Austerity State Newfoundland and Labrador: Seconding the call for a Newfoundland Spring

The image of an “Austerity State” (or in this case an “Austerity Province”) is something we are not familiar with seeing here at home (though something similar was evoked during the 90’s). When one thinks of the word austerity one’s mind immediately skips to a Mediterranean country like Greece or Spain, where unemployment fluctuates between a fifth to a quarter of the population. Greece’s government, after all, took out risky loans from banks like Goldman and Sachs, and subsequently put the burden of its bad decisions upon its population. To be fair, the government of Greece was caught up in the Wild-West style thought of unlimited economic growth that has been propagated time and time again by the financial sector – a sector who coincidentally subsists off of people’s debt.

     However, with mass layoffs occurring in Newfoundland and Labrador (and we can only assume more on their way), we are now being faced with Greek style austerity measures right here at home. Our provincial government, at least as far as we know, did not accept ‘under the counter’ loans from shady banks as Greece did, but, like so many bureaucratic organizations, it fell into the myth of unlimited growth; it spent so much time touting how we were now, for the first time, ‘a have province’ that it never stopped to consolidate its new found wealth to stabilize itself. As early as 2011, careful research into the economic situation of the province was revealing a disturbing trend; research carried out as part of Occupy Corner Brook in 2011 found:

‘Our unemployment rate is currently the highest in Canada at 11.6%. Further the Department of Finance forecasts a drop from 3.0% Real GDP growth this year to 0.2% next year, as part of a declining trend in Real GDP growth since last year when it stood at 5.6%. Indeed, by 2014 this figure is predicted to go as low as -0.2%. A drop has also taken place, and is predicted to continue in the employment growth of the province, moving from 3.3% last year, to 3.0% now, and 0.7% by 2014.’ (Statistics Canada and economics.gov.nl)

 

      These figures highlighted the complete ignorance – even then – of the provincial government towards what was obviously a downward economic spiral (despite being taken from the government‘s own statistics); instead of being honest about the state of the economy, instead of listening to its citizens, the provincial government chose to pretend that ‘all was well with the world’ – not unlike the Greek government did. Now instead of maintaining, and possibly even creating long-term jobs, we are instead, even to this day, being fed a steady diet by our provincial government of the next ‘mega-project,’ like hydraulic fracturing, that will supposedly bring new wealth/jobs to NL. However not only do these projects represent massive environmental risks (indeed risks to one of our few strong economic pillars – tourism), but, with regard to creating long term jobs, they are highly dubious. For instance, a recent and well researched report on the possibility of job growth as a result of hydraulic fracturing on the West Coast found:

“There is very little evidence that the type of employment that would be created from hydraulic fracturing (a.k.a. fracking) would be long-term, especially compared to other industries such as tourism. There would be much employment involved in the construction of the wells, but such work is temporary. The operation of such wells, once construction has finished, is not labour-intensive. One must remember that the type of oil extraction here is not the same as that found in the tar sands in Alberta; the type of employment involved is entirely different.” (Edwin Bezzina, Description of the Job Issue surrounding Hydraulic Fracturing, http://hydrocarburesgim.ca/wp-content/uploads/EdwinJobs13.pdf).

  Time and time again our provincial government has abandoned  possibilities to distribute the wealth of the province to its people (troubling lapses since unemployment have increased since 2011), along with possibilities to create stable economic growth – instead favoring reckless short-term economic schemes and tax cuts for the wealthy. Even when the conservative government was touting our stature as a “have province” questions were being raised as to who exactly was in the “have,” since to this day many families cannot afford the exorbitant price of housing across NL, and food banks in NL never seem to see a day without use. The provincial government, like the Greek government, created a free buffet for investors, for big business, for those who know how to take advantage of short term economic prosperity. Meanwhile, they abandoned the needs of Labradorians and Newfoundlanders, creating an arguably ‘regressive’ rather than progressive tax system. There is even the possibility that the tax system in NL might become MORE regressive in the near future, stealing from (taxing) the poor to give to the rich. (See Call for a review of provincial tax cuts/increases. Occupy NL Sunday, March 31, 2013)

The latest target of the provincial government? Education.

