Are Liberal MP's flouting the rules?

Toronto Liberal MP John Cannis was ordered to pay back more than $80,000, and York West MP Judy Sgro, also a Grit, paid more than $60,000, a source said. -MPs to pay back treasury

That is enough for almost two and half "fake" lakes. The article suggest others may have broken the rules and will be expected to pay back the treasury.  Why are taxpayers not entitled transparency on the expenses of MPs?

Chief government whip Gordon O’Connor, who heads the secretive all-party committee that controls parliamentary spending, wouldn’t say how many MPs were found to be violating the rules against renting from family members or how much money they had to pay back, but he confirmed Thursday that some MPs had to get out their chequebooks.

Officials said that $57,000 is part of the roughly $650,000 price tag for the entire Muskoka-themed Experience Canada exhibit, which includes the lake, chairs, dock and canoes, a large-screen TV displaying pictures of Canada, as well as wireless work stations for journalists.  -Harper says artificial lake cost $57,000, not $2M

h/t the alberta ardvark 

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• MPs defeat private member's bill on social responsibility in mining sector (theglobeandmail.com)
• There's Something About Ruby: Iggy Abandons Her (pragmatictory.blogspot.com)
• Michael Ignatieff - Not a leader (bluelikeyou.com)

Ignatieff's Liberals: Bad For Canada

It pains me to state the obvious: The Federal Liberals need to experience the rout of Mulroney-Campbell in 1993. h/t Ardvark

Senator Colin Kenney has provided expertise in these matters and he destroys the effort by the Liberals in playing politics on the back of the military. He praises the Federal Government on the J.S.F. program and attacks the position by Williams and Ignatieff Liberals about getting a better price. Liberal Senator Colin Kenney is not afraid to take a position against the government.See here.

“Canada is in danger of falling back into its historic role of hewers of wood and drawers of water with all the technological advances in countries like India and China,” he warned. “We can’t afford to lose ground in the aerospace industry, and our involvement in this contract will create new jobs and opportunities in that and associated industries.”

Read rest here.

Is Liberal Senator Colin Kenney trying to undermine Ignatieff for some other leadership rival? I don't know.

What I do know is the loyal opposition has spent five years in demonizing the government on almost every file and driving support down for every position taken by the Conservatives.

Some would argue this is natural for the opposition but if you examine the last five years it is NOT a radical right wing transformation of Canada that has taken place. The rhetoric by the opposition has undermined our ability to provide aid and emergency relief to those most vulnerable. The constant criticism of making improvements to  the asylum refugee system is weakening support for legitimate immigration.

We have spent months in debate on improving maternal health. When a natural disaster strikes the opposition suggest the government must be bigoted for not moving as fast as they did in Haiti. It is time to send a message to the opposition parties that the games on the Hill must stop. 

It would be great start for Canada if the voters in Winnipeg North and Vaughan did not return a Liberal or NDP as a warning.

 

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• Congratulations Michael Ignatieff, You are now Number 1! (thealbertaardvark.blogspot.com)
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Help Blazing Cat Fur: Legal Defense Fund

Blazing Cat Fur: Richard Warman Sues Blazingcatfur For Linking To "Far Right" Mark Steyn

Please help with links, donations, emails to blogger BCF.

Johnny Carson clip feline humour included.




Please feed the kitty.

Control Freak Ignatieff: Don Martin

Something is rotten in Denmark. Liberal MPs are having key private members bill defeated by a small number of key Liberals scampering from their seats to take up Hall duty. (H/T) Wilson for wicked funny comment 

Are these cracks in party discipline and tight messaging, a sign of a palace revolt  or just more resistance from within of the centralizing control of the appointed leader? Ken Dryden was very critical in his book on the failure of Liberals. Harper is so politically skillful that the public spotlight has turned mostly on the Liberals since 2006. "It is Dion and now Ignatieff, who have had their flaws so starkly revealed," he writes. "Today, Harper seems less worn than Dion did, less worn than Ignatieff does now."-Ken Dryden 

 

