Chapter 6 – 9 Part 2

How do the economic platforms of political parties differ from one another? Political platform = official position of a political party on issues of importance. Outlines how they will spend government money. Vary greatly between political parties due to differing values, beliefs, and ideologies. Political parties formulate platforms by consulting their members so, platforms reflect their members’ values and attitudes. Ideology – a well thought out and organized collection of ideas and values. Since the U.S. has more of a market economy than Canada the U.S. government is less involved in providing health care than the Canadian government

Differing Political Perspectives In the U.S. for example; Democratic Party – generally supports the idea of government involvement in supporting social programs (i.e., health care) Republican Party – generally supports the idea of less government involvement in supporting social programs (i.e., health care) In Canada for example: Liberal Party – generally support rapid change, constant improvement of government funded social programs (i.e., health care or child care) and providing equal opportunities for Canadians. Conservative Party – generally support slow change, privatization of businesses, and cutting taxes that contribute to government over- spending (i.e., health care or child care).

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How is a political party’s philosophy reflected in its platform? Political Platform –the official position of a political party on issues of importance, their ideas and beliefs about how they intend to govern. A political party’s philosophy is reflected in its platform by the issues they focus on and how they act or make decisions surrounding these issues Social programs – are services provided by government and paid for by taxes that aim to reduce economic inequalities in society and promote the well-being of all citizens. Taxes – is a collection of a portion of its citizens income (Income Tax) or taxes collected on the sale of goods (GST & HST) by the government, to pay for the services it provides to citizens, such as social programs. Taxation model – government policies about taxation, such as what to tax, how much to tax, and how to spend taxes. An example of how a political party’s philosophy is reflected in its platform is how the Conservative Party of Canada cut GST from 7% to 5% because government funded social programs are less of a priority of theirs. They seem to prefer supporting private ventures over collective programs and allow citizens to use the savings in taxes to provide more for themselves however they see fit.

How does the underground economy impact the federal & provincial tax base & social programs? The “underground economy” includes all economic activity based on buying and selling products and services illegally. People can be viewed as part of the underground economy when they work without paying taxes. The term “underground” is used because it functions in secret from the government. Another name for the underground economy is the black market. The “tax base” includes all the economic activity in a society which the government taxes to pay for services. The tax base pays for the services provided by government, such as social programs. “Tax evasion” involves not reporting your economic activity, so government cannot collect the tax you owe. A person would be misrepresenting the taxes they owe. When people avoid paying taxes, health care and schools etc… become more expensive for all people and the quality of service in turn is lower. If people paid their taxes- their fair share- everybody’s taxes would be lower.

How do government decisions on environmental issues impact quality of life? Preservation is the strict setting aside of natural resources to prevent the use or contact by humans or by human intervention. Often the exploitation of nature and the trade of natural resources have been done in a non-sustainable way. This is causing increasing concern, as a non-sustainable exploitation of natural resources ultimately threatens human existence. The decisions that the government makes regarding environmental issues can negatively or positively affect quality of life in economic, social and physical ways. Government decisions can affect the energy choices available to Canadian citizens. Some examples of government decisions on environmental issues that impact quality of life: Governments can support public transportation initiatives that emit low-levels of green-house gasses (GHG). Public transit, such as Calgary’s Light Rail Transit (LRT), can reduce GHG emissions by reducing the number of people who drive to work and school. The federal government has provided funds to boost the production of bio-fuels, made from crops such as corn and sugarcane. In 2007, this drove up the price of food around the world. The Canadian government was involved in the development of the Kyoto Protocol. This protocol was the first climate-change plan that countries of the world negotiated. Canada at first agreed to the Kyoto Protocol, but its position has changed depending on the political party in power. The Kyoto Protocol set targets for industrialized countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by 2012.