     Our “democratically elected” leader, Kathy Dunderdale and her willing accomplice Jerome Kennedy are plotting the amalgamation of five of our school districts into just two, taking away local control over our children’s education and centralizing power in St. John’s. Post-secondary education is threatened as well with major cuts occurring for the College of the North Atlantic and the recent closure of the Stephenville Fine Arts Program; meanwhile more general venues for community education, like Arts and Cultures centers, are also being targeted for cuts. One would think that, if anything, now would be a perfect time to invest in education, to provide greater employment possibilities for future generations, a time to, in fact, develop and promote our cultural industries/resources, and perhaps even to educate people on the failures of foresight which have led to the current crises of supposed ‘debt.’ As a report “A plan for prosperity in Newfoundland and Labrador” by Professor Travis Fast (written November 2011) suggested, with fairer (and thus more progressive) taxation and investment in public infrastructure (e.g. schools and cultural institutions) the ‘downward spiral’ of NL’s economy could have been avoided, something the provincial government was warned about as early as 2011.

     What are our options? Dunderdale’s government has shown a complete disregard for the democratic process; from manipulating public opinion polls to keeping the House of Assembly closed for a prolonged period, the provincial government has shown a disturbing unwillingness to listen to its people, making it clear that normal channels of lobbying are no longer on the table (at least for citizens who don’t possess millions of dollars). But while this situation may seem bleak there are options.

     A recent blog post on the Occupy NL blog (On the union and the NL spring, Monday, February 18, 2013) has called for a grassroots movement to fight austerity and to support our unions here in the province, and I would like to second that call. In attacking students and teachers Dunderdale has made her greatest mistake yet, since it is precisely these people who have historically helped form grassroots organizations against austerity measures; students have already noted the impact of the cuts directly on their lives.

     Now is the time for all those who oppose austerity in the province (students, teachers, workers and citizens) to form anti-austerity committees, societies and working groups, to make the negative effects of austerity measures known and to expose the lies which are being used to justify it.

     As few as four or five people can form an anti-austerity committee, even an individual can make a huge difference; whether through organizing protests and petitions, or through editorials and homemade publications/pamphlets, we must utilize the tools at our disposal to oppose the promotion of austerity; austerity which suspiciously is being promoted just as the major unions in the province are negotiating new contracts. Access to information requests (which the government restricted just before this budget), citizen journalism, and the promotion of a supportive community for those affected by layoffs and cuts will help bring us together; rallies, protests, and public talks can quickly be made into realities; government can soon be persuaded that it is the citizenry of NL who hold the power in this province.

To quote a recent tweet by the Grenfell Campus Student Union: “The GCSU stands in Solidarity with students at CNA and condemns the privatization of education. Education is a right: unite, fight back!”

Now is the time for solidarity,

Long live the NL Spring.

You can watch a documentary on the cuts to the College of the North Atlantic and the Student’s response, called “The Students Fight Back” on the 4 O’clock Whistle’s new Youtube channel:

4OclockWhistleTV

Direct Link to the documentary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JXkZNcPYBM

Sources:

Call for a review of provincial tax cuts/increases. Occupy NL Sunday, March 31, 2013: http://www.occupynl.ca/2013/03/call-for-review-of-provincial-tax.html
On the union and the NL spring, Occupy NL Monday, February 18, 2013: http://www.occupynl.ca/2013/02/on-union-and-nl-spring.html
Statistics Canada: http://www.stats.gov.nl.ca/Statistics/Labour/PDF/

UnempRate_Monthly.pdf   

Economics.gov.nl: http://www.economics.gov.nl.ca/forecast/SEL_2011_07.pdf   
Description of the Job Issue surrounding Hydraulic Fracturing: http://hydrocarburesgim.ca/wp-content/uploads/EdwinJobs13.pdf
 A Plan for Prosperity in Newfoundland and Labrador (November 2011): http://www.nlfl.nf.ca/files/briefsandpresentations/a_plan_for_Prosperity_TF_nov_2011_final.pdf