Another one of those moments that you do not know whether to laugh or cry: the Conservatives claim they have created 800,000 new jobs.
First I think Canadians have to determine what constitutes a job, because in my mind there are jobs and there is meaningful employment, two totally different animals.
One example would be the 1,100 new jobs the Conservatives created at one of Canada’s former premium Canadian employers, Air Canada. How about this – 20 to 32 hours a week at $10.80 an hour works out to $216 a week for 20 hours and $345 for a 32-hour week or at most, $16,560 a year. Is this one of the jobs that the Conservatives are so proud of?
Stephen Harper is taking Canada on a wild race to the bottom and his glorious vision of Canada appears to look a lot like a poor, dirty, polluted, corrupt Third World country.
So the next time you see a homeless person, don’t just assume that they are just lazy layabouts. Quite possibly they are in fact products of Harper’s 800,000 new jobs that the workers have to decide whether they want a roof over their heads or they want to eat. Brave new world, but not much in it for the 99 per cent.
Wayne Clark