Liberal MP Keith Martin, a medical doctor, declared the obvious when he wrote about the need to pick the handcuffs on the Canada Health Act to allow patients to “pay for care if they wish, in entirely separate facilities funded solely by the private sector”.
The screech from inside the Liberal bunker was loud and immediate. Health critic Ujjal Dosanjh didn’t just shrug it off as a rogue idea, he went on the attack.
“That’s bunk. That is absolutely not a solution to any of the problems that we’re facing today,” he fumed. “It really is irrelevant what Keith Martin thinks. He doesn’t speak for the Liberal Party of Canada on health care.” My, aren’t we sensitive. - Ottawa’s big red control freaks

Keith Martin alluded to an earlier interview regarding his op-ed article calling for two tier health care, it is better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission. Don Martin whom many Conservatives would categorize as a liberal cheerleader is critical of Ignatieff for pushing Ruby Dhalla under the bus because of her Pension enrichment bill that would reduce the waiting period from ten to three years.  The problem being noted by non-Liberal partisans is the dissension is not limited to the Federal Liberals.

An Ontario Liberal  minister blew as gasket in attacking Conservative leaders and their voters recently. The Ontario Liberals have time to recover, will it be enough to save their government?

Turns out the Liberals are not only losers but sore losers. They may also have shown themselves to be perhaps the biggest bunch of crybabies in the history of Canadian politics. The biggest suck of them all is Research and Innovation Minister Glen Murray. -Liberals a bunch of crybabies

Key Flip Flops by Federal Liberal after months of criticism:

• John Mckay's Bill C 300 mining bill die on second reading
• Gerard Kennedy Deserter Bill second reading
• Ruby Dhalla's Pension payout plan.
• EI 360 Bill - Liberals line in the sand dead on second reading 

Are we witnessing an internal revolt on the centralizing of power by Ignatieff and his inner circle?
Key Flip flops by Ontario Provincial Liberals after months of criticism

• Oakville Gas Plant
• Eco-fees

It appears in BC the Liberal government is also trying to fend off a backlash by voters by introducing a 15% cut of income taxes for the introduction of the H.S.T.  

Ignatieff testing Dion support level 4th time:  Angus Reid Poll Oct 11-13, 2010.

As a Conservative blogger the storm clouds for the left leaning parties looks promising. Will the Conservative parties in the United States, Canada benefit with more seats in the upcoming elections as they did in Europe?
 

Related articles

• Ottawa's big red control freaks (fullcomment.nationalpost.com)
• Ignatieff: "I don't vote on private members bills" (pragmatictory.blogspot.com)
• Michael Ignatieff lies to highshool students. (thealbertaardvark.blogspot.com)
• Don Martin: New Duceppe memoir icing on PM's cake (fullcomment.nationalpost.com)
• Liberal health critic returns friendly fire on medicare (theglobeandmail.com)

Layton 5% Rebate: Christmas Bonus

The NDP may have recently stumbled on the winds of change:

• Toronto (Mayor Elect Rob Ford)
• realized taxing the rich is counter-productive
• a populist move to remove the consumption tax on heating your home.

Jack should consult others on economic policy.

Then as now, there were people who failed to make the distinction between tax rates and tax revenues. Mellon said, "It seems difficult for some to understand that high rates of taxation do not necessarily mean large revenue for the Government, and that more revenue may often be obtained by lower rates."-Andrew Mellon

John Maynard Keynes pointed out in 1933 that lowering the tax rates can increase tax revenues, if the tax rates are so high as to discourage economic activity.

President John F. Kennedy made the same argument in the 1960s -- and tax revenues increased after the tax rates were cut during his administration. The same thing happened under Ronald Reagan during the 1980s. And it happened again under George W. Bush, whose tax rate cuts are scheduled to expire next January.

Just in time for a Christmas this policy announcement is a bonus for the wealthy and energy companies.

