--Boundary (ID BRKXheC41LXm75fhCiSTnw) The Chretien Liberals have been using deception in order to get themselves re-elected. This even leads them to suggest that if Canadians re-elect them for another term of office, there will be a change in the course of paying the rich and cutting massive amounts from social program spending. At a meeting with members of the Quebec City Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, May 15, however, Prime Minister Chretien made it clear that his re-election will mark another term of the society being held ransom to the rich. He proclaimed to the Chamber of Commerce that if he is re-elected the federal budget will be "balanced" within two years, surpassing even the promises of Finance Minister Paul Martin. Chretien explained how the Liberals have already shifted huge amounts of money away from spending on social programs and promised that this would not change until the deficit is completely eliminated. He said "we're telling Canadians you have to choose a government that will clearly establish the priorities - for the first time in a long time - for a balanced budget." "We'll be there in two years," he said, adding that "We won't change course." What are the people to do in the meantime? Why don't the Liberals balance the budget by asking the rich to wait for two years? In fact, the budget can be balanced even today if there were a moratorium on the debt and military expenditures were decreased, etc. Why are the Liberals not considering these options? In promising to make "deficit reduction" and a "balanced budget" the "priority" of the society, Chretien is declaring that the standard by which fiscal and budgetary policies are formulated will remain one in which only the claims of the financial oligarchy are recognized. The priority of a modern society must be to fulfil its responsibility towards all its members and guarantee the right of all people to education, health care and social security. "Balancing the budget" without this starting point has been exposed as a euphemism for fiscal and budgetary policies that recognize only the claims of the rich on the society. The Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada (MLPC) is presenting a political and economic program which would eliminate deficit financing and the enslavement of the society to the financial oligarchy by imposing a moratorium on the debt. Instead of increasing amounts of the public treasury being used to pay the rich, in the form of interest payments on the debt, the interest payments would be diverted to increase funding in health, education, and other social programs. TML Daily, May 1997 Shawgi Tell University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education [EMAIL PROTECTED] --Boundary (ID BRKXheC41LXm75fhCiSTnw)--