Editor:
Coast Reporter correspondents have called for more funding for our health services in general and care homes in particular. Others call for more funding for our schools, affordable housing, special needs, water storage and treatment and a halt to the further exploitation to our natural resources.
I’m afraid that Canada suffers from the same problems that other countries have and that there is unlikely to be any significant changes in the years ahead. Canada had over $5 trillion of debt the last time I looked (federal + provincial + P3 + household). Mr. Trudeau has promised to take us further into debt and expand our population at an even faster rate, thus increasing the demands on all services. All levels of government are under pressure to pay down their debt, find ever more revenue-raising stealth taxes and either freeze budgets or cut them while trying not to lose too many voters. Ontario, for example, spends more on servicing its debts than on social services.
A casual glance at the EU’s 28 member countries reveals what lies in store. No one is able to square the circle of sustaining, let alone expanding, public services without taking on more debt. Almost all of the U.K.’s state assets have been sold to the private sector to raise revenues to keep services afloat. Canada will continue to exploit its natural resources and, wherever politically possible, sell off public assets.
Paul Rhodes, Sechelt