Jack Layton is showing practical leadership to make your life more affordable. (1)
Starting with a plan to lower the cost of essential home heating:
    * Drop the 5% federal sales tax on your home heating.
    * Re-introduce the popular ecoEnergy retrofit program – so you can afford to make your home more energy efficient.
    * End the subsidies to the very big polluters that are gouging you on your home heat bill. (2)
This is a practical first step to ending the affordability crisis.(3)

4

Rhetoric vs Reality

The Federal Government has earned a B+ from the Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance 2009 Report. Details on Page 3.  Those directly affected in the trade involved in the audits and retrofits are unhappy as this subsidy is not continued beyond 2011. Subsidies still exist from cities and provinces for retro-fits.

Prime Minister Harper addresses the Canada-U.K. Chamber of Commerce in London

29 May 2008

London

First, last year we began removing the special tax incentives brought in by our predecessors that actually encouraged and subsidized the growth of the traditional oil sands industry.  We are phasing those out and replacing them with incentives for the deployment of green technology only. (2)

Canada’s economic resilience is partly due to our important moves in the area of taxation. (1) We are lowering taxes of all kinds: personal, family, consumption and business.  Under measures introduced last fall, the tax burden at the federal level in Canada will fall in the next few years to its lowest level since the early 1960s.  In fact, the combined federal and provincial rate of corporate taxation will be the lowest in the G7 by 2012 and we are on track to have the lowest tax rate on new business investment in the G7 by 2010, so there is no doubt that these are good times for Canada.

Rest here.

Save the planet or save my party Jack invokes populism of freezing homeowners, seniors on fixed pensions while ignoring the provinces and  cities have authority to limit the double digit increases in the rates of energy this winter.

The math shows that the least likely to benefit are the poor or working class as their small volume in consumption will result in the smallest tax break. The NDP seems to have forgotten their argument against the GST reduction of two points on all purchases: the most wealthy would benefit the most from a reduction in the federal taxes on energy for households.(3)

Large homeowners benefit most with NDP tax break 5%

The wealthy homeowner, landlords and businesses that use higher volume of  energy to heat their homes will save the most money this winter with the populist policy of the NDP.
Jack your fetish for the unsustainable Green Economy is blind to damage on taxpayers in Europe who have seen their job losses and energy rates double.
What do you think?

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• Jack ignores the Dalton in the room (bluelikeyou.com)
• Remove tax from heating costs, NDP urges Harper (globaltvbc.com)

Conservatives Government: Respect For Taxpayers

The opposition will point to mistakes and problems but it won't matter because the Auditor General Report is now public and taxpayers have been not taken to the cleaners and every rule has not been broken in comparison to the previous Government. I don't remember the Auditor General ever providing the Liberal government with a positive report.

2010 Fall Report Auditor General of Canada

...it is important to note that the majority of the audit findings presented in this report are positive.

For example, Chapter 1 of this report deals with Canada’s Economic Action Plan (EAP), the government’s response to the global economic downturn. This initiative involves about $47 billion in federal stimulus over a two-year period, with a further $14 billion from the provinces and territories. More than 35 federal entities worked with provinces, territories, municipalities, non-government organizations, and the private sector to deliver close to 90 programs under the EAP. Our audit looked at selected programs to determine whether they were set up in a timely way and with appropriate safeguards. We found that the government put in place appropriate practices and that it approved projects in a timely manner. Capacity to deliver the EAP within the short time frame created additional risks for departments, and senior management implemented additional controls to manage these risks.

It is encouraging to note that when tasked with rolling out a complex and time-sensitive initiative, central agencies and departments worked together to achieve timely implementation while paying considerable attention to risk and ensuring eligibility criteria were met.

 

This report is evidence that when senior officials give priority to large initiatives like the Economic Action Plan, public servants rise to the challenge. It shows not only that government is able to pull together and react quickly to urgent and unforeseen situations such as the global economic downturn, but also that it does a good job of managing the delivery of ongoing large and complex programs such as Employment Insurance and child and family benefits. Our positive findings speak to the effort that public servants put into ensuring that they serve Canadians well and look for ways to continuously improve. 

Rest of report here. 

This is good news for restoring trust in government. Some Canadians that will be overlook the majority of positive findings by the auditor general and will stick to the routine of small politics.

