Tough on Crime, eh?

Steven Harper would have you believe that the opposition parties are at fault for bringing the government of Canada down somewhat prematurely. That’s a little like spitting at the judge on your way to prison.

If Steven Harper and his MPs had provided Parliament with the information they require to make sound financial decisions then he wouldn’t have been charged with contempt.

What is contempt, anyway? And how does it affect the average Canadian?

In a Canadian court of law, contempt would be “the condition of refusing to honour and obey the court's rules and orders. Penalties for contempt range from a simple fine to continuous imprisonment until the contempt is cured.” Judges take the offence of contempt very seriously and, as voters, so should we.

Steven Harper refused to provide necessary information to Parliament. Why? Is he hiding something?

I don’t know if there is any sound reason to hide the costs of prisons, or jets but I do know that if Mr. Harper was working for any other employer in Canada, he would have been fired for not performing an essential part of his job description.

What is more offensive is the artful blaming of the Opposition, his accusers and our representatives who are required to hold him accountable on our behalf. Harper is trying to force all Opposition MPs to be responsible for his deliberate action of holding Parliament and all Canadians “in contempt”. The way Harper tells the tale, the Opposition wanted this election. Obviously Mr. Harper wanted it more.

Harper wanted the election to happen so much he was prepared to break the law.

The dictionary defines “contempt” as 'an intense feeling or attitude of regarding someone or something as inferior, base, or worthless—it is similar to scorn.' This is how Mr. Harper feels about Parliament, the country of Canada and all voters in this upcoming election. He’s still angry for not winning a majority government last time. This last session has been the least productive I’ve seen in over 30 years of watching and commenting on Canadian politics. Harper refrained from doing anything, working with anyone or even obeying the law. A psychologist might label these actions as passive-aggressive behaviour by a spoiled brat who didn’t get his way.

Someone who commits the offence of “contempt” in a Canadian court of law may be fined or jailed. Contempt of Parliament means the government is fired. In my opinion, Mr. Harper is darn lucky to get another chance to go before the Canadian people and ask for his job back. The rest of us wouldn’t get another chance.

It’s time voters got tough on crime and gave Mr. Harper the final pink slip.

Maple Syrup and Turkeys

An American friend asked me to summarize what happened over the weekend here in Canada. Thought I'd share my response here so those who've been hibernating this weekend can get caught up too.

We've had a busy few days in Canada while you folks were having your turkey. Actually we had a bit of a revolution. Maybe you've heard that we elected a minority neo-con government on October 14 then watched with envy as you folks chose hope on November 4.

Well, we might have fixed that little problem. It's taken four days but...

About 20 minutes ago, the news came across the wires that our three parties on the left have united in a coalition and will be putting forth a motion of non-confidence on Monday, December 8th. A week is a long time in politics, sometimes but if all goes according to Hoyle (or Roberts, possibly), we will have a progressive government too.

The background:

On Thursday last week, the minority government led by PM Steven Harper put forth a Fiscal Update (like a mini-budget). The vote on this was to occur tomorrow and because it's a money bill, it is a vote of confidence in the government. In a minority situation, the government falls if it loses the vote.

The contents of this update should properly have included an economic stimulus package and a truthful evaluation of our current economic situation.

Instead we received a vicious partisan document
- removing the right to strike for federal employees,
- ending pay equity,
- ending public election financing,
- reducing government spending over the next year by $6 billion and
- selling off over $2 billion in government assets.

in addition to those insults, the Finance Minister told a bald-faced lie by saying the government would not be in deficit next year. A close inspection of the numbers illustrated that his base assumptions were predicated on old information which was a little rosier (as in before the bottom fell out of the commodities markets) than the current situation.

All three leaders of the parties on the left howled in protest of the lack of spending or economic stimulus when every other country in the world is intending to do something. By Friday morning, the leaders were huddled together to indicate that they would consider a coalition.

On Friday afternoon, the wording of a non-confidence motion was put forth by the Leader of the Official Opposition, Stephane Dion of the Liberal Party for the vote that was to happen tomorrow.

On Friday evening, the Prime Minister exercised his right to put the vote off for one week to Monday, December 8th.

All weekend, the three parties on the left worked tirelessly to put together a coalition agreement.

