The Harper Conservatives are using debate over a global bank tax to divert attention from their poor record on bank regulations and complete isolation on maternal health and climate change, Liberal Finance Critic John McCallum said today.
“Momentum for a global bank tax is already waning,” said Mr. McCallum. “The current ‘effort’ from the Conservatives is another diversion, as they want to claim victory over an issue that is already settled.”
The recent G-7 Finance Minister’s meeting did not even mention the bank tax in its final communiqué, reflecting a growing consensus that such a measure is not needed.
“Ironically, the call for a global bank tax was sparked by the same weak banking regulations that Stephen Harper supported when he was in opposition,” said Mr. McCallum. “Thankfully, Jean Chretien and Paul Martin didn’t listen to him, and put in place robust regulations that kept Canada immune from the worst effects of the global recession.”
In 2002, Stephen Harper lambasted Jean Chrétien in the National Post for “the failure to adapt bank regulation to the needs and challenges of a financial sector that is less and less national, and more and more global.”
“Unlike Stephen Harper, the Liberal Party knew before the financial crisis that more robust regulations made sense – particularly the need for banks to build their own capital – as Canadian banks did over the past 15 years,” said Mr. McCallum.
“Not only are the Conservatives trying to claim credit for Liberal bank regulations that they once opposed, but they’re trying to change the channel from the fact that they are globally isolated on maternal health and climate change,” concluded Mr. McCallum.
Yesterday, at a tightly-scripted event where questions from youth were censored by the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr. Harper responded to the softball questions by criticizing the media for focussing on “sideshow” issues like maternal health and climate change.
