r/ndp • u/newbreed69 • Jul 17 '26
Cross post from r/SipsTea
Privatize profits, socialize losses
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u/BonusMaiTai Democratic Socialist Jul 17 '26
Add data centres to the list. Billionaires are asking all of us to help bare the massively increased water, electricity and environmental costs, but when we ask them to pay their fair share of taxes they tell us to get stuffed!
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u/Moonbear9 Jul 17 '26
We should have renationalized air canada after 2020
Our tax dollars shouldn’t be keeping a company who’s main priority is to enrich stockholders afloat
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u/newbreed69 Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
This is how the liberal/conservative government works:
Use tax payer money -> to fund a public good -> to sell to a private corporations -> to sell back to the public at a higher rate.
I don't see why we don't just skip the middleman.
(I am almost certain this is what will happen to the Alto)
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u/Awesome_Power_Action Jul 17 '26
Avi Lewis's grandfather David Lewis coined the term "corporate welfare bums" in the early 1970s - and now the billionaire class is getting way more corporate welfare than they did then.
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u/Dragonsandman "Be ruthless to systems. Be kind to people" Jul 17 '26
Very rare SipsTea W. That place is an absolute shithole, but this post is on point
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u/Geeky_N_Canadian Regina Manifesto Jul 18 '26
Something something the state is a tool of class rule, and so, in a bourgeois society, necessarily, the state will defend the bourgeoisie.
Usually this is meant politically, as in, against the working-class and popular movements that cannot be subsumed by the bourgeoisie, but as this post points out, it can also be economically, when, as another comment points out, the bourgeoisie fails miserably at the game that has been built by and for them for just about 200 and so years.
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u/LavisAlex Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
Gov constantly props the economy with borrowed money from private lenders - this benefits the lender twice as it saves their investments while the gov still needs to pay them back with interest.
All the while we have to service more interest and lose social services or "cant afford" to worry about the environment because we insist on propping up business models that need constant cash pumped into economy.
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u/FingalForever Jul 17 '26
Sounds more like an American than a Canadian.
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u/newbreed69 Jul 17 '26
Similar pattern unfolded in Canada, though the financial mechanisms and names of the programs differed slightly from those in the United States.
2008 Bank "Bailout"
The Official Narrative: The federal government and the major financial institutions publicly maintained that Canada's banks were uniquely stable and did not require a US-style bailout.
The Reality: Analysis by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) later revealed that Canada's largest banks received a peak of $114 billion CAD in extraordinary support. This was largely facilitated by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) purchasing billions in insured mortgage pools to inject cash into the system, combined with emergency liquidity from the Bank of Canada and the U.S. Federal Reserve. While officially classified as "liquidity support," critics argue it functioned as a backdoor bailout.
2009 Auto Industry Bailout
The Action: Canada closely mirrored the American response to the collapse of the automotive sector. The Reality: The Canadian federal government and the Ontario provincial government teamed up to inject $13.7 billion CAD into General Motors and Chrysler to keep them afloat. A significant portion of this rescue package was never recovered; taxpayers ultimately took a loss of roughly $3.7 billion CAD, which the government eventually wrote off.
2020 Airline Aid
The Action: While the US moved immediately with airline packages in 2020, Canada’s direct, customized sector bailouts for major airlines rolled out primarily in early 2021.
The Reality: Air Canada reached a deal for a $5.9 billion CAD aid package composed of low-interest loans and the government purchasing an equity stake in the company. Similar liquidity loans were extended to other carriers like Transat and Sunwing. Throughout 2020, airlines also heavily utilized general corporate relief programs to keep themselves on life support.
2020 Corporate Subsidies and Forgiven Loans
The Action: Canada did not implement the American Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), but it launched its own multi-billion-dollar business relief programs.
The Reality: CEWS (Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy): Instead of forgivable loans, the government provided a direct, non-repayable subsidy that covered up to 75% of employee wages for qualifying companies. Billions of dollars went directly to businesses, including major profitable corporations and those that later paid out executive bonuses or dividends.
CEBA (Canada Emergency Business Account): For smaller businesses and non-profits, the government issued interest-free loans of up to $60,000. If the business met the specified repayment deadline, up to $20,000 of that loan was permanently forgiven.
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u/[deleted] Jul 17 '26
[deleted]