknown due to the heavy censorship of those documents which CBC obtained. However, it is highly suspected that GM and Chrysler were the two companies concerned, both of whom have amounts in arrears on commercial loans to the Canadian government to the tune of $1.15 billion as of March 2017. These loans, $1.3 billion for Chrysler and $220 million for GM, were given as part of the bailout of Canada’s auto sector after the financial collapse of 2009. In total, the Canadian government injected $13.7 billion into the auto sector at the time to keep it afloat.
There has been a recent increase in the number of people crossing the U.S.-Canadian border seeking asylum in Canada. Right-wing nationalists in Quebec and Conservatives in English Canada have been using this question in a disgusting manner to sow fear and division, claiming that the border is a “sieve” and that “we shouldn't have to pay” for the influx of refugees, etc. These very same people maintain the hypocritical stance of supporting corporate bailouts and cuts to public services while claiming that there is no money to help people fleeing the racist demagogue south of the border. They also conveniently ignore the dastardly role that Canadian imperialism played in destabilizing Haiti.
As federal and provincial governments prepare to spend $500 million on the celebration of Canada’s 150th “birthday”, Canadian workers continue to be forced to accept privatizations, falling living standards, and austerity.
On Friday 23rd June, Fightback’s editorial board sat down to discuss with 2017 NDP leadership candidate Niki Ashton. Based upon that interview, and Ashton’s statements since the start of the campaign, Fightback has decided to support Ashton’s candidacy and encourage all socialists to do the same. 
On Friday June 23rd, the day after Niki Ashton gave what was generally considered a commanding performance at the 
On April 13th Trudeau’s Liberals tabled a bill in the House of Commons to legalize marijuana in Canada. Following their reversal on many key campaign promises, the Federal Liberals seem to be bending to pressure and are actually delivering on something! Legalization is undoubtedly popular among young people and nearly two thirds of the general population is supportive. But as they say, the devil is in the details and in typical Liberal fashion, there are some nasty little details.
Canadians have voted for change and rejected the austerity of the Harper Conservatives. However, Canada’s labour party, the New Democrats, did not capitalize on this anti-austerity mood. Under former Liberal Tom Mulcair, the party moved rightwards and adopted a tone of extreme moderation. This disillusioned the population looking for change and allowed the Justin Trudeau Liberals to fill the rhetorical vacuum on the left.
Canadian politics has been plagued by a debate about the niqab. Federal party leaders have been trading barbs over the issue in public statements as well as during the most recent French-language election debate. Plagued by the Senate corruption scandal and a sputtering economy, this niqab debate has arrived as a godsend for the Conservatives who seem to have gained new life in the polls. But what is this debate really about?
Second-class citizenship has now become a reality in Canada. Bill C-24 - the “Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act” - came into effect on May 29, granting the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration the ability to strip dual-citizens of their Canadian citizenship.
As this article is being written, the federal Conservative government is rushing to pass Bill C-51, also known as the “Anti-Terrorism Act”. This bill has arrived in the wake of highly publicized attacks, both in Canada and abroad. During the unveiling of his new legislation, Prime Minister Stephen Harper proclaimed, “A great evil has been descending upon our world, an evil which has grown more and more powerful — violent Jihadism.” These are frightening words, but what will the Conservative's fear mongering mean for our civil liberties and democratic rights?