Three times the government was in a news conference backing down from their own bill trying to stave off the formation of a coalition in the opposition parties.

First on Friday night, they said okay we won't put the removal of election finance in the money bill. This was the trap that they had laid thinking the Opposition parties were only interested in their own access to financing for elections. But right from the beginning all three parties stated they were voting against the government for being incompetent in dealing with the current economic crisis. The carefully laid trap snapped shut on the butt of the PM as he stormed out of a press conference without answering any questions.

Second, on Saturday, they backed off on removing the right to strike for public servants.

Third, on Sunday, they say okay, okay we won't get rid of pay equity and we'll bring in an economic stimulus package on January 27th with a full budget document (usually this happens in March or April).

So, we will no doubt be subjected to one week of vicious attack ads by the minority Conservative government but if the vote does in fact take place next Monday, the government will fall and be replaced by a progressive coalition, which will include the three parties that 63% of Canadians voted for.

Some of our Canadian bloggers named this the Maple Syrup Revolution.

There that was our weekend, how was yours? Did you enjoy your turkey? I think we stuffed ours!

Now, this was a simplified version of the situation which I shared with American friends somewhat less familiar with our situation and I didn't separate out the three parties and their specific involvement. Obviously the Bloq plays an important role when voting to support the government but has chosen not to be part of it, but the coalition government will include the members of the NDP and the Liberals.

H/T to all Progressive Bloggers, it's been a hoot keeping up to y'all this weekend.

Be careful - when you wrestle with a pig!

My only word of caution in the current constitutional crisis unraveling in Ottawa would be offered to Mr. Dion. "Be careful! When you wrestle with a pig, remember he enjoys it but you both get covered in mud!"

Otherwise, full steam ahead!

The proposed motion that Dion has put out on the wires this afternoon for consideration on Monday: his first Opposition Day, is a triumph of intellect over the vitrolic, partisan poison contained in Harper's financial outlook. Hopefully the NDP and the Liberals with the quiet support of Duceppe and the Bloq can form a coalition that will last for several months if not years. Thereby providing the kind of leadership that Canadians wanted from this past election.

'Course we'll all be listening intently at Harper's news conference (again with no questions) as he tries to squirm out of the mess he's made and lay the blame squarely at Dion's feet.

Maybe Harper will fall flat in the mud! And Dion can sidestep any splashes of mud while marching into the House on Monday with a coalition government alongside like-minded NDP and Bloq colleagues.

I didn't hear "the fat lady sing" on election night, maybe Harper should have been paying attention and ruled with a more conciliatory tone toward the majority in opposition!

UPDATE: The pig has spoken, and as I suspected, lays the blame at Dion's feet. Look forward to a strong response. Harper has put off the Opposition Day til December 8th, giving Canadians a chance to contact their opposition MPs, NOW.

Conservatives $25 Billion Mistake

In April 2006, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced a new type of mortgage. A 40 year term would now be allowed with 0% down payment, insured by CMHC and its private competitors Genworth and AIG.

In an already heated housing market this drove up demand creating a bubble just waiting to burst. Some warned of the dangers of this. Here and here and here and here

In June 2008, Flaherty, having realized his mistake revised the decision by reducing the term to 35 years and 5% down payment. This comes into effect on October 15th, 2008. My question is what does Jim Flaherty have against the month of October.

How many 40 year mortgages did CMHC insure at 0% down? Wonder if its around $25 Billion worth? Or was that only the dollar value of the mortgages sold by CMHC's private competitor AIG, yes that AIG. And next week, after the election, we'll be buying out the rest of the high risk mortgages that the banks sold.

After all the political leaders complained loudly when the banks didn't immediately pass on the full 1/2% point drop in the prime lending rate, we see today there is some adjustment in that. Was the price tag for that half-hearted compliance equal to $25 Billion?

Previously, a home owner could get a 25 year term and usually at least 5% downpayment was required, anything less than 25% required mortgage insurance from CMHC or its private competitors.

I think Canadians deserve to know, before we go to the polls, just exactly how much of our tax dollars will be flowing to the banks and what assets are involved. The first $25 Billion is for the highest risk mortgages. Also the banks should be opening up the books so we can see that in fact they are obeying the rules about capitalization. That includes all the deals that are off the books.

