Does Canada really need a stimulus package?

Certainly we need something to kick start the economy. However when it comes to the Auto sector and other big companies they should only be given loans at a low interest rate and not free and clear grants as history has shown the funds will be abused and not used for their intended purpose. Example people flying in on private jets to beg the US Govt for money. Shameful.
Give middle income people a substantial income tax break and I underline substantial. Better yet eliminate Income Taxes period and raise the GSTby 2%. This will tax those who have fairly for a change and even the field a bit with all people paying in accordance with their spending.

In response to Robert Splane's comment on the reduction of taxes across the board. I have to agree we are completely taxed to death for such a small infastructured country. Make some incentive for those of us who have taken the step forward to start our own businesses and provide service to our clients the way the big corporations are suppossed to train you to do..but don't. We seem to meet dead ends on financial help..unless you put in a larger amount to start with, and possibly the banks or financial institutions will help. Clearly if you are abusing the system with nice perks for your top executives daily and weekends included, this is okay and by all means acceptable. What job were you hired to do in the first place? Lets get real here and wake up to this.

We all want to prospur and gain something for our hard work, to share and pass on to our children for generations to come. But if we are not going to stand up for our tax money and its expenditures than we have to say as usual..."be humble its okay".

Make anyone or corporation requiring the "Bailout of Money" work for it!!!

I Totally agree with the Comments of Mister Splane, and Working Harder. I too am a small business owner having to fend for Himself, There are few if any programs offered for us. But huge tax burdens are aplenty. Not to mention the added hassle of being a non voluntary tax collector. I am considering hiring some help as i work 12-14 hour days to keep my customer base attended to. But with all the wsib and related administration work required I'm not sure It's worth It. Being a father of four children a large tax cut would go a long way.

I am sick of being robbed from Banks and politicians...when will we learn...what has our great Canada become ?? They don't even try and hide the fact that they are robbing us anymore. Where are our leaders, where is the Justice for the Canadians ??

No fucking way !!!!!.......we need to stop feeding big business and get the fucking government hands out of the pockets of the hard working and over paying little people. Make life affordable for the people who do crapy jobs and have almost nothing to show for it. WAKE THE FUCK UP GOVERNMENT AND MEDIA TYPES ...AND STOP BULLSHITING THE PEOPLE AND DO SOMETHING.

Raise basic personal exemption to 12000.00, extend that same amount to each of the first 2 children in a family, this would mean a family of 4 would pay no federal personal income tax. Currently the government spends 3 dollars for every dollar it collects and the patchwork of federal and provincial welfare programs leaves the system open to fraud. Leave the money in the pockets of income earners, especially families.
A stimulus package focusing on infastructure seems counterproductive, there is still a lot of building going on here in BC and the biggest problem is getting skilled tradespeople, how will creating even more competition for those people help me?
Cut Federal gas tax 10%, pressure the provinces to cut theirs 10%, this will make the cost of all goods cheaper.
Cut taxes and fees for airlines landing at Canadian airports, it is ridiculous that the fees, surcharges and taxes on a flight from Vancouver to Las Vegas is 2X the one way fare.
Allow the labor portion of work done on homes to be tax deductible, we are creating employment, the landscaper, carpenter, plumber etc. has to pay taxes on the earnings, why can't we get a break by declaring these costs. This would also encourage Canadians to upgrade heating, ventillation, windows, etc. on their homes to save energy - part of the greening of Canada.
Lets all hope there are some new ideas tomorrow, not just the same lame duck ideas that have failed in the past.

Hi there all you dorks who didnt believe it was worth your while to bother voting....congratualtions cause you now have the govenrment you deserve!

There are no new jobs in Canada/North America because the cosat of setting up a business here is too high. That means taxes are too high for those who are ignorant of economics. That means that government spends to much on itself. It means that civil servants generally get to much money and have grossly inflated pensions. Since 85% of all ogvernment spending goes to salaries it is obvious where the spending cuts must come from?

Last winter civil servants in Lindsay, Ont literally held the town hostage cause a 3% raise in each of the next 4 years was an insult.

