Despite the change in government, Ottawa has continued with the same failed trickle-down economic policies of the past.
The most obvious sign of this was the fact that in the first Liberal budget, not one cent of Stephen Harper’s $60 billion in wasteful corporate tax cuts was reversed.
What has been the end result? It leaves less money for things that help families, like improving our health care system or expanding affordable childcare options. But it is helping Canada’s big banks.
The banks have had record profits. Just last week, RBC posted $2.7 billion in profits. That’s a 17 per cent increase at a time when many Canadians are struggling with job losses, stagnant wages and slow economic growth.
There have been huge bonuses to CEOs. Last year, the big banks took their corporate tax cut and handed over $12 billion in bonuses to executives.
At the same time, the banks are laying off workers. This at a time they made profits of $973 million in the second quarter alone.
The Bank of Montreal has revealed plans to lay off 1,850 people. That’s on top of the almost 5,000 workers the big banks showed the door last year.
Our New Democrat caucus is leading the fight to ensure that banks and profitable corporations pay their fair share. Reversing decades of failed policies and getting the new government to do the right thing won’t be easy. But it is important.
It is time that banks and corporations paid their fair share.