Related articles

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Kelly McParland Wit: Rob Ford Victory

A must read: National Post Humour.

For Toronto’s urban sophisticates, it was a wipe-out. Total repudiation. Worse than the time they ran out of well-oaked chardonnay at Vintages. What are they supposed to do now, move to Calgary? Buy a leaf blower, for Chrissake? Any day now they’ll be erecting barriers at Pusateri’s, checking IDs. No one gets in without a credit card from Home Depot.

Wearily they munched their almond biscottis and totted up the devastation. Someone would have to contact the holistic, non-profit communal bike-sharing project and warn them the grand opening, scheduled for January, would be delayed.

 

Warning spill alert. Rest of article is linked below.

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Gravy Boats For Sale: Rob Ford Wins

Mayor Elect Rob Ford

So much for that horse race BS by those pundits. Good to see Toronto citizens dumping the tax and spend Liberals.

Update: Nik Nanos has stated Liberal strategists should begin to worry if Toronto stronghold can be taken what is safe.

Toronto-Mississauga

• George defeated
• Carolyn defeated by Rob Starr in Ward Six Mississauga
• Mayor Elect- Maurizio Bevilacqua has won in Vaughan.

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Re: The Mad (Republican) Tea Party

Funny Video

Scare Tactics: Liberals running on empty

Will the Liberals repeat the same mistake in Vaughan in 2010 with Federal Conservative candidate Julian Fantino they did in 2006, 2008 and 2009?

The accomplishments of Harris with the electorate went far beyond typical Conservative voters. Until 1995, an “Italian-Canadian Conservative MPP” was a political oxymoron. With Harris, things changed and he made inroads into the GTA’s ethnocultural communities, electing six members of Italian origin, including the late Al Palladini in Vaughan.

The Liberals’ use of scare tactics now indicates they are both scared themselves and running on empty — just like the current federal Liberals, who are trying to get back into government by scaring Canadians about their Conservative opponent. It worked for Jean Chrétien only because the Conservatives were divided. Once they united, the Liberal secret weapon became more of a paintball gun. It didn’t work for Stéphane Dion, it’s not working for Michael Ignatieff and it’s not going to work for McGuinty. -Persichilli: Scare tactics won’t work for Ontario Liberals

Reservations and criticism has been confirmed by several people with the direction of the Liberal party.

"the federal Liberal party, which he says was bereft of ideas and direction by the time Stephen Harper's Conservatives won the 2006 election." - Ken Dryden

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• Michael Ignatieff lies to highshool students. (thealbertaardvark.blogspot.com)
• Maybe Iggy was right (bluelikeyou.com)
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Becoming Canada: Ken Dryden exposes Liberals

"the federal Liberal party, which he says was bereft of ideas and direction by the time Stephen Harper's Conservatives won the 2006 election."-Ken Dryden

Harper is so politically skillful that the public spotlight has turned mostly on the Liberals since 2006. "It is Dion and now Ignatieff, who have had their flaws so starkly revealed," he writes. "Today, Harper seems less worn than Dion did, less worn than Ignatieff does now."-Ken Dryden

No kidding, observations from another Liberal that non-partisans have been stating for a long-time. The Liberal party is not the party of our parents any longer.As a partisan blogger for the conservatives, I don't see the party of Trudeau either.

Talk to Liberals – office holders, party organizers, fundraisers – around the country and you will tap into a malaise that a good pollster could rout out with a single question: “What's happening?” “Nothin',” the vast majority would respond, with a margin of error of plus or minus very little.
“There is no Liberal Party,” says one lifelong card carrier who has sat at cabinet tables.
“It died a long time ago. It's not completely extinct yet, but there's no there there.” In this lifelong Liberal's eyes, the party has been stalled for years. No new energy, no new ideas, no vision of what it might like to do. The singular advantage of proroguing, this Liberal would say, is that it has put an end to the squirming every time the opposition pounces.

“The ‘gotcha' stuff is out of control,” says the Liberal. “They bring in all these nerdy keener kids from campus and it's some kind of game to them. They're turning politics into pro wrestling.” The media concentrates on the top, Ignatieff, and on the Hill, but disenchanted Liberals say there is a story to be told far from the now-silenced sound bites of the Centre Block - Liberals show up to picket at Tim Horton's.

