Tax Cuts Still Won't Help Women In Need

Instead, my "tax cut" will go to a charity that helps women less fortunate than myself. Stephen Harper's government, in its trick-or-treat bit of vote-buying in which it reinstated a Liberal tax break it took away last year, once again gave women the shaft. Oh sure, the lowest wage earners among us, some 385,000 Canadians, male and female, were removed from the tax rolls. But, for the vast majority of women, who already earn less than men, the cuts still will not mean better work, health care, housing or transit. It will not put measurably more fresh food on the table, will not protect them from abusive partners and will not aid the isolated elderly. In short, it will not allow disadvantaged women to better themselves and get a brighter future for their children, which in turn means a healthier society for all. Remember, this is the government that gave us child-care chump change, a paltry $25 a week, barely a dent in the cost of decent daycare – assuming it's available in the first place. If a mother has no place to leave her child, how can she work? If latchkey kids are left to fend for themselves, what's to keep them safe and out of trouble? Surely not the government's proposed crime bill that is all punishment and no prevention. http://www.thestar.com/living/article/274029

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