Friday, October 3, 2008

Stéphane Dion needs to go! The PMO did NOT do a good JOB at all!

OK
StéphaneDion needs a new job ASAP!
The green party did well.
The NDP did well.
The PMO did NOT do a good JOB at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Conservative Campaign Against Ontario & On the Economy:

Jim Flaherty, is bad!



Conservative Campaign Against Ontario

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Almost since taking office, the Conservative government of Stephen Harper has courted controversy with the government and people of Ontario on a number of fronts.

Peter Van Loan Peter Van Loan, Conservative House Leader (Source: pm.gc.ca)

On Democratic representation:
The Conservative government’s Bill C-22, introduced in November of 2007, seeks to reallocate the number of seats representing each province in Parliament. The bill allocates ten new seats to Ontario, just half of what a fair redistribution would deliver based on that province’s population growth relative the rest of the country. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty protested the bill and, for his concern, was accused of being the “small man of Confederation”[1] by Ontario Conservative Member of Parliament and Federal Government House Leader Peter Van Loan.

On Funding for Cities:
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities represents hundreds of communities large and small. Dozens of them are in Ontario, including Toronto, Windsor, Hamilton and Ottawa. On November 20th, 2007 the FCM released a report outlining its analysis of the amount of funding required to bring the infrastructure of Canada’s cities and communities – roads, sewers, water systems – up to modern standards. Their total: $123 billion.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty countered that the Conservative government was not in the “pothole business” and labelled municipal leaders “whiners.” [2]

Jim
Jim FlahertyFlaherty, Minister of Finance

On the Economy:
The Ontario economy has been hit hard of late. The major impact has been on the province’s manufacturing sector, which has lost 100,000 jobs since January 2006. Statistics Canada reported, in July, 2008, the Canadian economy lost 55,000, the most in 17 years, including 95,000 private sector jobs. The manufacturing sector in Ontario alone lost 41,000 jobs [3].

The Conservatives have claimed that their preferred response is to cut taxes, rather than “picking corporate winners and losers”[4] through public investments in private sector industries. Numerous observers however have pointed out that ths cclaim isn’t consistent with the government’s actions, which have included the funnelling of more than half a billion dollars for “long-term development” in communities in Quebec.[5]

With regard to the tax-cutting strategy, the single largest tax cut implemented by the Conservative government has been to the GST. Critics point out that the GST cut (down from seven per cent to five per cent) costs the treasury between $11 billion and $12 billion dollars annually and, as economists say in near-universal agreement, provides little economic stimulus (a high cost for a low return).

But perhaps most controversial in Ontario were the remarks made by the Finance inister Flaherty in a Toronto speech in which he accusedPremier McGuinty of undercutting the Ontario economy by keeping business taxes too high: “If you’re going to make a new business investment in Canada, and you’re concerned about taxes, the last place you will go is the province of Ontario.”[6]

References
[1]] Hansard, November 11, 2007
[2] Calgary mayr tells Flaherty he's got a shovel and hard hat for him Canada NewsWire, November 22, 2007
[3] CANSIM 282-0088, Statistics Canada, February 2008
[4] It's politics as uual for Flaherty; Federal minister's fud with McGuinty no surprise, but carries some obvious risks, Toronto Star, March 10, 2008
5] Toryy ridings in Quebec get more funding; Province enjoys disproportionate amount of economic development money, Ottawa Citizen, March 10, 208; Toryy ridings in Quebec get more aid: analysis; Minister denies any bias involved in regional development, National Post, March 10, 2008
[6] Flaherty calls Ont. ``last place'' to invest due to tax regime; calls for rate cut, Canadian Press, February 29, 2008

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Good news for the NDP maybe?

Health Care, Economy, Environment and Poverty Will Define Next Federal Election
…Governing Conservatives seen as more capable of handling the economy, but Liberals hold the upper hand on the environment.

Many Canadians claim that four issues will be very important as they ponder their choices in the next federal election, a new Toronto Star/Angus Reid poll has found. In the online survey across Canada, 79 percent of you cited health care as a "very important" issue when you decide which party to vote for in the next federal election. The economy was second on the list with 75 percent, followed by the environment with 61 percent, and poverty with 53 percent.

Five other issues did not reach the 50 percent mark in the "very important" category: the War in Afghanistan (39%), the fiscal imbalance (37%), funding and infrastructure for cities (35%), child care (32%) and Canada-U.S. relations (30%).
Click here to read more.

election_chart

Canadians Tend to Support Insite, Believe in Harm Reduction
…Some misconceptions about facility remain: 19% of members mistakenly believe that Insite provides drugs to users.

Roughly two-in-five Canadians support the operations of the first legal supervised injection site in North America and believe in the concept of "harm reduction", an Angus Reid Strategies poll has found. Our results showed that 38 percent of ARF members support Insite—a facility that has operated in Vancouver since 2003—while 23 percent oppose it and 39 percent are undecided. In British Columbia and Alberta, more than 50 percent express support for Insite. In all other regions, at least 40 percent are not sure.
Click here to read more.

BC Residents Divided on the Actual Effect of the Carbon Tax
...Respondents split on their willingness to pay higher taxes on fossil fuels if they also get an income tax cut.

Adults in British Columbia are divided in their assessment of the way the provincial government’s carbon tax has affected their household finances. In the online survey, 49 percent of our members say the carbon tax has severely (18%) or moderately (31%) affected their household finances, while 51 percent report only a slight problem (27%) or no trouble at all (24%).

Members continue to hold mixed views on the new tax. A majority (54%) claims that putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions is a good idea, but only 38 percent believe the carbon tax will ultimately lead people to be more mindful of their carbon consumption and change their behaviour.
Click here to read more.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Stephen Harper will not be on The Hour

Stephen Harper is not going to be on with George Stroumboulopoulos.
What the hell is Stephen Harper thinking this is not good PR at all.!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Power Readers in Politics: Canada thank you Google

Explore news sites read by the party leaders and political journalists.
See shared articles on prominent people and issues in Canada's 2008 federal election.

http://www.google.ca/googlereader/powerreaders/index.html

Google was late to the party but there here now.