Another Way to Raise Revenue

Right.
The only ways that the deficit can be eliminated (by 2014??? Good grief) are by cutting spending (i.e. programs) or raising taxes.
Or, raising fees....a sort of tax....so today, word comes in the media that fees for all sorts of federal programs are going up. That is entry into National Parks, camping fees in those same parks....more to come.

Canadians who have very small discretionary money to spend, are once again going to be dinged.

It's hard to believe that Canadians voted these hosers into power.

And, if Ontario is not careful, and outspoken, it will vote another hoser into provincial power this October. Nothing short of frightening.

Now it's Happening!

Why are the unions so amazed?
The federal government is about to legislate the postal workers back to work, at a wage settlement that is LESS than they are now receiving!
Where did all these Canadians think the "savings" would come from that would result in eliminating the federal deficit by 2014? There are still only 2 ways to do this: raise taxes or cut the number of employees.
There are cuts in other federal departments, e.g. department of public works, and the staff are wailing.
Canaians voted this lot of people into a majority postion, and will have to live with what they do.
Our country will be forever changed by the time we get rid of the Harper conservatives.

The People Will Be Shocked

Balance the budget by 2014???
Programs will be cut, drastically. It will be staggering.

I wonder what will happen to support for sport. If the PM maintains the support for Own the Podium-type programs, he will have to take the money from the NSOs. And THAT will devastate some of them.

Suddenly, People Have Figured It Out!

Polls done within the last week, by the CBC regarding the PM's plans are showing that

• fewer than 60% of those polled agree with lowering corporate taxes


• fewer than 60% of those polled agree with cutting programs to bring the deficit down

Where were these people when Harper laid out those ideas and said he'd do them, if elected with a majority!

Theere are only 2 ways to cut the deficit: raise taxes or cut programs. Or both.

Just wait till programs begin to disappear.....as they say, he has 4 years to do this. Oh yes, that's if he follows the law, which he didn't do related to this election.

It's Begun

Incredible tactics of the PM:

• he appointed two defeated Tory candidates from the May election to the Senate. The worst example of patronage and blatant "too bad folks" in Canada's history. And that was the same day he announced his cabinet.




• it began before the election, with the cost of "security" for the G8 summit. Now, $2900.00/officer for one Sunday's security.



• June 2nd....chopping staff at Environment Canada and at the National Gallery. Not attrition; real, deep cuts

Another Harper Miscue

Advance polls for the May 2 election are on Easter weekend: Good Friday, Easter and the Monday. I just can't see myself going to the polls on Good Friday. Would Steven Harper go to vote on Good Friday? Maybe he'll be at church too........... http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/thesearch/archive/2008/09/10/why-stephen-harper-keeps-his-evangelicalism-very-private.aspx He goes to the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church. there is one (or more?) in Ottawa. Quotation from the above article......The Alliance Church, to which Harper has belonged for decades, believes Jesus Christ will return to Earth in an apocalypse, won't ordain women, strongly opposes abortion and divorce, condemns homosexuality as the most base of sins and believes those who aren't born-again are "lost."

Looking Worn

Mr Harper is looking worn and tired. All this defending himself and his government because of their lack of transparency, their sharp elbows (keeping students from rallies), MPs who mis-step.......it's getting to him. Betting has it that he will crash before May 2nd, date of the election. An election campaign is tough enough for any leader, but it must be emotionally exhausting for Harper to have to apologize (or at least consider doing that) almost every day.

No votes or Conservatives, Please!

This is not the time to vote Conservative, no matter how much you think your local candidate might be a good representative for your community.\ A few good reasons:

• Harper does not tell the truth


• Harper has now said that he didn't know about his Security Advisor's (Bruce Carson) many clashes with the law


• Then Harper appointed him the first (and only ) civilian head of the RCMP, in spite of Elliott's reputation as a bully


• Harper's well-known distain for women


• Conservative view on abortion


• Harper's unwillingness to let his Cabinet members speak


• Harper's treatment of a couple of his former Cabinet members


• Harper's continuing insistence that the long-gun registry will be cancelled (now, if he gets a majority!)


• Canada's decreasing position internationally, due to Harper's "isolationist" stance for the country, and a couple of unpopular "Holier than thou" stances

Rex Murphy's Simple Recipe for Politicans....

http://www.cbc.ca/thenational/indepthanalysis/rexmurphy/story/2011/03/28/thenational-rexmurphy-110328.html Imagine! No dreadful ads on TV! Plainspeak!

A Political Tool

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/story/2011/03/26/vote-compass.html

Try this.

News Flash!

Will someone tell Mr Harper that there's nothing wrong with a coalition?

He probably is damning the idea, cause he sees that he won't get a majority!!!

