Dear Editor:
The cartoon from last week illustrates Justin Trudeau taking a knee while pushing down on a beaver wearing a taxpayer T-shirt. The beaver strains to say “I can’t afford it.”
Talk about conflating issues, misunderstanding economics and downplaying the important cultural phenomenon that is Black Lives Matter.
First of all, I respect a world leader like Justin Trudeau demonstrating solidarity with oppressed people. Juxtapose our leader with the one south of the border who adds fuel to fires. I am regularly offended by those (often conservatives) who refer to all Canadians as “taxpayers.” How about citizens interested in the betterment of all Canadians?
Basic economic theory is unequivocal on governments sending cheques to citizens in a forced shutdown of the economy. Scared people spend less money, and this trickles down into the economy in a number of deleterious ways. To avoid a downward spiral in this type of recession, Canadian and world economists (not simply Trudeau) implement the idea of stimulating the economy by attempting to encourage spending.
For every dollar the government spends on stimulus they get back significantly more. Where do you think tax revenues on spending go to? The people with the least amount of disposable income spend more of it as a percentage of their income, and this helps our economy, families, and individuals to stay above water. That beaver needs an education, in more ways than one.
Josh Cranston,
Fergus