Last week was a banner week for the Harper government. It announced the ratification of FIPPA. And it also announced a reduction in EI premiums -- not for employees, but for employers. David MacDonald writes:
The idea is that small businesses with a payroll of under about $550,000 a year will have a portion of what they paid in EI refunded to them. Only the employers get some of their money back, not any of the workers. Also, this is at a time when EI is so restricted that six out of 10 unemployed Canadians can't even get it.
This is going to cost half a billion dollars a year, but will only amount to a maximum of $2,200 per business. Even with this miniscule amount, Minister Oliver is flogging this as a job-creation strategy. Well if $2,200 is going to incentivize behaviour that can go either way and you don't even have to hire anyone -- you can get it by doing nothing.
It might help a bit if that money went into the hands of employees -- who would spend it -- and create some demand in the economy. But it won't do much for business. And, in fact, it will restrain job creation:
Say you're a business just over the $550,000 payroll cap. Why not just fire your summer student or cut back her hours to get yourself under the cap? Your reward for firing a student…a tax break! What if you pay minimum wage and don't want to invest in training? Your reward for sitting back and doing nothing…a tax break! Now what if you want to expand your business but you're close to the payroll cap? You may well think twice before hiring that person and losing your tax break.
What will the EI cut do? Simply add to the pile of dead money sitting atop the Canadian economy. Proof yet again that the Harperites are stuck in an ideological trough -- and that Daffy Duck is in charge of the store.
5 comments:
Harper handed Canada over to Communist China, as of Oct 1st for 31 hateful years. China fouled their own country and now they will foul Canada.
What the evil Chairman Mao Harper is doing is, putting Canada in Communist rule. Harper is having Canada's human rights, exactly as Communist China's government rule. China machine gunned their own students down. So, better not expect anything better from Chairman Harper.
As much of what I said? Chairman Harper is buying up, thousands upon thousands of ethnic votes. There are 431,000 Chinese, in Vancouver alone. They can now sue so, 45,000 are suing to get in.
Any way, it's pointless to say anything as, BC warned during Gordon Campbell's reign of terror? Harper and Campbell are evil snakes in the grass. And, here we are today. A beautiful country that, Communist China, has already begun to destroy and no-one listened.
Certainly Mr. Harper isn't listening, Anon.
Thanks for the link, Anon. Like Daffy, try as hard as he might, Mr. Harper just can't get it right.
well the people of this country voted for him and now they get to live with it, and in some cases even die because if it. who knows they just might do it again, next yr. so whatever happens, people have only themselves to blame.
They can get out and vote and they can vote ABC. It couldn't get any worse. if they don't like Mulcair and Trudeau, they can always vote for Ms. May.
We may not get rich with her, but at least we may hang on to our environment and that might be more important than money, in the future, because you can't drink tar and stay alive.
When people see the ads about how well the economy is doing, they ought to ask themselves: how many of those "strong" Canadian dollars are actually in my pocket and has my standard of living improved with the cons?
Sometimes people just have to take a leap of faith and believe in something other than what is happening currently because that hasn't turned out so well for military Vets, First Nations people, women, scientists, non profits who advocate for anything harper opposes, new immigrants who aren't millionaires, etc.
We have a choice, e.a.f. And, for almost a decade, we've chosen poorly.
There are alternatives to Harper -- although he's doing his best to convince voters that he's the best choice they've got.
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