Last spring, at least $4 Billion was used to shore up two unnamed Canadian banks but we just found out about this last week when the information slipped from beneath the reins of the PMO. How many other transactions are there that we don't know about.

By the way, this past week RBC was fined $9.8 million (US) and was also forced to buy back $850 million by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for having engaged in fraudulent marketing practises with those ultra safe auction-based securities. This wasn't the first time for RBC to pay a fine to the SEC either. Why in 2006 they paid a fine of $1.5 million for interfering in auctions by bidding for a firm's proprietary account to prevent fails auctions. Maybe Canada's banks are as squeaky clean as Harper and Flaherty would have us believe.

Is this how Harper gets tough on crime?

Funny, (not haha, funny) how Harper and Flaherty is now saying governments can't interfere with banks. Yet, when they were trying to force an  election last spring, there was an awful lot of noise coming from Flaherty about getting banks to reduce or eliminate ATM fees.

Today we heard that the US will start to nationalize it's banks. It seems likely that this $25 Billion may be only the beginning of bailouts for us too.

To belittle is to BE little!

Harper has sunk to new depths of desperation by drawing attention to three takes of Stephane Dion asking for clarification on a poorly worded question. Given that Harper has been in hiding from facing media scrums, public town halls or even talking to Canadians, he has NO credibility on this. In fact, he's shown himself for the mean-spirited bully he is.

Many bloggers (here, here, and here) are on the same story tonight. I truly believe this is identical to the situation in 1993 when Conservatives drew attention to Mr. Chretien's facial paralysis. And Harper needs to be called on it. 

This calling out does appear to be happening a little bit but I believe a full bore national expression of disgust for Harper's bullying ways is the only solution.

Prime Minister Dion, sounds better every minute!

UPDATE:

some further thoughts:

Clearly Harper, in his very first unscheduled, unscripted media encounter in this campaign, stepped out to take a jab at the one opponent with a shot at forming government. It was a low blow and didn't relate to policy in the middle of a financial crisis. Then he stepped back behind the RCMP protection and continued with his flight. Says more about Harper than Dion. Says he's so hungry for power that he would ignore the concerns of Canadians to take a jab at his opponent.

Mr. Dion on the other hand, I believe, clearly understood the question to be a trap set by the journalist who clearly refused to reword the question. There was no good way to answer the question. Mr. Dion makes every effort to do this. He doesn't obfuscate when addressed by the media, he tries to understand the question and provide an answer with integrity.

If Dion had answered with integrity, he knew he would say that he would not have cut the GST and would have cut the income taxes instead. He also knew he didn't want that clip picked up and played over endlessly by the Conservatives right at this moment. Why, you ask, well with the visibility of the GST cuts, they have been mildly popular with the voters (that's why Harper did it, after all) who aren't paying much attention or do not understand economic issues.

In my opinion, Dion avoided saying "I would not have cut the GST" and have that be the last meme played for the last four days of the most important election for a progressive Canada. And he avoided being dishonest. I'd say, personally, that he is brilliant.

Personally, I didn't need any further evidence that Mike Duffy adds little to nothing of value to any discussion of importance BUT this little misadventure sure has exposed him to far more Canadians for the shill he is.

Nik Nanos…the most under-reported pollster in Canadian history?

In 2006, Nik Nanos nailed the election results exactly and the country was surprised! Canada’s corporate media had been reporting from all the other polling sources to get the story about the campaign and they were off target, some more than others.

Fast forward to Campaign 2008 and the corporate media goes with their old pals in the pollstering business. Didn’t they learn their lesson? Or do they have a horse in this race?

Questioning media intention has become a blood sport in North America but there is one definitive study this year that indicates a hint at the truth. There is a long-standing myth of a liberal bias in the media that just does not hold up to scrutiny. Media Matter’s study indicates a 67% influence by conservative writers! With the recent convergence of Canadian media in the hands of conservative supporters. I believe, the Canadian public is not being served by its media in an unbiased way and this transfers especially to interference in the democratic process of an election.

When Stephen Harper says we are becoming more conservative, I believe what he means is that our media is becoming more conservative and he might very well be right. The problem for media is they’ve seen a drop off of subscribers and viewers. Is it that Canadians are not seeing themselves represented in their media and are checking out the internet for sources of information that are more in tune and reflective of who they are?

