harper-panic_thumb-1.png
harper-panic_thumb-1.png This article is more than 7 years old

Ladies and gentlemen, Stephen Harper is beginning to panic

Have you noticed anything a little off about Stephen Harper today?

Did you notice anything a little off about Stephen Harper on Monday?

The first clue was a jittery tweet sent by the Conservative leader accusing the opposition of wanting to create “economic chaos,” as well as floating the idea that the opposition wishes to run deficits until the end of time itself: 

harper-economicchaos.jpg
Harper, on the other hand, ran deficits for six years in a row.

And the second clue?

The Conservative Party hit send on an apocalyptic doomsday e-mail Sunday night using words like “weak,” “fragile” and “turmoil” (in general) to describe the economy:

protect-our-economy-email.jpg
Weakness? Fragility? Turmoil?

What happened to the “strong economy” Harper used to talk about?

strongeconomy.jpg

Who then is really responsible for this “weak” and “fragile economy”?

It looks like Harper may have created more weakness, fragility and turmoil than he’s created jobs:

 Even as Canada headed into its second recession under Harper, corporate profits soared to a 27-year high

 Harper’s corporate tax breaks have not created quality jobs (those have hit a 25-year low), they’ve created a $680 billion pile of ‘dead money’ instead (fastest growing of any G7 country!).

Corporate Canada’s cash in offshore tax havens has exploded to $199 billion under Harper. 

Despite a drop in oil prices, Canada isn’t rebuilding its manufacturing sector and so manufacturing jobs are dropping to near record lows as jobs continue to be exported out of the country.

• And despite what Jason Kenney says, Canada’s entire economy has been taking a beating, not just the oil and gas sector.

• Canadian business investments in R&D is dead last in the G7.

 Since taking office in 2006, Harper boasts the lowest levels of economic growth and the worst job creation record of any Canadian Prime Minister in 69 years.

Just don’t expect Harper to take any responsibility for bad news.

Photo: creepyhalloweenimages. Used under Creative Commons search.

Our journalism is powered by readers like you.

We’re an award-winning non-profit news organization that covers topics like social and economic inequality, big business and labour, and right-wing extremism.

Help us build so we can bring to light stories that don’t get the attention they deserve from Canada’s big corporate media outlets.

 

Donate
PressProgress
PressProgress is an award-winning non-profit news organization focused on uncovering and unpacking the news through original investigative and explanatory journalism.

Most Shared

thumb-2023-03-06-conservative-women News

Ontario Budget 2023: Doug Ford Pulled a Sneaky Move to Quietly Cut Education

Related Stories

News

Conservative Party Casts Doubt on Qualifications of Women Cabinet Ministers

View the post
News

Ontario Budget 2023: Doug Ford Pulled a Sneaky Move to Quietly Cut Education

View the post

Explainers

Human rights & inclusion

Amira Elghawaby

Here’s The Problem With Hoping Corporations Will Be Socially and Environmentally Responsible On Their Own

View the post
Politics & strategy

Jeremy Appel

The battle of the PACs in Calgary’s municipal election

View the post
Politics & strategy

Jeremy Appel

27 Different Candidates are Vying to be Calgary’s Mayor. Here Are the Biggest Issues at Stake.

View the post
Newspapers always have a business section – why not a labour section? We’ve launched a free newsletter covering labour issues in Canada.
Get Canadian Labour News You Won't Find in Corporate Newspapers.
We’ve launched a free newsletter covering labour issues in Canada.
Get Canadian Labour News You Won't Find in Corporate Newspapers