Stephen Harper's Government Reforms

Stephen Harper has been the Prime Minister of Canada since 2006. Since stepping into office he has continually changed the way that our society runs, and how we as Canadians live. He not only makes positive changes to our government but helps to keep all changes and laws that are set in place to run smoothly and effectively. The Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, constantly reforms his government through tax cutting, changing laws, and improving our way of life. In order for Harper to accomplish these tasks he has provided family tax cuts to provide more money to families with children, he created the violent crime act which will keep the streets clean and also improves our way of life with his accountability and reform of employment. In this

paper I will be arguing in support of the Prime Minister’s decisions through his government reform.

Since taking over the duty of Prime minister in 2006, Stephen Harper has effectively and successfully provided tax cuts to benefit Canadian citizens. First of all when he was elected back in 2006, the GST was cut back from 7 per cent then to 6 per cent and finally to 5 per cent. Also working families are helped by cutting income taxes at all levels because this lowers their tax bill. Seniors are also appreciating the lower tax rates as a result of the government’s action to introduce pension income splitting which allows increases to the Age Amount. Since the beginning of the Harper era Canada has been considered a more attractive place to do business. This came from lowering our corporate and small business tax rates. The Prime Minister also introduced the new “family tax cut” which is in the form of a non-refundable federal tax credit which means that it will not have effect on provincial income taxes and is capped at $2,000. The prime minister also announced a boost to child benefits. Formally children up to six years old would receive 100 dollars per month but now will increase to 160 dollars per month. As well as children aged six to seventeen will receive a bonus 60 dollars per month. This child care benefit comes is put into effect on January 1st 2015, all because of Stephen Harper’s actions to cut taxes which makes the child care benefits possible. Therefore before the next federal election families with children under 18 will be making 420 dollars per child in just three months. These tax cutting strategies implemented by the Prime Minister have proved to better our country and that is why I support Stephen Harpers government reform decisions.

Another step that the Prime Minister has made through government reform for the better of our country is changing laws.

In order to protect citizens and keep criminals off the street the Tackling Violent Crime Act was created. This act included two new firearm offences and intensifying the sentencing for serious firearm offences. This act also includes monitoring high risk offenders, a new rule for the investigation of drunk driving and raising the sexual activity consent age to 16 from 14. These laws were put into action because Canadians should be entitled to live in a safe society and without those laws firearms, dangerous and high risk offenders, driving under the influence, and sexual predators will all continue threating the safety of Canadians. Another reason why Stephen Harper running a reforming government is very beneficial is that he is able to make quick decisions to change laws in order to keep safety among our country according to recent events that occur. After a just recent shooting in Ottawa by Parliamentary Hill Stephen Harper decided he would like to act fast on this situation and enhance the powers of Canada’s spy agency and police forces. Stephen Harper was quoted saying “In recent weeks, I have been saying that our laws and police powers need to be strengthened in the area of surveillance, detention and arrest,” […] “They need to be much strengthened. I assure members that work which is already under way will be expedited.” This shows that by him making

changes to the law when needed, it can be useful to us as Canadians because when something does happen he can change up laws that are needed to be changed in order to make Canada the safest place that it can be. Harper has also implemented many other acts in order to keep Canada safe. Some of those include The Protecting Canada's Seniors Act better protects seniors by helping ensure tough sentences for those who take advantage of elderly Canadians, the Serious Time for the Most Serious Crime Act which ensures a "life" sentence means life by repealing the "faint-hope clause," which allows murderers to obtain early parole, as well as the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act which allows victims of terrorism to sue perpetrators, for loss or damage that occurred as a result of an act of terrorism committed anywhere in the world. These acts are an important part of keeping Canada a fair and safe place to live. These law changes that are made when need be is another good reason on why I support the Prime Minister’s decisions through his government reform.

One of the most important reasons why Stephen Harper has done a fantastic job at executing his government reform is his ability of improving our way of life.

Harper has implemented his great leadership and positive changes to the government in many ways such as his accountability and reform of employment. When elected Prime Minister and handed the accountability for Canada, Harper began to change the way politics were done previously in order to make Canada the best place it can be. To help guarantee that politicians were not being influenced by large donations, he banned both corporations and unions from giving political contributions. Harper’s government has also reduced the amount of money that individuals are able to donate from $5,000 to $1,100 per year. This will help cut back on the influence that politicians will receive from donations. Also, Harper has recently taken action in order to make the Senate more responsible for us Canadians. The government appointed Canada’s first elected Senator, Bert Brown from Alberta, and every other new Senator that is appointed is committed to reforming the Senate. Another way in which Harper has improved the way of life for Canadians is with reform of employment. Over his 8 year tenure, Harper’s government has helped out businesses that are in need of employees and it is easy to hire temporary foreign workers. Foreign workers are now employed by 33,000 companies across Canada and not just in the agricultural area but also in the

seafood factories, social services and construction. In 2013, Stephen Harper announced a reform of employment insurance that appeared to meet the demands of these employers. The reforms were directed at frequent applicants and seasonal workers mainly in fisheries and forestry industries. This reform improves the way of life for Canadians who own companies because they are in need of workers. These are very good examples of how Stephen Harper has been improving our way of life and why I support the Prime Minister’s decisions through his government reform.

To conclude Stephen Harper runs his government in a fair way as he constantly is making changes to improve his government as well as Canada as a whole. In this paper I argued in support of the Prime Minister’s decisions through his government reform. He is able to make positive changes to our government but at the same time keep all changes and laws that are set in place to run smoothly and effectively through tax cutting, changing laws, and improving our way of life. It is not an easy job being Prime Minister and Stephen Harper had helped to shape our government into what it is today. If it wasn't for his government reform we would be half the nation we are today, and we have him to thank for this"