For me, that is true. I can personally vouch for not watching television for months on end and reading headlines online for several major and regional newspapers. I also gather news from magazines and get my hints for what to look for from the CBC radio which is on all hours of the day. When a story comes up on the radio that I’m interested in, I’ll look for the rest of the information online.

Broadcasting does have a horse in this race this time. Harper has hinted for years about the privatization of the CBC. With a majority in government, I believe he would do this within weeks not months. So the private broadcasters are looking forward to the CBC being put on a level playing field with them – whoring for advertising dollars.

How does the CBC get away with its obvious conservative slant this time? Well, lets follow the money trail? Who wins when an organization is privatized? It’s the people in the hot seat on the day of privatization. Is the CBC’s new (conservative appointed) management team looking to make a fast buck? Are the regular talking heads in the radio and television newsrooms sucking up to the new mandate from on high?

From personal observation, I’d say something is afoot in the Canadian media. And it starts with election poll results and how they are reported.

So, are you interested in the horse race? See what Nik Nanos has to say about Stephane Dion’s Liberal team closing the gap and Dion’s rise in the Leadership Index and make up your own mind about what’s going on. Look around online and find some real information recognizing that the media might have a horse in the race that might not be the same horse as yours.

Staying the Course is Risky

What will “staying the course” mean for Canadians?

The Bank of Canada will continue to bail out the Canadian banks with no discussion in Parliament about a strategic direction for the voters to evaluate the best choice. Earlier this year two of Canada’s banks needed to be bailed out but the information just came out in the last week. There was no discussion of this in Parliament.

Canadians will be kept in the dark about the actual state of our economy through Harper’s habit of releasing bad news late in the day on Friday so the news media doesn’t have a chance to cover it. I suspect the PMO of a Harper minority would continue to monitor all of the communications from all departments of government, all ministers and all MP’s thereby closing down our access to an open and accountable government.

During this campaign, Stephen Harper has stated outright that he will continue to abuse the Parliamentary process by forcing confidence motions rather than working together with opposition parties in a minority government situation. Nicholson has specifically stated that the crime bill will be a confidence motion within the first six months of a Conservative minority.

The Make Poverty History campaign sent a request to all the leaders to participate in a video explaining their platform on issues related to Global and National poverty. Stephen Harper refused to participate even after all the others had. Make Poverty History proceeded without him after several opportunities were given to change his mind. How can a prime ministerial candidate have such complete disregard for about 10% of our population who are living in poverty or the over 250,000 Canadians who have signed on to the Make Poverty History group. If Harper could be confronted directly on this issue, would he say the same thing he said to Premier Danny Williams indicating he doesn’t need your votes?

As a direct affront to the fairness until now implicit in our electoral system, Conservative candidates across the country are bowing out of All Candidates meetings. An election is an opportunity for Canadians to evaluate the record of the government. If the candidates aren’t showing up for the questioning, then voters cannot effectively evaluate their choices. But more than that it seems unfair and disrespectful of the Canadian voter. Last tally I saw was over 20 individual Conservative candidates have refused to participate in an All Candidates meeting in their own riding. This tally included at least two Cabinet Ministers! Is this a new form of open and accountable activities for government members?

Actions do speak loudly. Are these the actions that an open and accountable person would undertake or are these the actions of a secretive, hyper-controlling person. The only one who is served by secrecy is the one keeping the secrets.

What kind of Canada do you believe in?

It's been a long time

The song for this campaign.

Oh and if Harper gets elected, my posting of that little video might cost a $20,000 fine.

What kind of canada do you believe in?

Finally...economic leadership for Canadians

Dion has announced a five point plan to be delivered within 30 days to inform Canadians with the best information from the experts and help get the ball rolling again with infrastructure and manufacturing investments.

This is precisely the type of leadership we need and that Canadians expect from their government. I want to see those reports and I am confident that Dion will not hide them with a Friday afternoon release.

I do not want to be patted on the head with platitudes from Harper any longer - our mutual funds lost more than 25% in the last few days, fortunately we don't have to rely on them yet.

The line Harper uses is that "the fundamentals are strong". This is the same line that George Bush used about two weeks ago and by Hoover in 1929. Is this another campaign meme from the Republicans or just from history?

