Canada's real personal income has decreased by 5% i n the last 10 years, while the United States' real personal income has increased by 13% (3). Today, the gap between the Canadian and US personal income is some US$6,000 (CND$9,000) and therefore we must recognize that this economic under achievement is mainly the result of regressive and outdated economic policies of our federal and provincial governments. And our comparative under achievement doesn't limit to the US, in fact France has been growing three times faster, Norway six times faster and Ireland eighteen times faster.

Ireland has become the fastest growing economy in Europe and its social and economic policies are today taken as an example to follow by any other country. Lower taxes, foreign investments, research and education have been the main strategic components for the economic growth of Ireland(4).

In Canada , we have always pursued economic growth by attracting foreign capital, and therefore in the last budget an effort was put to improve our higher educational system by announcing the creation of 2,000 research chairs. In accordance to many politicians and economists what is left is to pursue the cutting of personal and corporate taxes. The creation of 2000 research chairs at the expense of improving the basic education of our youth is a debatable economic decision, and if we consider Ireland, we must point out that this country began to pour money into basic education in the 60's and only after that they put money into research and development.

If we refer to Saskatchewan, the cutting of personal or corporate taxes will not do, by itself, the trick to spur economic growth, especially so when one considers the tremendous and futile funding in research(5) at the expense of providing better education for our young children and our university graduates(6).

Most of our aboriginal people live in poverty, and their percentage of the population is expected to rise from the present 14% to 45% by the year 2045 and unless we focus on the needs of these people we will become a socially bankrupt province. Eric Cline, Minister of Finance for Saskatchewan, has been trumpeting economic growth for the last nine years(7), yet our real economic growth has been decreasing and deteriorating, and our aboriginal people are continuing to suffer in silence the consequences of these governmental policies. The highest economic priority of this province is education, then lower taxes , and certainly not the phoney research presently carried out by our universities.

References and Endnotes

CANADA'S ECONOMY IN THE NEWSPAPERS, by Brian K. MacLea n, MacLean's Economic Policy Page http://www.geocities.com/brian79/macecon.html

Articles by Mario deSantis published by Ensign

1. Canada's No. 1, United Nations says, Steven Edwards, National Post, June 29, 2000

2. The Rubbish of the WHO's Ranking and Saskatchewan Health, by Mario deSantis, June 25, 2000

3. CANADA'S STANDARD OF LIVING: WHY DO WE LAG BEHIND THE U.S.? Productivity is only part of the problem, Marc LE9vesque, Ruth Getter, May 26, 1999, Toronto Dominion Bank http://www.tdbank.ca/tdeconomics/marketanalysis/current/ml0526.htm

4. It takes more than a simple tax cut and the luck of the Irish, Madelaine Drohan, Globe and Mail, July 4, 2000

5. Research, Reputations and Responsibility, by Timothy Shire, July 2, 2000

6. Honourable Eric Cline has not balanced the budget yet, he forgot our school-children, by Mario deSantis, April 2, 2000

7. Budget Address: A Plan forGrowth and Opportunity, Honourable Eric Cline, Minister of Finance, Government of Saskatchewan, March, 2000 http://www.gov.sk.ca/finance/budget/budget00/2000papers.htm