Mulcair must tax the rich: Activists
‘Socialist caucus’ wants more say
Tom Mulcair’s New Democrats won’t have the money to finance their own promises in government unless they’re willing to realistically increase revenues and properly tax corporations and the “super-rich,” says a spokesman for left-wing NDP activists.
The comments came Friday from Barry Weisleder, chair of a group that calls itself the “NDP Socialist Caucus,” which was formed in the late 1990s to counter the party’s “drift” to the right.
Weisleder told the Citizen in an interview that Mulcair is “cutting himself off at the knees” by not considering a greater revenue stream.
And he said that under Mulcair’s leadership, the party has been moving further to the right.
“I see a further evolution of the NDP towards the neo-liberal agenda,” he said.
“It’s a continuation of the movement toward conservative policies. It remains a party linked to working people and the working class organizations in the country. But its leadership and the policies of that leadership continue to embrace the capitalist order.”
Weisleder stressed he wants to see Mulcair win the Oct. 19 election, preferably with a majority government, but his group wants to “shape the agenda” and push the NDP to the left.
“I don’t hear the leader claiming to be leading a left-wing party. I would like to hear that. And I would like to see the policies and actions to back it up.”
Weisleder spoke as the dynamics of the federal election campaign took an unpredictable twist this week and two parties appeared to trade spots on the political spectrum.
The NDP, which has traditionally advocated left-wing policies, moved decisively to hug the political centre as Mulcair categorically said the NDP would introduce a balanced budget and he blasted any party that would countenance a deficit.
By comparison, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau — whose party promises to hike income taxes for the wealthy — also announced it would spend billions on infrastructure projects and other initiatives to kick-start the economy, even though it would put the federal finances into deficit for three years
The development will likely leave some voters scratching their heads as they wonder who speaks for the political left in Canada.
Weisleder said he doesn’t trust Trudeau to act on his promises. And he said it’s important that Mulcair realize he will be hamstrung in his plans to implement progressive policies such as a national childcare scheme.
“Unfortunately, Tom Mulcair is cutting himself off at the knees. You can’t deliver the promises that are attracting people to the NDP policy.”
The self-defined “socialist caucus” includes members such as Weisleder who have attended past NDP conventions to publicly put forward their positions on resolutions. However, a party official said Friday that the group does not exist as a recognized entity within the party itself, nor does Weisleder have a position within the party.
Weisleder’s group is urging Mulcair to promise a national pharmacare plan, oppose further pipeline projects, adopt a more pro-Palestine position, and ensure “progressive taxation” policies.
“It will cost much more money to provide $15/day childcare and other vital social expenditures required,” says a petition circulated by the socialist caucus.
“The federal NDP should insist not only on plugging tax loopholes, but on steeply taxing big business, the banks and the super-rich, while phasing out the regressive HST.”
Mulcair has flatly said he will not increase income taxes for anyone. Mulcair promises to lower taxes for small and medium sized business. He has said the NDP’s yetto-be-revealed tax hike for large corporations will be “slight” and “graduated.”
On the campaign trail, Mulcair has proudly cited the NDP promises revealed so far, such as child care and increased Guaranteed Income Supplement benefits for seniors. He promises the platform will be fully costed.
“Our party has a clear plan,” Mulcair said in Montreal on Friday. “Our aim is clear. The NDP wants to defeat and replace Stephen Harper with a progressive, competent and prudent government.
“Our team is ready to balance the budget, rather than racking up deficits after deficits and doing it on the backs of future generations.”
But Weisleder said Mulcair is “making it difficult to implement his own agenda”, noting that pundits suggest the NDP is trying to counter the party’s spendthrift image. He said it appears that Mulcair and his team have decided to “hug the centre” to avoid criticism in the media and from other parties.
That strategy ignores the fact that “working people” in Alberta recently elected Rachel Notley’s New Democrats after a 44-year Conservative reign.
“People want change. And they want change that will not betray their hopes and dreams. That’s what we want, too.
“Because if you’re elected on the basis of milquetoast policies, all you can implement is milquetoast laws. And they won’t meet the needs of the majority.”
“That’s the conundrum, “Weisleder said. “If you want to make change, you need to tell people honestly, directly, forthrightly: ‘This is the change we contemplate and why there is no realistic alternative.’ Not hiding behind balanced budget rhetoric.
“It may be possible to balance the budget, and I’m not opposed to balanced budgets, but only if there is a revenue stream that comes from trying to correct the gross inequalities.”
“Where a chief executive officer in one of the big banks makes more in a day than most Canadians make in a year, that’s obscene.”
The NDP wants to defeat and replace Stephen Harper with a progressive, competent and prudent government.