The Tipping Point

Harper insists Canadians are becoming more conservative - not Tory, mind you - but the kind of conservative that Harper is: shallow, mean-spirited, discriminatory and elitist. Is that what Canada has become?

During this campaign, Harper has not attended a single open public event and some of his candidates, including two ministers, have refused to attend all candidates meetings. Harper has refused to put his platform on the table for Canadians to evaluate. This shows shallow respect for the Canadian voter. Having campaigned for the last two years, Harper has chosen a show-biz style tour of Canada without actually talking to anyone who is not a conservative. In other words, he's ignored two thirds of the electorate. Will Canadians continue to accept this?

The conservative campaign against Dion for the last twenty-two months has been unrelenting in its mean-spirited attacks. Negative ads are something that Canadians say they do not appreciate but as a Liberal candidate said on Friday, "when I knock on the door, people say they don't like negative ads but in every conversation one or two of those attacks are brought up by the voter." Has the negative, American style campaign hits its mark? Are Canadians as mean-spirited as Harper projects us to be?

Harper's attacks against Dion remind and emphasize the difficulty with which Dion speaks English. At the beginning of the campaign, I found that many Canadians, even Liberals, were listening for his gaffes and wincing when they heard something that was not quite perfect. This says more about us and Harper than it does about Dion. Fortunately, Dion as explained the hearing loss reasons for his difficulty in correcting his pronunciation. 

This is discrimination at its worst because it is insidiously hidden in Harper's ad messages. It is worse than the ads against Chretien's partially paralyzed face precisely because no challenge on behalf of Dion as been mounted against this twisted campaign. Harper doesn't want you to hear what Dion has to say, he wants you to hear the occasional mispronunciation and join with him in taunting Dion.

Is it possible that Harper wants you to ignore the fact that he, himself, isn't saying anything? Harper hasn't even printed a platform for you to read and consider.

Harper's idea that anyone who leans to the left in political persuasion in this country can be described as an elitist is absolutely ridiculous. Harper has borrowed this from the American neo-conservative Republican movement painting anyone who objects to their point of view as an elitist. Right now, we can see the real corporate elitists in the US trying to suck $700 billion from the hard-working, tax-paying public.

In Harper's Canada we could look forward to an ever increasing influence of the corporate elites - more deregulation bringing about the listeriosis-tainted foods which have taken nineteen lives, so far. And even fewer than the three white collar charges that have been prosecuted in Canada in recent years. The American Securities and Exchange Commission has prosecuted more white collar crime in the last three years than Canada under Harper has.

How can Dion combat this onslaught from the right that is threatening to destroy the left in Canada and the Liberal Party of Canada from without and from within? For one thing, I believe, the Canadian public is confused. They don't know who the Liberal Party of Canada is anymore. Under Trudeau, we knew what it meant to be Liberal. Under Chretien and with Martin's hand on finances, we understood what we were voting for. We knew what we were getting. Despite his best efforts to put forth a concrete plan, Dion has been less able to get the attention of the Canadian public to have a dialogue about where we are headed as a country and who the Liberal Party is under his leadership. Is this his fault?

In my opinion, with the change in ownership of media to conservative corporate interests, the media is no longer acting as an honest broker on behalf of the Canadian people. During the first two weeks of this campaign, Dion was deliberately and consistently put at the 18 minute mark of daily news broadcasts by CTV-Globemedia. By that point, Canadians have already tuned out - heck, that's after the first commercial break and Canadians know the important stuff is upfront in the news broadcast where Harper and Layton have figured prominently.

With the similar abandonment of principles on CBC's The National, Dion is up against the entire media machine licking its lips with glee at the prospect of privatization and deregulation under Harper. The television media and its newsrooms want Harper to win so they can get rich. Can you blame them for skewing the message? They don't care what Canadians want or need, in fact, I don't think they can see the country's needs through the dollar signs in their eyes.

With the constant bombardment of negative conservative advertising on television, radio and print, Canadians have been under constant attack as well. Harper would prefer that you don't show up to vote. If you stay home, he knows his party will drag that almost 30% of Canadians who are on the conservative and neo-conservative side out to vote and take your place in the halls of power in our country while you stay home and watch American Idol.

