Mulroney

Lol... Oh lordy.. Ok.. someone here please tell me what productivity is? 'Productivity' is reminding me a lot of terms like 'baby boomers' and 'global warming'. You really don't understand what productivity means?

The attached article reviews David Dodge's recent comments on the future of the Canadian economy and the huge threat we face if we continue to be a productivity laggard. Poor productivity, in my humble opinion, is the #1 issue facing Canada today and for the next generation or more. Everything else about our way of life is secondary if we fail economically. So I am interested in reading opinions from others regardless of your political stripe. Here is the article: http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financi...566&k=29291

Remember that a gun is not simply a device to shoot. It is also a deterent. There is no reason to be worried that a Canadian will be gunned downed innocently. An Air Marshall has been trained carefully which means he/she is acutely aware of the dangers of firing a gun into a crowd and in an airplane at 38,000 feet. It's a matter of working closely with the US which - like it or not - we depend upon for our livelihood. And sometimes we need to give as well as take. It is also possible this story is designed to scare off would be hijackers. They might think twice if they knew Air Marshalls were likely on most Canada-US flights. This article in the Star is typical hack journalism which makes great leaps in logic without considering any alternative answers. In reading back over the article, I noticed the writer to be slightly disingenious in some of his inferences. For example, "Stephen Harper's government...suggests the move is designed primarily to accommodate armed air marshals who routinely fly back and forth across the border... But it also says the arrangement would apply to other situations, including "various cross-border enforcement initiatives between Canada and the United States. This is bureaucratese for open-ended. It means the new law could apply to just about any U.S. agency – from the FBI to Homeland Security to Buffalo police." I think the writer is being slightly paranoid to suggest that by ceding some ground to Air Marshalls that we have essentially started an envitable process whereby US agents of all stripes will be granted unencumbered access to Canada or even that the Harper government will open the doors to all our national secrets. That in effect, any current or future US Administration gets first dibs on all CSIS files and gets to peer into the PM's sock drawer. The writer alsp points out the apparent sinister presence of US agents at the Caledonia riots. Could it be they were here on a joint training exercise? Why is it immediately assumed they are here without our knowledge and are spying on us? I have come to expect such paranoid journalism from the Star and the Sun.

I think the U.S./Canada relationship is still deep and respectful enough that a potential incident which involved these Marshalls would also involve bilaterial communication between our countries. It's not like Canada and the U.S. are at war and the U.S. would act unliaterally. I know what you are thinking. What about the Maher Arar example. Well, the Arar case was one incident but not an epidemic. And certainly not symptomatic of a future time when America will march across the border, take our oil, water, agriculture, women and children. Relax and stop fighting the War of 1812. Manifest Destiny lives on only in the minds of Liberals and NDPers.

I see your point. My answer is it will depend upon whether or not someone who voted for Harper in 2006 believes that he has broken his promises. For instance, when I look back at the Federal Tory platform I voted for in '06 (http://www.conservative.ca/media/20060113-Platform.pdf) I note that Harper has accomplished something across all of its 5 points: Accoutability - Finally, an Act of Parliament which sets us on a course toward making Ottawa reveal what it is doing with our democracy and our hard earned tax dollars. Obviously the Accountability Act is a direct response to the Sponsorship scandal and the inference that had such an Act been in place in the late '90's, the Chretien government would not have been able to so easily manipulate the system for their own political gain. But its real long-term value to Canadians is it will move us away from just blindly trusting that Ottawa knows best without applying any scrutiny. And in our system where huge majorities (i.e. Chretien; Mulroney) are possible from time to time, an Accountability Act will give even a weak Opposition the tools to look into dark crevices. Tax relief - I can think of several ways in which Stephen Harper has lowered taxes. Security - From creating harsher penalties for a host of crimes - which I believe most Canadians agree the Chretien/Martin Liberals were too soft on (remember the guy in Vancouver who claimed his Charter Rights would be infringed upon if he couldn't keep child ponography?) - to reviewing the gun registry (again, instead of just blindly trusting in its effectiveness), to securing our borders and trying to work closely with our American allies. Families - The $100 a month per child tax credit is designed to accomplish two things: 1) To stimie the Liberal/NDP/BQ plan for another expensive and typically unaccountable social program (i.e. Universal Daycare) and, 2) To provide yet another tax break to all Canadian households who on average earn $59,000/year and could use $1200/year or more depending upon the number of kids at home. Communties - This section of their platform deals with infrastructure and the environment which is the weakest area of their accomplishments to-date. But the Clean Air Act and the public transit reimbursement program are good offerings regardless. I live in Toronto and gave up my car last November for a subway pass. The reaility of the environment issue is that government can only do so much in the short term. To think of a comprehensive environmental plan which addresses either the deep challenges of changing industrial standards quickly, or building a national public transit policy or the economic impact or the lack of concern for this file from growing economies such as China, India and Russia - to name a few hurdles - means that much of the short-term gains on the environment depend upon personal responsibility rather that an expectation of a silver-bullet government program. And personal responsibility is a cornerstone of Conservate political thought. Canada - Fixing the fiscal imbalance and strengthening Canada's federalism are two sides of the same coin. The old system of transfer payments which Harper would like to fix keeps the Provinces beholden to Ottawa while perpetuating that power vaccuum which sees Ontario and Quebec hold all the cards. Harper's plan is to get the money out of Ottawa and into the hands of all Provinces as step #1 toward decentralizing Canada in a way that will positively impact our country in the 21st century across the areas of: our economy; our social values; our culture; and our long sought after national identity. In other words, if we give the Provinces power by giving them the capital to weild that power, we will see all areas of Canada stand on their own two feet, grow into what they are good at and raise their regional idenity which in turn will enhance our national identity.

I regularly hear this sentiment that McGunity's inherited a mess caused solely by Mike Harris and Ernie Eves. The inference behind this statement is that it took a Liberal to fix their problems and Ontario should not go back to a Conservative like John Tory unless we would like a repeat of the 1995-2003 period. Now, I am not a great fan of either Harris or Eves. However, the poor state of affairs in Ontario prior to McGunity's ascension is connected to the Bob Rae days too. So if you bring up the past you should do so fairly. You can't simply marginalise John Tory by stating the sins of the past are completely the fault of the Harris/Eves Tories. The truth of the matter (and the reason why he should be booted out of office) is that McGuinty has no record of accoplishments upon which to build a platform this autumn. So in lieu of any vision, he is rehashing his old plans such as shutting down the coal plants (orginally scheduled for closure in 2007) and lobbying Ottawa to fix the fiscal imbalance which sees us pay out $26B more to Confederation than we get back. This second point is of crucial importance because the fiscal imbalance means we are truly cash strapped from funding our own infrastructure projects and plan for our future. Take a look at the state of the roads in downtown Toronto for instance or the lack of a comprehensive Transit Plan for the GTA. In short, he has not advocated Ontarians best interests by lobbying either Paul Martin or Stephen Harper in any meaningful way. His acts like a lame duck. I expect my Premier to fight for his constituents. In the final assessment, McGuinty has accomplished little during his tenure while instead, he raised taxes thereby increasing the financial burden on all families regardless of their income bracket. He is a tax and spend Liberal who has not further Ontario's cause in any meanigful way. And now he is using our money to buy votes.