Last year, with Stephen Harper at the careening wheel, the Government of Canada blessed some of the most profitable corporations in human history, Big Oil, with $1,4000,000,000 in subsidies, which was two-thirds of the value of all student loans taken out by students.

Climate Action Network Canada held a phone mob early in March to convince Stephen Harper to pull the subsidies out of the March budget. I’m expecting that with various document, in and out, and Oda scandals, as well as opposition intention to vote against this next horrible budget to force an election, Harper will pre-emptively dissolve [not prorogue] parliament on his own to avoid the black eye.

So instead of trying to influence the budget with Big Oil subsidies, this should be a campaign issue.

Harper works for big oil and aggravating climate breakdown instead of students, environmental sustainability and a future with ecological and human resource integrity.

We should ask the federal Liberals if they would shift the $1.4 billion away from Big Oil and into subsidizing something useful, like developing green energy capacity. I’ll guess no. After all, they oppose the F35 purchase, but only the lack of competitive bidding. They want the jets also. The Conservative-Liberal coalition has kept Harper in place all these years. I would be surprised to see if they would break from their Conservative leader on Big Oil subsidies.

So if you are a federal Liberal and can show us some policy on how a Liberal government would end Big Oil subsidies, I’d love to see it. Otherwise, a vote for the Conservative-Liberal coalition is a vote for F35s and continued Big Oil subsidies.