Last spring TTC workers held Toronto hostage cause a 3% raise in each of the next 4 years wasnt good enough.....especially since TTC brass wanted to lay off redundant mechanics. TTC has a bunch of new buses and they dont need as much repair work as the old junkers.....so the brass wants to lay people off and the workers think they own the place?

This fall, high shcool teachers struggle to reach a deal with school boards....and may yet strike as 3% raises on top of already gold plated salaries and pensiuon aint good enough.

This winter, elementary shcool teachers talk tough about going on strike cause they want 3% raises, maintenance of gold plated pensions and a reduction in the number of whiny brats they must deal with in the course of the day.

All the idiots mentioned above dont get it: they dont realize the country is bankrupt....and THEY are the primary cause!

how about the workers like myself, 40 years in paper mills to get a layoff then 1/2 of what i made.
from E.I plus wait a month for that
then these crying auto workers who can get a car to run more than 1 years waiting for big bailouts.

This bring us back to the first question ever asekd by a human being.. WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS! WHAT THE FUCK IS A STIMULUS PACKAGE! ZOMFG!

North America's biggest issue is allowing the markets from overseas to flood our country with imports, and take nothing from our country in return. Free trade my ass. They encourage the countries with no labor laws to allow companies to pay their employees much lower wages than what our minimum wages are, and it's a free for all for these countries to keep their workforces going, while ours line up at the unemployment lines. These bailouts do nothing to solve the heart of the problem, and will continue to rise until our exports are allowed into other countries fair. They scrapped the Auto Pact, which allowed us to make a vehicle if we sold one, and since it was scrapped the auto industry in North American companies have been in trouble since. Job well done......and our government is performing in the best interests of the people that elected them in? Bullshit!

Why should our tax dollars be used to bail out the "big three" when Government Agencies and Crown Corporations drive our streets and highways in vehicles sporting their department logos that are imported? The 1st support, a long time ago, should have been to buy DOMESTIC instead of using our taxes to buy foreign and then asking for more taxes to bail out the domestic auto makers!

I dont get how spending billions of public money while giving billions to corporations proficient at being sinkholes for billions and with proven inability to develop a bussiness plan for the future that works , is a solution for the economic situation in Canada!
I don't buy it, deficit financing our way out only sounds like, well like more debt ,to me. I am also aware that that President Wilsons "new deal" in the late '30's wasn't working in its time also, in fact it was failing until World War II came along.

Peter Schiff predicted the RealEstate collapse in the U.S. back 2-3 yrs ago, he's saying now that printing more money out of thin air will make things worse and that Government interference got us here in the first place. I think the media is finally starting to listen to his opinion, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrxzWWkZlr0

no bail out
They are using FEAR
They cause the PROBLEM, wait for your REACTION and offer their SOULATIONS.
Sounds like North American Union is starting to happen.
Time to start learning your bill of rights,the Criminal code and the Canadain Constitution.You will be amazed how far the Rabbit hole goes. Blue or Red Pill ? it's up to you.
Thinkfree

Forgot to add this link
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=r2qPZ9WqLy4
pass it on

namaste
Sandy

shut up

you guys are way too serious.......get a fukin life

Ok. People are getting a littled riled but lets get a couple of things straight.
1. Small business tax rate on the first 400K in Canada right now is about 14.5% (depends a little on your home province of course but thats about average). Not exactly stifling growth there.
2. Some income tax is obviously necessary to run the state so sorry folks, they aren't going to cancel personal income taxes so don't hold your breath.
3. Tax savings to the poor? You guys don't really pay much to begin with given Canada's progressive tax system (under 37K this year will only be 25% (Alberta rate not including all the social assistence)). Crack 75K and you hit 36% or worse. Which group is suffering more taxes? Your next argument is likely you make less so you need your money more? Guess you should have thought of that when you picked your career. Don't get me wrong, people should pay their fair share but why because I am successful and hardworking should I pay much much much more than you?
4. This stimulus is a poor idea that the conservatives got pushed into against their wishes. I can see a regionalized support in Ontairo & Quebec (hey we in the West have done it for quite awhile, might as well formalize it) however a national stimulus plan is just plain unnecessary. Its disconcerting to have people tell me its a depression when I can't physically find a parking spot at the local mall (yes I park my SUV on the nearest curb and leave it idling (my little bit for the oil prices/economy). Western Canada isn't in a depression people, we are slowing to not being in a crazy boom. Employment figures still peg as at about 1/2 the rate of the U.S (don't compare there employment #'s straight to ours, there formula is different and paints a pretty picture, right now they have around 2x the unemployment of Western Canada's 4%. So people settle down, while it is vogue right now to fear a "depression" we aren't anywhere near soup lines.
5. What scares me? The eventual inflation that is to come from all this. These stimulus packages aren't going to all be timely so they are going to kick in as the economy swings up. At the same time the large debt from the government is going to kick inflation into gear. 2 to 3 years we will be looking at 8-10% interest rates if we are lucky. The straw that will really break that is that invetors will never again consider any investment "low risk" and therefore a premium on interest income will be required. This situation could choke the cheap credit we are experiencing which has been the greatest advantage possible.
6. Lastly for all you large corporation haters out there. Large corps distribute profits back to their owners who happen to primarily be 40-70 year olds that are holding them as investments for retirement. They are, by and large, your older neighbors that live down the street and have some mutuals. Is that as evil as you paint it? And evil "foreign corporations" are owned by these same people and some similar ones from the foreign country.

