The Canadian economy is
passing through a very critical phase wherein:
-
Canadian
economy is looking up but still hobbling a bit moving forward with some
unsteady steps: disinflation, less than expected increase in exports, and tardy
rate of full time job creation being some of the issues staring in the face;
-
The
global economic recovery is fragile, unpredictable;
-
Chinese economy is not going to be the locomotive of
world economic rejuvenation;
-
US economy is just turning the corner but remains
unpredictable due to political circus in Washington DC and gradual withdrawal
of artificial respiration, i.e., Quantitative Easing;
-
European economy
is far from having come out of the after effects of bail-out support provided
to some its members to prevent them from sinking;
-
Emerging
economies have their own woes to deal with and are clearly struggling;
-
International
political scenarios are not providing any sense of calmness settling in.
At such a juncture, what is expected of the people who
practice politics at federal and provincial level, i.e., politicians? Answer is
simple: They need to focus on working together to strategize how to reinvigorate
the Canadian economy, put it back on a firm footing, and in the process ensure continuation
of a prosperous, happy, less stressful existence of the people.
If the country’s
economy does not get the proper focused direction, guidance and support what
could be the potential consequences?
There could be:
-
Cuts in Federal
and Provincial budgets for the various services Canadians have been benefitting
from for many decades;
-
Cuts in Federal
and Provincial budgets for many important sectors, like, education, health
care, senior citizen care, child support, R&D and many more;
-
Deterioration of overall quality of life of Canadians
which is matter of envy world over;
-
Delayed
retirement of thousands of people;
-
Nucleation/initiation
of social discontent/tension which may simmer and eventually stress the very
fabric of social integration and diversity;
-
Cut in funding
for international causes for which Canada has been a beacon of inspiration and
support.
So, at such a crucial phase of country’s journey in
this and future decades, the Federal and Provincial politicians’ paramount
objective should be to close ranks and focus on the solutions, planning and
implementation of strategies instead of diverting attention on issues which
are:
-
Either
nor germane to the above mentioned scenario – in other words, they are
secondary; or,
-
Solvable
in parallel while working on the PRIMARY issue of the nation, i.e., economy
of today and future.
At the moment,
the Federal parties seem to be spending their intellectual resources more on the
secondary issues, like, mis-appropriation of Senate funds. There is another
issue which can potentially divert the energy and focus of the Federal parities
for next several months, and that is: Electoral Reform. This is an important issue, and some opposition
parties may want more debate and analysis of the pros and cons but if all the
energy of the policy makers gets diverted to this one – there may be some other
issues too that may be thrown out there before the next Federal election in
2015 – it could herald serious harm because the policy makers would not be able
to focus on the PRIMARY issue facing the country: economy.
Issues like electoral reform (and others which may be
raising the passions of the political parties of different stripes) should be
dealt with in parallel with the focus on the PRIMARY issue. While
discussing the PRIMARY issue (economy), the parties need to close ranks and
contribute all the wisdom they can marshal for getting the most effective
strategy detailed out and implemented.
Canada does not
have the luxury of time – the folks at Federal and Provincial level got to act
fast. Whether it
calls for laying out new policies, making decisions on critical matters, removing
road blocks, facilitating coordinated action within and outside Canada,
whatever they may be, they got to be done fast. There is no time to
lose.
If the folks at Federal and Provincial level spend
their time and energy on inter-party shenanigans, the ultimate losers would be
Canadians of the present and the ones to come in future. Time and tide waits for nobody – if the
politicians of today fail to see the need to act on the PRIMAY issue, there won’t
be any point in ruing in future and wringing hands in despair and muttering “Alas,
we had acted unitedly then for the sake of the country instead of frittering away
precious time on secondary issues.” There
is an old saying: God helps them who help themselves, hope politicians of today
would realize this!!
