Comments on: Can we make lemonade out of these lemons? https://pamelacross.ca/can-we-make-lemonade-out-of-these-lemons/ Canadian feminist lawyer and women’s advocate Tue, 03 Jul 2018 19:19:34 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Margaret MacPherson https://pamelacross.ca/can-we-make-lemonade-out-of-these-lemons/#comment-259 Tue, 03 Jul 2018 19:19:34 +0000 https://pamelacross.ca/?p=1345#comment-259 Thanks for this Pam. Doug Ford has said “help is here!” for lower and middle class citizens. These are precisely the people who need help from the areas of government being reduced and who would benefit most from the promised increase to the minimum wage (that Ford has said he won’t implement). The not-for-profit sector who serve those citizens Ford identifies as “struggling” and whose jobs are most likely to be cut in the anticipated reduction of government funded services also don’t have pensions, few benefits and little security about the future. How is this not the most vicious of circles?

I blame unregulated capitalism. It’s what keeps people fighting for the scraps at the base of the social hierarchy. Even the scraps are deeply resented by those who never have to fight for survival. They resent paying taxes, they resent government programs that support those who are disadvantaged by the systemic greed, hate and corruption currently running our world. We have known for decades that ‘trickle down’ economics don’t work for anyone but the rich. And yet conservatives continue to invest in various forms of the same lie. In 2017 – five Canadian Bank CEOs got a 7 per cent pay raise to collectively earn $53.6 million. A single hockey player signed a $77 million dollar 7 year contract. It is clear who is valued and who is not. Those doing the work of squeezing the lemons won’t be able to afford the lemonade in Ford’s Ontario.

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