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Gallup Poll: Obama's Fault?

Will Obama be held responsible in the mid-term elections if the estimates of 100 seat change occurs? Can he transform to bi-partisan support with the loss of control of Congress and the Senate by the Democrats? Ronald Reagan was able to win support of the voters a second mandate with a similar bad economy.

Barack Obama averaged 44.7% job approval during the seventh quarter of his presidency. His average approval rating has declined each quarter since he took office, falling by more than two percentage points in the most recent quarter to establish a new low.

Gallup Poll with Unemployment Rate October

What do you think?

 

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Juan Williams is no Archie Bunker

Bill O'Reilly has been getting alot of attention lately. His appearance on the television show called The View caused two hosts to walk off for his inarticulate description of including the religious faith of the attackers. A recent guest and long time analyst for NPR has been fired for holding or expressing his personal opinion: Is this  the America you remember? This might be a question worth asking yourself when you visit the Polls in November.

A 70's television sitcom All in The Family main character was Archie Bunker and Juan Williams is no Archie Bunker. When did the meat heads adopt the mantle of judge and jury on definitions of what is appropriate discourse in a public?

 

NPR News has terminated the contract of longtime news analyst Juan Williams after remarks he made on the Fox News Channel about Muslims. Juan came to America from Panama with his family when he was four years old. He is a recipient of an Emmy award  for television documentary writing. His professional work leave little for room for debate on his professionalism.

When did discussing your personal prejudice or irrational fear become the basis for termination of employment? The meat heads in NPR may have been too quick to terminate Juan Williams, what do you think?

UPDATE: Fox News Chief Executive Roger Ailes handed Williams a new three-year contract Thursday morning, in a deal that amounts to nearly $2 million, a considerable bump up from his previous salary, the Tribune Washington Bureau has learned. The Fox News contributor will now appear exclusively and more frequently on the cable news network and have a regular column on FoxNews.com.

A silver lining Fox News lands Juan Williams gets support for his views on Fox with extra publicity.

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• Juan Williams Gets $2 Million, Three-Year Contract With Fox News: LAT (huffingtonpost.com)

New York Politics Jimmy McMillian

The Rent is Too Damn High Party candidate Jimmy McMillan stole the show last night at the New York gubernatorial debate in a race that has become a complete joke. Perhaps Jack Layton and Michael Ignatieff should could take notice.



Where are your solutions? Hey Mike, Jack are you too busy playing small politics?

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Stephen and Laureen Harper

Not another day at the office.  A Fall photo taken outside celebrating the Canadian Fall colours.

Enjoy.

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Disney's Cruella de Vil Day at Parliament Hill?

1996 adaption of 1956 Animation

Imagine to my shock today when I tuned in to Question Period to see some interesting choice of  fashion.

Marlene Jennings Liberal MP

Diane Bourgeois, Bloc MP, even has the hair?

Both of these screen shots were taken on October 20, 2010 during Question Period. You can check it out on CPAC.

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Ontario Tax Payers Need Help

Who is responsible? Is it time to cancel the E-health gravy train Dad?

Are they responsible for the lack of oversight?

“We found far too many examples where consultants were engaged on a sole-sourced basis, where significant increases in the initial fee estimate and follow-on work were repeatedly awarded, where there was inadequate oversight to ensure consultants delivered on time and on budget, and where billings for fees and expenses were not properly monitored and supported,” Auditor General Jim McCarter says in a statement.

Where are all these university educated progressives demands for an accountable open government in Toronto and Ontario?  Where is the respect for taxpayers money?

A public judicial inquiry with the ability to recommend criminal charges would be a start in restoring some sanity. What do you think?

Wall Street Journal: Backs Canada

Canadian Pride and Principles Not For Sale

Canada seems to have annoyed a sufficient number of Third World dictators and liberally pious Westerners to come up short in a secret General Assembly ballot. The sins committed by Stephen Harper’s Conservative government include staunch support for Israel, skepticism about cap-and-trade global warming schemes, and long-standing commitment to the Afghan war. Americans would be so lucky to get a leader as steadfast on those issues as the Canadian Prime Minister.

