Ottawa, June 08, 2012 -

Today, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance launched its annual pre-budget consultation process, which will result in a report to be tabled in the House of Commons prior to the December 2012 parliamentary break.

BY KATHRYN MAY, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN

OTTAWA — Federal public servants head into summer vacation with about 23,400 of them having been given notice that they could lose their jobs and Canadians still in the dark about what the Conservative government is cutting to reach its $5.2-billion reduction target.

About 5,150 public servants were sent notices in a dozen departments Wednesday, warning them their jobs are affected by the spending cuts and could disappear. This was the fourth round of notices to be issued since Jim Flaherty unveiled his budget three months ago.

From The Chronicle Herald

Scott Brison scored a surprising victory Wednesday when the Kings-Hants Liberal MP’s motion for Parliament to study income inequality in Canada surprisingly passed through the House of Commons.

Conservatives had signalled they would oppose the study and could normally have killed it with their majority. But the vote was not whipped, so MPs did not have to follow party lines.

In the end, 23 Conservative backbenchers broke ranks, to allow the motion to pass 161-138.

The Liberals and the NDP unanimously supported such a study. Parliament’s finance committee will undertake it.

The vote kicked off a mammoth voting session expected to last about 24 hours.

From the Hill

The House of Commons  passed Brison’s motion to do a study on income inequality in Canada.  Joanne de Montigny, a graduate student at U. of Ottawa who was in the gallery, reports. The process of conducting this study will hopefully provide some opportunity to raise significant issues and help to keep them on the public radar screen.

"the Standing Committee on Finance be instructed to undertake a study on income inequality in Canada and that this study include, but not be limited to:

(i) a review of Canada’s federal and provincial systems of personal income taxation and income supports,
(ii) an examination of best practices that reduce income inequality and improve GDP per capita,
(iii) the identification of any significant gaps in the federal system of taxation and income support that contribute to income inequality, as well as any significant disincentives to paid work in the formal economy that may exist as part of a “welfare trap”,
(iv) recommendations on how best to improve the equality of opportunity and prosperity for all Canadians; 

and that the Committee report its findings to the House within one year of the adoption of this motion." - from the motion as originally put forward

As our parliament considers a budget bill that would vastly transform our environmental protections in the absence of transparent public discussion, Canadian Council on Social Development is joining with colleagues across the country to say: Silence is Not an Option.

On June 4th, 2012, with over 400 other groups, we will be darkening our website and sending a single, unified message to decision-makers: Protect our Canadian values.  Our land, water, and climate. Our communities.  Our human rights and democracy.

Send a message now to your member of parliament and party leaders.

• Visit BlackOutSpeakOut to join the campaign and to access tools to make your voice heard. 
• Speak Out on Twitter, Facebook, and through your networks. 
• Email and/or call your MP. 
• And follow #blackoutspeakout during the day for updates and to join the conversation. 

In this historic Canadian moment, your voice has never been more important.

Thank you for speaking out and for standing up for Canada.