Policy Changes: Stephen Harper

Election Platform Dept: The Conservatives have buried major policy changes, none of which was in their election platform, in a 400-page piece of legislation, according to The Star. The strategy is to lump all these and other major initiatives into one massive bill. This serves to minimize public concern by limiting parliamentary debate and canadians are just now awakening to the widespread implications of Stephen Harper s omnibus Bill C-38. It may be too late to mobilize against it. The annual budget bill is intended to implement the government s financial plans for the year. But the prime minister has chosen to use it to weaken environmental legislation, raise the age of eligibility for Old Age Security and make sweeping changes to employment insurance. The bill amends more than 70 laws. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.