Flaherty’s Circle of Advisors is Narrow
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says that the people on his new economic advisory council are all people he knows well. The problem is that they are all chairs or CEOs from banks, big business or large corporations. Who’s going to speak up for the poor, the homeless, the unemployed, families who are worried about their jobs and their mortgages, seniors whose pensions are in jeopardy, environmentalists who want to see a new green economy? Here’s who Flaherty needs to add to his advisors: someone from the Council of Canadians ( Maude Barlow?), from the Canadian Council of Churches, from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, from First Nations peoples, and from organized labour. Only then will he be able to say his council includes the concerns of all Canadians.
Leave a Reply