Honourable Eric Cline has not balanced the budget yet, he forgot our school-children |
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Nipawin - April 3, 2000 - By: Mario deSantis | |
they write off people and children |
We heave written many articles and we found that we cannot trust most of our political, business, |
academic, and bureaucratic leaders. These leaders all play the Gross National Product(1) (GNP) | |
number game and in doing so they write off people and children from their balance sheets and | |
come up with balanced budgets. Eric Cline, Minister of Finance, has delivered the budget(2), | |
however he did not address the social predicament of our school aged children who are at risk | |
of not getting a needed education. | |
budget is not balanced at all |
Cline has stated that this government "has supported the longest period of sustained economic |
growth since the 1970s." Cline has also prided his government for balancing the budget | |
beginning in 1994-95 and in reducing the debt by some $3.5 billion in the last 5 years ending | |
as at March 31, 1999. I have already stated that the minimal growth of GNP is not evidence of | |
progressive social conditions at a time when the economic and social policies are directed on | |
behalf of the few and privileged(3), and specifically against our school aged children and rural | |
Saskatchewan. Wayne Strelioff, Provincial Auditor, has provided the government with valuable | |
information about our 'troubled children'(4), and today I want to express the understanding that | |
Cline's budget is not balanced at all when we take into consideration the liabilities presented | |
by the social and economic conditions of our troubled children. | |
almost 25% in a span of 5 years |
We must understand that our aboriginal population is growing significantly and its average age |
is getting younger, while the population at large is relatively decreasing and getting older. I always | |
take projections with a grain of salt, but some studies have projected that the percentage of the | |
aboriginal population will rise from the present 14% to 45% by the year 2045(5). Also, the | |
aboriginal population living on reserves increased to 38,444 in 1996 from 30,893 in 1991(6), a | |
population jump of almost 25% in a span of 5 years. | |
aboriginal ancestry live in dire economic and social conditions |
Our population of aboriginal ancestry live in dire economic and social conditions, and as a |
consequence we can appreciate the difficulties their children are experiencing in getting an | |
education. Wayne Strelioff has stated that unless we identify these vulnerable children, they | |
will eventually experience chronic unemployment and they will require more public services | |
including health and justice services, social assistance, housing and adult education(7). In addition, | |
Wayne Strelioff has stated that in 1998 up to 91,000 children out of a total 227,605 children under | |
age 15 were at risk of doing poorly in school. | |
the real future of this province |
I am not a bean counter, but certainly it is important to highlight the economic liability of these |
children so that our governments will take the necessary public policies. I am going to be very | |
simple; let us say that these children will experience once they become adults an average loss of | |
salary of $20,000 per year and public services of $10,000 per year over a period of 30 years. | |
Therefore, without any discounting, the liability of these 91,000 children would be: | |
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The above calculated liability of $82 billion is just a number to make us think where our priorities | |
in public policies should be. Therefore, this government should stop playing with the GNP number | |
game and look after the real future of this province, all of our children. | |
--------------Endnotes: | |
Quote by Donella Meadows "challenging a paradigm is not a part-time job. It is not sufficient to make your point once and then blame the world for not getting it. The world has a vested interest in, a commitment to, not getting it. The point has to be made patiently and repeatedly, day after day after day" ftp://sysdyn.mit.edu/ftp/sdep/Roadmaps/RM1/D-4143-1.pdf http://iisd1.iisd.ca/pcdf/meadows/default.htm | |
General reference: Articles by Mario deSantis published by North Central Internet News http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/authors/desantis.html | |
Mayor Dayday's GNP Accounting: writing off our children, dumping people outside city limits, and building the Synchrotron, by Mario deSantis, March 1, 2000 | |
Budget Address: A Plan for Growth and Opportunity, Honourable Eric Cline, Minister of Finance, Government of Saskatchewan, March, 2000 http://www.gov.sk.ca/finance/budget/budget00/2000papers.htm | |
A World for the Few and Privileged in Saskatchewan, by Mario deSantis, February 18, 2000 | |
The greatest challenge for Saskatchewan: Education and Learning for our troubled children, by Mario deSantis, March 5, 2000 | |
Aboriginals poised to irrevocably alter political landscape, by Adam Killick, National Post, February 07, 2000 | |
Census Population, 1991 & 1996, Communities & Regions, INDIAN RESERVES, Saskatchewan Bureau of Statistics http://www.gov.sk.ca/bureau.stats/pop/pop1.htm | |
1999 Fall Report, Volume 2, Report of the Provincial Auditor, Saskatchewan, Chapter 2, Education, pages 117-132 http://www.auditor.sk.ca |
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