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Saskatchewan Federation of Labour
Year Published: 1978Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX795 A paper on government spending, wealth distribution, inflation and a variety of other related topics. Abstract: The focus of this newspaper is expressed in the following excerpts from an editorial entitled "Confused Priorities." "Depending on which economist's opinion you accept, Canada is currently suffering a recession, depression, inflation, stagflation or a "period of restraint," Whenever a call is made for funds to provide what might be termed "people programs," government and corporate spokesmen trot out "the cupboard is bare" arguments. But if the project in question is dear to the hearts of business (i.e., will add directly or indirectly to their profit margins) the necessary funds miraculously materialize. Canada finds $5 billion for armaments over the next five years, but let the Canadian Labour Congress call for a $50 increase in old age pensions, and federal politicians claim (regretfully, of course) that there is just no money for that sort of thing. The Anti- Inflation Board grants Ian Sinclair, Chief Executive Officer of the C.P.R., a 1977 salary increase of $3,650 . That brings his annual income up to a modest $330,450! Meanwhile, with the cost of living climbing at nine per cent a year and management offering six per cent, woe to the union that asks for eight. "Unreasonable," "greedy," "fanning the flames of inflation" and all that. "the moral of the story: society has some strange priorities. The problem is not lack of money ; the problem is that too few people have most of it, and too few people control how it is spent!" The paper also deals with the increased harassment of workers across the country, the women of Fleck the provincial strike scene in Saskatchewan, and the continuing unabated unemployment and inflation. Subject Headings |