Dion nees to bypass the ineffectiveness of the media in getting his message out. He needs to have Liberals onside at the grassroots, knocking on doors. Dion is trusting Liberals and two-thirds of Canadians to pay attention in this campaign - possibly the most important election campaign in Canadian history. If Dion and the left lose, it may very well spell the end of the Liberal Party of Canada but more importantly it may implant a brand of politicking we have only jeered at when we look south. In typical self-righteous mode we call the Americans foolish for choosing Bush twice. Can Canadians not see that the same tactics are being use on us. I wonder how loud the laughter will be south of the border if we choose Harper and they choose Obama?

Dion passionately and earnestly believes that Canadians can see that we are being played for fools by Harper with his non-campaign talking about flavoured cigarellos and other issues easily handled by an effective and appreciated civil service. Are we worthy of Dion's trust in our ability to see through the smoke and mirrors of the conservative game? Or, has Harper successfully bought our silent participation in the Americanization of our political process? Has Harper turned off enough Canadians in his relentless use of negative advertising that fewer Canadians will participate in voting?

Harper recently chastised Canadians for the poll results predicting a minority mandate. In response to those polls we learned that Harper's Justice Minister will make the crime bill, jailing 14 year olds for life, into a confidence motion and present it within six months unless we give Harper a majority now.

If Canadians choose to participate in this election despite Harper's best efforts to turn us off, then there is a chance that we have not yet become fully Americanized and we will retain our claim to one of the best countries in the world to reside.

If Canadians stay home on election day, the tipping point has already passed and the left including Liberals, NDP and Green, will diminish. We will have become truly American and conservative. Harper's dream will be realized.

What kind of Canada do you believe in?

Dion sets London on fire!

Dion on fire in London tonight

Foreshadowing next week’s debate, Stephane Dion took the question straight to Harper: “It’s time to debate like adults, Stephen.”

At the Marconi Club in London, Gerard Kennedy joined all the local candidates – Jacquie Gauthier, Martha Dennis, Sue Barnes, Glen Pearson and Suzanne Van Bommel – after a national media announcement at the Belmont farm owned by Elgin-Middlesex-London Liberal candidate Suzanne Van Bommel.

Kennedy warmed the crowd up and Dion set them on fire criticizing the vacuous campaign performance of Stephen Harper. “Harper has done nothing and intends to do nothing to assist Canadians who are anxious about losing their jobs and their homes.” With the team of Flaherty, Clement and Baird transported to Ottawa after they ruined Ontario’s economy, Harper encourages Flaherty as he says to investors that Ontario is the last place you should invest,” said Dion.

"Tory times are tough times because they don't respect the government. Tory times are tough times because they don't know how to use the government to help Canadians," emphasized Dion. Focussing on the incompentence of Harper and his non-existent team, Dion was firing on all cylinders as he challenged: "It's about the economy, Stephen."

Dion challenged Harper to reveal his plan and his ideas for Canada and the crowd ate up the rhetoric. They chanted after each announcement that Dion proposed the Liberals would undertake to lead a United Canada into the 21st century. Dion focussed on manufacturing, immigration, agriculture and the economy – exactly what the audience wanted to here in the manufacturing centre of Southwestern Ontario. Thousands of jobs have left this area in the last two years and people are frightened about the future.

The crowd of about 250 party faithful including the local MPPs Deb Matthews, Chris Bentley and Kahlil Ramal, gathered on a moment's notice and left on a high note - can’t expect anything more for a partisan rally.

Having seen Dion seven times over the last two years, I would say that today was one of his best performances ever. He was witty, challenging toward Harper and exceptionally forthright when pushing the crowd to step up to elect these Liberal team members.

There’s a good chance of painting London completely RED in this election.

Update from Twitter: Liberal Tour is saying the number was 400...my number of 250 includes those in the room where Dion was speaking and where I was during the event. Turns out there were many more people in the hall and outside. Liberal Tour's number is probably closer to the mark.

Is Tim Hortons' crowd paying attention?

Some bloggers are hinting that Harper is trying to appeal to the Tim Horton’s crowd (sorry can't find the link but I know I read in a blog with a reference to Tim Hortons' vs. Starbucks' customers).

I don’t doubt these Canadians are Harper’s target but what I do dispute is if the Tim Hortons' crowd is paying attention yet.