Ok. People are getting a littled riled but lets get a couple of things straight.
1. Small business tax rate on the first 400K in Canada right now is about 14.5% (depends a little on your home province of course but thats about average). Not exactly stifling growth there.
2. Some income tax is obviously necessary to run the state so sorry folks, they aren't going to cancel personal income taxes so don't hold your breath.
3. Tax savings to the poor? You guys don't really pay much to begin with given Canada's progressive tax system (under 37K this year will only be 25% (Alberta rate not including all the social assistence)). Crack 75K and you hit 36% or worse. Which group is suffering more taxes? Your next argument is likely you make less so you need your money more? Guess you sh.
ould have thought of that when you picked your career. Don't get me wrong, people should pay their fair share but why because I am successful and hardworking should I pay much much much more than you?
4. This stimulus is a poor idea that the conservatives got pushed into against their wishes. I can see a regionalized support in Ontairo & Quebec (hey we in the West have done it for quite awhile, might as well formalize it) however a national stimulus plan is just plain unnecessary. Its disconcerting to have people tell me its a depression when I can't physically find a parking spot at the local mall (yes I park my SUV on the nearest curb and leave it idling (my little bit for the oil prices/economy). Western Canada isn't in a depression people, we are slowing to not being in a crazy boom. Employment figures still peg as at about 1/2 the rate of the U.S (don't compare there employment #'s straight to ours, there formula is different and paints a pretty picture, right now they have around 2x the unemployment of Western Canada's 4%. So people settle down, while it is vogue right now to fear a "depression" we aren't anywhere near soup lines.
5. What scares me? The eventual inflation that is to come from all this. These stimulus packages aren't going to all be timely so they are going to kick in as the economy swings up. At the same time the large debt from the government is going to kick inflation into gear. 2 to 3 years we will be looking at 8-10% interest rates if we are lucky. The straw that will really break that is that invetors will never again consider any investment "low risk" and therefore a premium on interest income will be required. This situation could choke the cheap credit we are experiencing which has been the greatest advantage possible.
6. Lastly for all you large corporation haters out there. Large corps distribute profits back to their owners who happen to primarily be 40-70 year olds that are holding them as investments for retirement. They are, by and large, your older neighbors that live down the street and have some mutuals. Is that as evil as you paint it? And evil "foreign corporations" are owned by these same people and some similar ones from the foreign country.

It seems that the government is about to spend or dump extreme amounts money into the economy for this generation at the expense of future generations. I think we still have a AA or better credit rating, maybe our generation could use a little hardship and have to actually work for the money they get over paid for. We will learn that money does not grow on trees. My grand parents grew up in the great depression, they always told me never to spend money you do not have or you will dig yourself in a hole, how deep of a hole will the government dig? possibly one so deep that we cannot crawl out of it.

As for the auto sector, is the government privately buying the company, it looks like they all are calling for a failure if the money does not come their way fast, these companies are not worth much as a failing companies, most likely less then the amount the government is about to dump into them. If a big business starts having problems, why should the government have to bail them out at the tax payers expense with no real promise that they can pay it back.