Posts Tagged by liberals
Just A Week to Go in Election — Some Thoughts.
| 4/22/2011 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
With just a week to go before the election, I’ve been spending some time exploring some of the mountain of material that is out there on the subject. I like to explore behind the usual headlines, often picking up articles which are put out on twitter. I tend to follow a broad range of people and have also been watching the chatter on the twitter hashtag #elxn41
The flow across there ranges from the silly to the funny to the thoughtful. It is the thoughtful that catches most of my attention. So, yesterday’s NANOs poll shows that nationally, the Conservatives have taken a drop, the Liberals have dropped a bit and the NDP appears to be trending upwards.
From the headlines it would appear that the country is suddenly alive with NDP voters. There is a couple of areas where the NDP is rising in support, most notably in Quebec. They appear to have actually passed the Bloc in support. Now, that would just delight me to see any national party pass the Bloc. Anyone who reads this blog knows two things, I don’t like Harper and I consider the Bloc’s presence in Parliament treasonous. I know, they are there, get over it. Doesn’t mean I have to like it. I digress.
What is really interesting in that poll though, is the line where they are tracking the undecided voters. The number of undecided voters across the country has actually increased. Not dramatically, but this late in the campaign, you’d expect to see that dropping. (more…)
NDP Rising? — Be Careful What You Wish For
| 4/21/2011 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
The polls the last few days are showing the the NDP moving upward, the Liberals sliding some and the Conservatives more or less staying the same. Now, that presents an interesting scenario. The NDP has done this before, appeared to be on an upward swing in the polls and then Canadians apparently came to their senses and shifted away.
That doesn’t mean that will happen again. So should the uptick in support be sustained what could we end up with? Well, the worst case scenario would be that the vote would become so split that Harper comes up the middle and gets his majority. Another prospect is that Canadians are wise enough not to give him anything more than a minority and Layton could end up as the Official Opposition.
While Harper is a bullying, arrogant dictator — Layton is enough of an egotist that he’d see his opportunity to reach the unreachable for him and would likely work to bring Harper down in an effort to offer his party up as the party to take over. There is a reason that Layton has passion behind his claims that he’s the party to fix Ottawa, he actually believes his own rhetoric. (more…)
It is NOT Harper’s Government
| 3/10/2011 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
Canadians did not elect Stephen Harper as Prime Minister. He was elected as an MP by the people in his riding. He was elected leader of the Conservatives by other Conservatives. When we, the people, last voted in a federal election we sent more Conservatives than Liberals to Ottawa and thus Harper became Prime Minister as the leader of the Conservative party.
So, where does he get off at calling it the ‘Harper Government” on official government correspondence? Because he can get away with doing so, doesn’t make it right.
In a democracy those in the government and even those in the Opposition are there to serve the people. They are paid by tax dollars supplied by the people to lead our country where it needs to go. It seems increasingly, that far too many of those elected to provide that leadership, failed to do so while focused on growing their own perceived status.
This is the latest in a long line of behaviour from Harper and his Conservatives which make it very clear that they lack respect for our democracy. When they lack respect for democracy, how can the people trust that they will safeguard it? (more…)
Liberals Take A Stand on Bill S-10
| 2/10/2011 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
The Conservative dominated Senate has passed Bill S-10 which provides for mandatory sentencing for those convicted of having as few as six pot plants in their possession. The first of many faults with the bill is that the bill fails to distinguish between someone who has a few plants for recreational use and those who are operating a grow op. They are all going to spend at least six months in jail.
It is the jail time where the next major fault lies, it costs money to house prisoners. Money to build the prisons, maintain them and to staff them, not to mention the actual costs of care involved for the inmates. In these days of record deficits, those costs are not just federal dollars, they involve provincial costs as sentences of two years less a day are served in provincial facilities.
This bill like others the Conservatives call tough on crime bills promote a flawed approach to crime. The Americans have already tried and failed with the same approach. In the American experience, many states came close to being bankrupted by the increased costs of building and maintaining prison facilities mandated by federal legislation.
What’s that definition of in insanity?.. oh right… doing something over and over the same way in the hope it will work eventually. (more…)
Eco Fees — A Cash Grab by Any Name
| 7/8/2010 | Posted by Patti under Environment |
Along with the HST coming into effect in July 1st, more Eco fees came into effect covering a wide range of products. The Eco fees are supposed to be fees charged to manufactures based on the amount of products or packaging they put into the market place. Stewardship Ontario which receives these fees claims not to be government yet they were setup by the provincial government.
If they are not government, then someone or some group is getting the money we are all being forced to pay. The manufactures are allowed to pass along the fees they are charged to the consumer in any manner they choose. At this point, the fees are appearing on our sales receipts as an added fee one which we pay — you guessed it — HST. But it’s not a tax you see, you just have to pay tax on it.
There appears to be no established standard as to how the fees are assessed and as such the consumer has zero protection from the manufacturers taking whatever they want as the cost of passing on the fee. Since it isn’t attached to the product at the point of the consumer making their selection, we don’t even have buying power to limit the fees to a minimum. (more…)
Forget Coalition, Someone Needs to Show Some Leadership
| 6/6/2010 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
I’m becoming more than a bit weary of the Liberals spending so much time on infighting and jostling than they are on being the Official Opposition. Lately I see a lot more in the news reports about the mechanics of the party and speculation about the makeup than I do anything else. I suspect I’m not the only Canadian feeling this way.
It is becoming rather apparent that Bob Rae is playing games towards trying to push Ignatieff out as leader. Should that happen and Rae takes the helm, this Liberal will abandon ship. There’s also been talk about forming some sort of either pre or post-election coalition with the NDP. Forget that people, you really think I’d be a Liberal if I wanted anything to do with Layton?
So, what exactly do I want to see?
I want to see the Liberal party take a stand and stick to it. They don’t really need to hunt too far to differentiate themselves from the Conservatives. As for the NDP and the Greens, adopt what is good in their platform and show the rest for the tripe it is. (more…)
Playing Games With Democracy
| 3/18/2010 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
On Tuesday Parliament passed a motion which would ban the practise of MPs sending ’10 percenters” into ridings of other MPs. The motion was initiated by the Liberals and solidly opposed by the Conservatives. The final call on the motion will be made by the Board of Internal Economy, the secretive committee charged with controlling the spending on the Hill.
The government’s response to the motion is that they consider it to be ‘non-binding’. Excuse me? Is Parliament supposed to reflect the will of the people or doesn’t it? Who the blazes is paying those clowns than the people?
Parliament has spoken, therefore neither the government nor the internal board of economy should have any option but to comply. (more…)
The Plot That Wasn’t
| 12/7/2009 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
On Sunday I read through Angelo Persichilli’s political column in the Toronto Star. I usually give his column a scan but rarely put a lot of stock into it. More of a gut response to his writing than any true sense that he plays pretty loose with the truth in his perspective.
In his latest column he claims that a full blown revolt is happening in the Liberal party, led by Bob Rae, and apparently deep into planning through a group of MPs who sat down to have nightcaps together after a party. The brass of them, they decided to plot this coup in a very public venue. Persichilli doesn’t identify who his source is, one would wonder if it was speculation or if he truly had a mic on the table.
He claimed that it would be pretty difficult for Ignatieff to survive as leader until the end of this year, a scant 3 weeks away. The reality is, short of executing the guy, it would be pretty much impossible to remove him either before the end of the year or conceivably the end of next year. That would require a convention and leadership review. (more…)
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