When they do turn their attention to the campaign, these Canadians may recall the promises of the last election and try to figure out if they’re better off. As a public service, possibly these figures will help them.

There’s that children’s fitness tax reduction for some of the minivan driving moms. Oh wait, maybe your child’s sport wasn’t eligible for that little tax credit. And that $75 didn’t work out as nicely as the $500 that was advertised in the campaign literature. Um, so much for soccer moms who thought they might be getting a refund of the total amount. They ended up with enough of a credit to buy a round at Timmies for the team but only if they made enough money to pay taxes.

Say, what about the little surprise that the $1200 child tax credit would be taxable in the hands of parents who still can’t find suitable child care? Kind of like being sold a used car that won’t run a week later!

How about the seniors who while away the afternoon between volunteer commitments while enjoying the chatter with their friends? Harper promised he wouldn’t tax income trusts last time. Well, I guess that didn’t work out so well. I’ve heard predictions of losses between $20 million and $35 million leaving the senior crowd wondering if they can support themselves through their retirement. Maybe instead of volunteering in their community, seniors will be working through their retirement at Tim Hortons like their American cousins working as greeters at WalMart.

Then there’s the price of a cup of coffee at Tim Hortons. In January, 2006, you could get a medium double-double for $1.17 plus 7% GST totalling $1.25. Harper cut the GST by 1% in July, 2006 and by another 1% in January, 2008.

On April 7, 2008 the price of a medium double-double was increased by Tim Hortons to $1.22 plus 5% GST totalling $1.28 effectively capturing the room left in your pocket change by Harper and carting the profits off to the US since Tim Hortons is no longer owned by Canadians.

So, the GST cut effectively left the country through the daily purchase of coffee at Tim Hortons (among other purchases) leaving the federal government of Canada at least $12 billion poorer just in time for the impending economic crisis on the horizon. By the way, Tim Hortons profits in 2007 were $1.9 billion, a 14.2% increase over 2006.

Since it’s unlikely a GST increase would be popular for any other political party to get elected on, it’s unlikely we’ll see a real child care program in Canada like the one Ken Dryden had negotiated with the provinces, at least not any time real soon. Of course, it is the intention of Harper to eliminate the effectiveness of a federal government to ever have a new social program or to fund health care any better than it is now. Are these really the goals of the Tim Horton’s crowd now?

Ever the optimist, I have to believe that Harper has suffered the same loss in positive public image that Tim Hortons has lately. Remember the worker being fired (then re-hired after public outrage) for giving a Timbit to a toddler? In my opinion, that one example of many lately at Tim Hortons illustrates the spirit of Harper too – stingy and mean.

Elections are when we measure a government's effectiveness in the past and review all of the party platforms to decide which one most closely resembles our values. What kind of Canada do you believe in?


kudos to blackandred at Mostly Water, Scott at DiaTribes, Garth Turner

The Harper Record

Pick your favourite topic and review the laws, policies, regulations, and initiatives of The Harper Record from the Canadian Centre on Policy Alternatives. The book is available for purchase but also for download.

Chapters include: 

1. Governance, 
2. Economy, Trade and Investment, 
3. Racialization and (In)Security, 
4. Energy and Environment, 
5. (In)Equality and Public Services, 
6. Culture and Communications, and 
7. Federal-Provincial Relations

"This book is one in a series of CCPA publications that have examined the records of Canadian federal governments during the duration of their tenure. As with earlier CCPA reports on the activities of previous governments while in office, this book gives a detailed account of the laws, policies, regulations, and initiatives of the Conservative minority government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper during its 32-month term from January 2006 to September 2008.

The 47 writers, researchers and analysts who have co-written this book probe into every aspect of the Harper minority government’s administration. From the economy to the environment, from social programs to foreign policy, from health care to tax cuts, from the Afghanistan mission to the tar sands, from free trade to deep integration, and to many other areas of this government’s record, the authors have dug out the facts and analyzed them."

Lots of fodder for discussion contained within its 504 pages. Don’t be frightened by the size of the document, it’s exceptionally well laid out identifying each topic easily linked from the table of contents.

Since Harper won’t give us a synopsis of his record nor even his plan for the future during the election campaign, Canadians need to use their own resources…this is an excellent one.