The comments are a great read. Many Americans support this as a badge of honour.

In three weeks Americans will send a message to the American political class. Any bets which party is going to get snubbed?

Coalition MPs: Winging It

What opposition MPs lack in evidence they can make up with imagination. I give credit to the media that  fails to  provide balance, context,  and correct the public record. It appears the opposition are trying to imitate the proceedings of American Senate hearings with partisan attack rhetoric. The opposition show respect for opinions that mirror theirs. This is not a place for truth seekers as much as it is for politicians who like to hear their own voice. The media has no problem omitting the cases of opposition MPs in attacking civil servants.

Explains how British Television used Muskoka Travel Pavilion to broadcast

Toronto Tourism official communicated to Peter McGovern, they were  up $ 50 million based on G20 in Toronto. Peter also shared many exporters also praised the added publicity from the G20 event was helping them. 

Peter McGovern, a Foreign Affairs deputy minister, said Tuesday that the international media used the fake lake — intended to showcase Canadian cottage country — as a backdrop for TV reports during the June gatherings, bringing images of the Canadian wilderness to living rooms abroad.

Media ignored his statements on estimates and costs

The lake was part of Experience Canada, a $2-million tourism pavilion in the Toronto media centre, where 3,700 journalists covered the summits. The reflection pool, built at the summit media centre at a cost of about $50,000, was widely decried by critics as a symbol of excessive government spending for the G8 and G20 summits.

 

Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates was a hoot to watch. The opposition were upset with the fact the government did not contract the military to save money instead of the local police. One member of the Bloc was interested if the "fake lake" still existed and how much was the cost to "fill it in". A Liberal MP is visibly upset and is reduced to restate  inaccurate figures for a "fake lake" in order to salvage their obsession with the theatre of the absurd.

They have lost their poster boy Kevin Page, PBO to provide them cover on their rants about costs.

His Report cites Canada is transparent other Summits were not.

Ward P.D. Elcock, PCO confirmed regardless of the integrated security plan,  each Police Force was responsible for local policing. When do we expect the opposition MPs to call Metro Toronto Police Chief Blair for testimony on the  allegations of excessive use of force, arrests in Toronto? (insert sound of Crickets chirping)

Long Gun Registry cheerleader Bill Blair has immunity from opposition?

 
Executive Summary from G8 is here.    Final Report IMF on G20 here.

It is a shame the Toronto media was obsessed with covering the mob instead of the good news behind the fence.

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Tax Fighters: Ignatieff vs McGuinty

Who do you believe is going to be a better tax fighter on the campaign trail?

Can you spot the Tax fighter?

It took months for Ignatieff to roll over and vote in Parliament in support of Liberal Premier Glen Campbell and Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty on the implementation of the HST in BC and Ontario.  The auditor general recommended the accounting for the implementation costs of a harmonized programs should be included in this budget. Ignatieff and his critics are very upset now that the government has adopted her recommendations?

Ignatieff has recently decided to challenge the wisdom of lowering business taxes anymore and his crack team of career politicians are ready to talk taxes and why corporations don't need any more tax breaks. Ignatieff tacking left, adopting the NDP redistribution of wealth policies has been tried before in 2008, it was called Green Shift. Some people feel it is ethical to take from productive members of society to pay for social programs.  Do you?

This could have been an opportunity by Ignatieff to pick up the mantle from the Chretien-Martin Liberal tax fighters - deficit slayers by spending less, this is not. Ignatieff wants to keep taxes at their present level. He did not offer to reduce the tax burden on families or employers.

 

Ignatieff feels paying for more new social programs is a higher priority than the planned corporate tax reductions of Economic Action Plan. Ignatieff may feel the Canadians will agree with his views on the economy and jobs. Liberals feel the level of taxation is on small, medium and large companies is just. 