Junior Hockey: the disgraceful Frontenacs

A Whig reader wrote this week to the paper that what is lacking in the Fronts organization is LEADERSHIP. How right he is.
The dismal yea of the Fronts cannot be attributed to the athletes, but rather is the responsibility of the coach.
One of these days, the owners and GM of the Fronts will realize that Doug gilmour is not a coach. As an advocate for coaches and their required eduation and training, I can say that Mr G has neither.
A good athlete does not make a good coach. We have seen that with Wayne Gretzky. He was never a good coach, and probably never will be. Wisely, he left the coach position.
The Fronts need an educated professional coach, and the management to back him up.
This is not complicated.
Look around the Junior Hockey circles in Canada, review the successful franchises, and ask yourself why they are successful.

Harper's Chosen Federal Election

No mattere what baloney or spin Mr Harper tries to put on it, HE is the one who has caused/chosen to have an election.

Why?

• he refuses to talk with the opposition parties
• he refuses to listen to Canadians
• his government has a list of scandals to match any previous list
• his government was found in contempt of parliament, the first time in Canadian history that this has happened
• he does not tell the truth
• there is no transparency in his government
• Canadians do not like to be bullied, and civil servants and MPs don't either

Isn't this enough????

They've Chosen....

The local Tories have chosen Alicia Gordon to run in the next federal election.
This defies understanding.
A few questions: how could any female choose to be a member of the Conservative party, never mind run in an election? how could any female stand being told what to say (nothing, please), or how to vote or how to run a ministry? How could any female support less day care, pro-life, minimizing of the family....the list goes on.
How could ANYONE support a patronizing bully like the PM?

Instead of hate responses, perhaps one of you would explain. Just explain. Not post hate stuff.

It's Ok

The PM chooses to pretend that it's the denial of the grant that we are upset about. It's that, but more importantly, lying about how the "not" got there, that is most upsetting to Canadians.

One wonders how the PM is bringing up his children. Is it ok to lie, as long as you don't get caught at it?

And on to the most recent of a long string of extraordinary changes (including defending Oda) to government policy.

Fewer skilled immigrants and fewer family members are to be allowed it come to Canada this year. We need people who are willing to work, and we need family members of immigrants to join their new Canadian relatives. Many older family members look after children, live with their children and contribute to this country in this way. Imagine if you immigrated to another country, expecting to be able to have your parents and siblings join you in a few years, then, you find out that it will be 8-10 years before they can join you. By then, your babies are almost teens, and the time you really needed then has passed....to say nothing of the possibility that one one them has passed on.

Surely all cabinet ministers, or those who think they are running in the next election fo the Conservatives, can believe in this sort of thing.

Let's put these questions to the two people wanting the Consservative nomination in Kingston: is it ok to try to cover up your lies? is it ok to change the rules about immigrants coming to Canada, disappointing those who were led to believe that their family members could soon join them? why have the numbers of immigrants allowed into this country been lowered for 2011?

Canadians Are Too "Tolerant"

from cbc.ca on February 15, 2011...

"The agency had recommended that Kairos should get $7 million, and the fact the document was "doctored" — a "not" was inserted to change its meaning — drew a strong rebuke from Speaker Peter Milliken. Oda's reversal came just before the House foreign affairs committee voted to find the matter a point of privilege. It is writing a report on Oda's earlier testimony, will discuss it Wednesday and then send to the House. "Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2011/02/14/oda-kairos-021411.html#ixzz1E1oGiAxf


We put up with a government that lies on a regular basis.

So....Minister Bev Oda has owned up to having inserted the word "not" in the sentence "...has...approved...the application" of Canada's church collective, Kairos, for their application for funding to feed, provide water and education to people who have little of these (not in Canada, but in nations on the African continent).

She was accused of misleading parliament, she denied it, denied it, and has now owned up to "misleading parliament."

When we are bringing up our children, we call this LYING. Our children pay the price. We don't allow lying, and rightly so.

Keep the pressure on, everyone! She should resign.

The Prime Minister, reportedly a Christian man, should stop lying to the Canadian people.

A dangerous precedent

February 3, 2011 in http://www.cbc.ca/


The CRTC must reverse its decision that ends unlimited internet access plans offered by smaller internet providers or the federal government will intervene, Industry Minister Tony Clement says.
Clement told reporters Thursday that he and Prime Minister Stephen Harper sent a clear signal Wednesday night "that we do expect the CRTC to reverse its decision and to basically go back to the drawing board on this issue, and if they do not do this, we wanted to make it clear cabinet would take its responsiblites to do the same."
Clement said he heard from Canadians on the issue.
"It's a huge issue for a country that wants to move forward on the internet for jobs, for creativity, for innovation," he said. "[We] felt the CRTC ruling would have a huge impact on consumers and would hurt small businesses, would hurt innovators and creators."
Clement said that while he understands bandwidth capacity is a problem, usage-based billing "is the wrong way to do it — to force a business model on independent service providers if they do not want to use that business model."Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2011/02/03/crtc-internet-clement.html#ixzz1CzVEyioh

So what's the problem?

A big one. The CRTC is at least, arm's length from government. If the government doesn't like its decisions (or decisions of ANY arm's length group), does it overturn the decision? Pass legislation that nullifies a decision? Legislate the group out of existence?

