The federal Liberals are spinning like a whirling dervish and taking with them any shred of credibility that government spending on job creation had left. In a desperate attempt to counter the anger about the cuts to unemployment insurance, the Liberals dumped a few hundred million into a pot for job creation. Whether or not long-term jobs were actually created we may never know since today the primary purpose of information gathering is to stem the opposition assault. CBC Radio reported that HDRC has given out four different versions of the list of grants depending on whom they were trying to impress.
Truth is the first casualty of the spin cycle.
Those of us who believe that job creation cannot be left to the private sector alone should come up with better solutions than a bureaucratically controlled, politically influenced slush fund. Sam Ginden of the Canadian Autoworkers has come up with just such a proposal. Instead of job creation grants being doled out by a centralized bureaucracy in Ottawa, he wants to see the formation, at the municipal level, of Community Development Boards. The principle here is similar to the one that governs school boards, which were established to ensure that everyone got an education. Community Development Boards would ensure that everyone in the community has the right to a job or to prepare themselves for a job.