“This bill is not fiscally responsible,” he said of a Bloc Québécois private-member’s bill that comes to a vote Wednesday evening. The Liberals and the NDP had supported the bill at second reading and in committee, but Mr. Ignatieff said it will be a free vote for his MPs. -Ignatieff Sept 30 2010  

Ignatieff threatened to topple the government with the aid of the NDP-Bloc in May 03,2009 over the enrichment of employment insurance. 

Does Ignatieff realize if the world was a tuxedo, he would be the brown pair of shoes?

A press release on May 08, 2009 five days after the  Ignatieff  decided a threat was necessary to make parliament work showed an increase of 36,000 jobs. The rate remain unchanged at 8.0% .The increase in employment in April was all in full-time work. Overall employment gains for the month were spread between adult men aged 25 and over, and older women aged 55 and over. Since October, employment has declined among men aged 25 to 54 and youths 15 to 24, whereas it has increased among older workers. In April, the average hourly wage was 4.3% higher compared with the same month a year earlier. Unemployment rose from February 7.2% to 7.7% matching 2003 levels for March 2009. In April 2009 the Unemployment was 8.1%. Statistics Canada has it at 8.0%

He said if the government does not budge on jobless benefits “then we’ll have to have an election.” But he also reiterated his vow to make Parliament work and urged the public not to read any election timing into the June date of the platform. “I’m not playing games,” he said. May 03, 2009

Labour Force Survey Unemployment rate for May 2009 is 8.1% from Statistics Canada reported in June 04, 2009, two weeks before the roll-over.

Ignatieff has previously said he wants a single national eligibility standard for EI during the ongoing recession — meaning people could qualify for benefits if they've worked 360 hours in the previous 52 weeks, regardless of where they live. Currently, the eligibility criteria vary by region across the country, from 420 hours worked in Gander, N.L. to 700 hours in Winnipeg.- June 17, 2009

A reporter asked if he was steamrolled for backing down from his election threats, his earlier Press Conference with four conditions and taking a Blue Ribbon Panel and he replied if he looked steamrolled on June 17, 2009.

Fifteen months have transpired since his being steamrolled. Our unemployment is reported at 8.0% . Bill C-308 is what Ignatieff demanded when unemployment reported at 7.7%. His four ultimatums declared in early May 2009 were reduced to a Blue Ribbon Panel in mid June when unemployment was reported at 8.1%.

 

Ignatieff initially voted with the NDP and Bloc to pass an improved Bill  that would have seen a 35% increase on employers and employees. The Federal government won praise from Unions and Association of small businesses for restricting  the increase to only five per cent. Experts wanted a 15% increase to get the EI fund balanced quickly. The Federal government decided the risk of job losses and risk to the business climate would require a delay in balancing the program in the short term.

This is why governments across Canada of all ideological stripes have done just the opposite of what Mr. Ignatieff is proposing. His Liberal predecessors, former Prime Ministers Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, understood the importance of reducing corporate taxes. That's why they dropped the federal rate to 21 per cent from 28 per cent. Many provincial governments have also cut corporate income tax rates in recent years, including NDP governments in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Redistribution of Wealth is Socialism: Ignatieff where does it work?

Ignatieff would be wise to look at what Ontario Liberal premier Dalton McGuinty has done. He increased corporate income taxes shortly after coming into power in, realized the destructive impacts of that move and did a u-turn last year, announcing a rate cut to 10 per cent from 14 per cent by 2013.

Ignatieff the tall poppy?

Anyone that seeks power to govern possesses a certain arrogance and anyone that attains power possesses the strategic skill. Therefore, in Canadian politics, arrogance and crass raw political strategy must be seen to be the character of one’s opponent. When government falls to trigger an election, Ignatieff and Harper will do their best to let the other poppy be boastful and stand too tall.- Stephen Taylor

September 2009: Budget Passed with NDP support.

If Michael Ignatieff Liberals were serious about lowering the taxes and helping families why have they failed to introduce a single bill in parliament for debate on behalf of the Liberal party that actually reduce taxes or helps business? Is he just playing games with supporting the NDP-Bloc policies that he initially introduced?

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