A common question these days is this: is the government going in the right direction? is it taking Canada down thr right road? The answer is clear: NO. This government is not good for Canada.

Excellent Online Resource

Looking for info?

Visit www.canadiana.org

Great Canadian info resource!!!

It's Frightening.......

....when Canada's PM has the same specs as Sarah Palin.

More Trouble is Canada's Prisons

The Ombudsperson for prisons is reporting that there aren't enough programs for inmates in Canadian prisons. There need to be more programs targetted at drug abuse and anger management, he says.

Now, this is not news.

And, no they will not re-open the prison farms.

The government's "tough on crime" (especially unreported ones.....duh!!) mentality will cost taxpayers, never mind the individuals in prisons, a lot.

There is no proof that locking up people for long periods of time, in (double-bunked) cells lowers the rate of crime.

And, stats tell us that there is less crime in this country every year. So the government wants to build more cells and a "super prison."

For people who claim to be educated (read the Prime Minister) it is shocking how little they know and understand about people. Oh yes, the PM's degrees are in economics.....nothing about "people." Just numbers, no understanding.

So Here's the Question:

Why would anyone, particularly a woman, stand to be nominated as an MP in the Conservative (aka old Reform) Party?

The reasons NOT to run (never mind VOTE for) for the Conservative Party in Canada are many. How about just one or 2? The leader has little regard for women in leadership positions. The leader insists, by fear of exclusion, that party members not speak their opinions or take any media attention from him. The leader's fixation on secrecy, rather than transparency that he promised, is detrimental to democracy and Canada. The leader, Steven Harper, makes promises that he does not keep.

To run for the Conservative Party is to compromise one's principles.

To run for the Conservative Party is to say that one does not believe in the right of women over their own body.

To run for the Conservative Party is to say that the salary, the position, are more important than one's integrity.

Impossible to believe.

Canada needs to be rid of this PM and the Conservative Party.

Where are the "old time" Conservatives? When will the old Conservative Party arise? It can't come too soon.

Political Correctness....

Discussing how political correctness is a "rodent-like infestation on society," Salman Rushdie recently noted how disagreement has come to be considered offensive. "Whereas in an open society, disagreement should be the stuff of life."

Kingston and the Islands

With the withdrawl of the Conservative candidate, it is difficult to think of any thoughtful, intelligent person taking over as the candidate for the federal riding. A few names have been bandies around. I can't imagine that any of those names would subscribe to this PM's ideas or his party's policies.

Who would agree with the Conservative Party's position on such things as: human rights, abortion, equity for men and women, muzzling MPs so that they cannot express their own opinion, law and order, secrecy in government, lack of transparency and openness in government, refusal to deal with issues related to First Nations, caving to the tobacco lobby and refusing to deal with the billions of illegal cigarettes sold in this country.......the list is endless.

Update January 12, 2011: Alicia Gordon stepping up. Amazing

Ridiculous. The Long Census

Richard J. Brennan Ottawa Bureau
Canada Census»
OTTAWA—The Conservative government listened to only a relative handful of Canadians — including conspiracy theorists afraid the government was going to round them up — before scrapping the mandatory long-form census, according to documents obtained by the Toronto Star.
Canadians were unhappy with so-called intrusive questions, the aggravation of filling it out and even a few were convinced the census was part of a government plot, according to Statistics Canada documents obtained under Access to Information.
But there is virtually no overwhelming evidence in the Statistics Canada documents to support the government’s contention of widespread privacy concerns — the very argument it used this summer to kill the mandatory long-form census.
The Toronto Star had requested all complaints to Statistics Canada with respect to the 2006 long-form census after cabinet ministers claimed they scuttled the long-form census after being flooded with complaints.
But according to the information provided to the Toronto Star, less than 100 complaints were lodged with StatsCan, even though about 20 per cent of Canadian households received the long form.
....
The Conservative government decision, said Liberal Marc Garneau, remains “a triumph of ignorance over common sense.
“Hundreds of well recognized and respected organizations have said this is insanity,” he said.
....
Ivan Fellegi, who served as StatsCan’s chief statistician for more than two decades, told the Star the bulk of complaints were never about privacy.
“There really wasn’t any substantial indication of privacy concerns and when it came to formal complaints to the Privacy Commissioner I think she mentioned three … that’s certainly not a groundswell of concern by Canadians by any stretch of the imagination,” he said.
Fellegi said the decision to scrap the mandatory long form was taken “without any consultation with anybody that I can identify — anybody.”
-30-

This PM and his government have to go.
Imagine the trauma that thousands of organizations will have, without the detailed data that the long census provided. Even government departments will be ham-strung without some of the critical data that the long form provided.

Just like the Titanic

Harper's cabinet shuffle is like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

It really raises the question: does the PM think of anything other than how to keep in power? Maybe climate change? Better treatment of our vets? Serious talks with the provinces about health care? Our increasing number of people with dememtia? Our armed forces? How we can really help the Afghanis? Resolution of the deplorable situation of our First Nations' people?