04) OMNIBUS BILL "ATTACK ON DEMOCRACY" SAYS COUNCIL OF CANADIANS

     On Oct. 18, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty introduced the Harper government's new 457‑page omnibus budget implementation Bill C-45.

     Toronto Star columnist Tim Harper listed some of the changes in Bill C-45 which "cannot be properly scrutinized (by MPs) to hold a government to account."

     These include: amendments to the Canada Shipping Act and the Fisheries Act; changes the definition of an aboriginal fishery; eliminating environmental restrictions on building a bridge across the Detroit River; amendments to the Indian Act to change voting rules for land designation; changes to benefits and salaries for federally‑appointed judges; amending the Customs Act to make it easier for the government to collect information on passengers; a temporary refund on Employment Insurance premiums for small business owners; elimination of the Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission; changing the Navigable Waters Act to eliminate impediments to pipelines, power lines or forestry equipment.

     C-45 will also mean new changes to the Environmental Assessment Act. The Bill makes workers pay taxes on their employers' contributions to group health and accident insurance plans, and sets time limits on worker complaints under the Canada Labour Code.

     The Council of Canadians strongly criticized Stephen Harper's first omnibus budget bill, and says Bill C‑45 continues "this undemocratic manipulation of our political system."

     "This bill calls our whole democracy into question," says Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council. "Laws are now made unilaterally by the Prime Minister, with no regard for the people or their parliamentarians."

     C-45 has been defined as a budget bill to ensure that the vote is a confidence vote. MPs - including Conservative backbenchers - cannot amend this bill, even to protect the interests of their own communities. As a result, warns the Council, the Prime Minister's Office, a small group of political appointees, now have more power than MPs.

     The last omnibus bill contained everything from the gutting of environmental assessments to Employment Insurance cuts. It extended the age to collect pensions, shut down long‑standing government agencies, and made fundamental changes to the Fisheries Act.

     Bill C‑45 again denies House of Commons Committees the chance to examine areas pertaining to their expertise. MP pension reductions, pipelines, small business tax credits, interprovincial trade rules, cross‑border travel and environmental assessments will be reviewed by a few members of the Finance Committee in a very compressed and superficial manner, says the Council. The group says it will stand with many organizations and individual Canadians in rejecting these tactics to remove political oversight and accountability.

(The above article is from the November 1-15, 2012, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)