Will the Candidate Please Explain

Publisher:  Research Office, Mission in Canada, United Church House, Toronto, Canada
Year Published:  1979
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX945

This is a set of reflections on the occasion of the current federal election with questions to be addressed to candidates in that election.

Abstract: 
This is a set of reflections on the occasion of the current federal election with questions to be addressed to candidates in that election. It was prepared in order to stimulate thought and provoke discussion. A tabloid newspaper, it includes an introductory letter by representatives of the three largest Church denominations in Canada. The bulk of the content is made up of reflections, questions and resources prepared by various church-related research bodies such as Gatt-fly, Project North, Project Plowshares, the Task Force on the Churches and Corporate Responsibility, the Task Force on Capital Punishment etc. Recurring themes are the growing dependency of the Canadian economy on imports of food and manufactured goods as well as the large capital flight from Canada as corporations invest their profits in development of their interests elsewhere and as the government launches a military buying spree increasing our public debt and forcing massive cutbacks in social services.

The broadsheet asks about the impact of large scale energy and resource development projects on our way of life. It questions the kind of democracy we have as corporate power is concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. As unemployment rises, the tabloid asks about the future the poor can hope for. Ultimately the presentations add up to asking "why our economic system is not being shaped in such a way that it can meet the basic human, political and economic rights of Canadians."