Thread by @cmusician

"Neoliberalism sees competition as the defining characteristic of human relations. It redefines citizens as consumers, whose democratic choices are best exercised by buying & selling. . . Attempts to limit competition are treated as attacks on liberty." 1/ .. #cdnpoli #cdnecon

"In the opinion of neoliberals, tax & regulation should be minimized, public services privatized. Unions & collective bargaining are market distortions that impede the natural hierarchy of winners & losers. Inequality is recast a reward for generators of wealth" #cdnpoli #cdnecon

Ed Finn: "Neoliberals view efforts to create a more equal society as both counterproductive & morally corrosive. The market (left free and unregulated) ensures that everyone gets what they deserve." 3/ .. behindthenumbers.ca/2016/05/11/wha… #cdnpoli #cdnecon

Promoters of neoliberalism claim that it protects & enhances freedom, especially the freedom to consume the products of a free market. But, as Monbiot points out, “Freedom from unions & collective bargaining means the freedom to suppress wages" 4/ #cdnpoli #cdnecon #neoliberalism

"Freedom from regulation is the freedom to poison rivers, endanger workers, & charge iniquitous rates of interest. Freedom from taxes means freedom from the distribution of wealth that lifts people out of poverty.” #neoliberalism #cdnpoli #cdnecon #inequality #poverty

And, in our own backyard: Doug Ford and neoliberalism: ‘Opening Ontario’ by shutting down democratic process .. canadiandimension.com/articles/view/… #onpoli

Doug Ford’s vision of democracy demands expediency & flexibility, achieved by removing “red tape” & “regulations” that interfere with the demands of “the people.” These principles reflect the historical legacy of former Ontario Premier Mike Harris .. #onpoli #OrderofOntario #LOL

"Ford has made use of several legislative tools to silence debate & push legislation through Queen’s Park. His most notable tool is known as time allocation, a procedure that allows a majority government to end debate on bills they bring forward." #Ontario #democracy #NOT #onpoli

Ford has used time allocation 80% of the time, including on Bill 5, all of his omnibus bills, his attacks on labour, & Bill 195. Debate was thrown out in the name of expediency through the power allocated to a majority govt, even if it was only elected by a minority of Ontarians.

"Ford’s attacks on green energy, labour, families of children with autism, health care, & the City of Toronto were proving to be quite unpopular for both himself & the federal Conservatives" .. #neoliberalism #topoli #cdnpoli #onpoli

"The imposed austerity enacted by Ford's govt was a threat to the federal Conservative Party. Ford used prorogation to not show up to work for 5 months, thereby canceling any ability for democratic debate & accountability at Queen’s Park." .. #Canada #Conservatives #cuts #onpoli

"The use of parliamentary procedures to avoid accountability & silence dissent would be foundational to what Ford would undertake next, using the crisis of #COVID19 as a convenient pretext." #Ontario #neoliberalism #deregulation #onpoli @fordnation

"Bill 195, Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19), was a law designed to remove the legal designation of state of emergency while granting the majority govt the indefinite ability to pass laws using emergency powers. It removes all accountability procedures." #onpoli

"While neoliberalism has consolidated a sort of permanent crisis state, #COVID19 & its associated public health & financial crises have compounded this further. A public health crisis can act as a camouflage for continued attacks against an already weakened welfare state" #onpoli

Chris Hedges: “A handful of corporate oligarchs around the world now have everything – wealth, power & privilege – while the rest of us struggle as part of a vast underclass, increasingly impoverished & ruthlessly repressed." #COVID19 #capitalism #neoliberalism #cdnpoli #cdnecon

Ed Finn: "Is there one big connection between all the social, economic, environmental & political problems we are concerned about? Let me give you this common cause: excessive & destructive corporate power." .. #Canada #inequality #capitalism #neoliberalism #cdnpoli #cdnecon

"Neoliberalism is the root cause of virtually every social, economic, political, & environmental problem we are now grappling with. And, by extension, it’s also the primary cause of the rapidly worsening global ecological crisis, the most frightening of all." #cdnpoli #cdnecon

The answers: 1) "There would have to be a widespread public awareness of the urgent need to curb corporate dominance – an awakening that would-be reformers could build upon." 2) "The movement to confront the powerful business elite would have to be soundly led & global in scale."

"The majority of the populace may not trace their unemployment, low wages, or shoddy living conditions to the inequities of laissez-faire capitalism, but they know that sweeping changes of some kind need to be made." #COVID19 #inequality #poverty #neoliberalism #cdnpoli #cdnecon

"Most of us thought that the exposure of blatant corporate infamy would lead to a strong political crackdown in Canada, if not in the U.S. Instead, the govt has allowed corporations to continue their iniquitous misconduct, & even lavished them with further tax cuts & subsidies."

Case in point: "Effective January 1, 2020, the Ontario lower rate of corporation income tax decreases from 3.5% to 3.2%." #onpoli #capitalism #neoliberalism

And .. "Canada's general corporate income tax rate was reduced to 11.00% effective July 1, 2019 and to 10.00% effective January 1, 2020." ..
#cdnpoli #cdnecon #inequality #poverty #capitalism

As well .. "Alberta's general corporate income tax rate was reduced from 10 percent directly to 8 percent, effective from July 1, 2020 - the lowest general corporate tax rate in Canada by a significant margin" .. #cdnpoli #cdnecon #ableg #neoliberalism #capitalism #inequality