Time for a change!

Tue, November 29, 2005

Curtains for the Liberals



After 12 years, four governments and two prime ministers, it's not just time to boot the federal Liberals out of office. It's time to drive a stake through their hearts, before they rise up again and bleed this country dry.

After losing a historic non-confidence motion in the Commons last night by a vote of 171-133, Paul Martin and the Liberals must now be driven from power by Canadians.

They must be defeated -- and not just because of the Liberal venality, arrogance, greed and theft exposed in AdScam.

They must be defeated because our health-care system has failed too many Canadians while the Liberals boast of piling up record surpluses of our money.

Because Liberal corruption is directly responsible for the revival of the separatist threat in Quebec.


Because the Liberals' naive belief in mollycoddling criminals has left them paralysed and unable to respond to the ongoing gangs and guns crisis in Canadian cities.

Over the past 23 days, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, the Liberals have made $24.5 billion in election promises -- more than $1 billion a day or $44 million per hour! They hope this brazen vote-buying will somehow make voters forget the brazen corruption of AdScam.

But does anyone really believe that any of that money is going to improve the lives of average working Canadians?

After all, the Liberals have made big promises and bribed us with our own money in election after election after election.

Ask yourself, after 12 years of Liberal rule, is our health-care system better or worse? Are waiting lists for surgery and diagnostic tests longer or shorter? Is our military stronger or weaker? Do our immigration and refugee system, and our criminal justice system, inspire more confidence, or less?

No wonder Martin launched his campaign last night with the same old tired fearmongering about Stephen Harper and the Conservatives taking the country "backward."

The Liberals have scarcely moved anything forward except spending your money.

Ont. doctors want health alternatives election debate

Ont. doctors want health alternatives election debate: "Flynn said Canada can no longer offer patients fast access to care compared with Great Britain, which has a private, parallel system alongside its public health system, and said we should look at elements of the British and French models.
'We need to consider in an unemotional way what works elsewhere,' he said. 'This should be about what works, not what used to work.'
Flynn noted there is already a lot of private delivery of health services in Canada, including most doctors' practices, and said politicians should stop trying to portray any private involvement in health care as a betrayal of medicare.
'I think actually the public is getting tired of that. I think they recognize that private health care is something that's a reality in Ontario, a reality in the rest of Canada,' he said. 'Let's try to be clear about what it is we're talking about.'
Flynn has just completed a tour of 26 Ontario cities and towns and said it's obvious 'that our current system is not providing timely access to quality health care' in any community. "

Osprey Media Group Inc. - Brantford Expositor

Osprey Media Group Inc. - Brantford Expositor: "VOTERS CONFUSED BY ASSESSMENT SYSTEM
By James Wallace"

What a great system - the more you improve your property -the more you pay the government. This is a dubious real incemtive for those that add real value, and have pride of ownership.

it would be interesting to apply the same rule to government services. In other words -if there was a reduction in value of the service -based on poor delivery or reduced service -the tax assessment would go down . It would be nice to get a tax rebate for services not delivered

How not to run a campaign

How not to run a campaign: "How not to run a campaign
comment"

A useful insight how not to defeat yourself . It is time for a change . Enough of the empty promises and poor delivery of "our" money. PR

Peoples savings dwindle -thanks to bad governance

It is time that there is an accounting -there are a lot of people that are tired of having there Income trust dwindle in value through the actions of this Liberal federal government- ruling on income trust an unacceptable and indecent proposal PR


There's no doubt about it -- retirees are steaming mad over attack on income trusts by Finance Minister Ralph Goodale and they are trying to make their voices heard in Ottawa. Unfortunately, so far the government hasn't even acknowledged their legitimate concerns.

I have today sent the following message to Mr. Martin and Mr. Goodale: You're playing Russian roulette with the life savings of thousands of Canadian retirees and seniors with your "indecision" on income trusts. We sit and watch the valuations of our trust portfolios dwindle every day because of the climate of fear you've created in the trust sector. Waiting until your February budget is cruel and unusual punishment for Canadians on fixed incomes trying to make ends meet and heat their homes this winter. The least you can do is make a statement that you will "grandfather" existing income trusts. We invested in good Canadian companies under the rules you created. We don't deserve this." – R.C.

"The problem with we peon Canadians responding to the Minister of Finance's disastrous musings on income trusts is that the federal government and its employees are too far removed from the life of ordinary risk-taking Canadians. With marvelous salaries, secure jobs, and pensions, the Ottawa Finance Department cannot possibly relate to our struggle for investment and retirement survival. So the idea that there could be any meaningful acceptance of our views must be purely fanciful. The so-called 'opportunity to be heard' plays us for the fools we Canadians are. What a lamentable and shameful situation!" – R.S.

"I depend on personal investments and the various income streams generated by them to provide retirement income. Much has been written about how this issue is being handled. There is no doubt that the Liberals have no clue what it is they are doing but they are going to do something to at least satisfy the egos of the upper echelon of government officials. (They now will end up with egg on their collective faces, and you can bet they will disburse the blame as far as possible).

"Instead of trying to convince the Liberals to change their minds on this issue by criticism of their policies and procedures, more has to be done to let them know directly that they work for the voters. There is very little written on the subject of the power of the voter. A huge sector of the population (Baby Boomers) is either in the stage of early retirement or saving and investing for retirement. These voters have a phenomenal ability to impact governments in terms of what they demand. The message needs to be put out to the Liberals that their future is in their own hands. The Liberals will brush off any criticism on this matter as they have in the past (Dingwall, Sponsorship, etc), but they do understand one thing Angry Voters". – E.S.

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - Reverse racism continues

To be balanced about the people who came here under false government promises (see notcanada.com) how about white Canadians in Canada? Discrimination not based on personal merit should not be tolerated . PR

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - Reverse racism continues: "How lovely that it only took three days worth of public backlash for the federal Public Works Department to rescind an utterly racist and discriminatory hiring policy that would have seen the department only hire, well, anyone but able-bodied white men for the next several months.
'It was misconstrued by some as being non-inclusive and this was not the intention,' said a spokesman earlier this week. 'So as a result of the concern expressed in this regard, the department is rescinding this special measure.'
So that's that, right? Hardly. "

National Post Lord Black fights back

National Post: "Lord Black faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted on all the charges.
Before he got into his car last night, he was asked whether he was worried about his own situation with former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers being sentenced to 25 years in jail for his role in an accounting scandal.
He brushed off the comparison.
'There was a colossal bankruptcy, 50,000 people lost their jobs, tens of billions of dollars were lost and there was a $4-billion accounting fraud. Keep a little perspective, guys,' he said.
'This isn't Enron. This isn't WorldCom. This was a magnificent company that the people who seized it used as a platform in which to persecute and defame the people who built it. [They] have torn it apart and destroyed it at the expense of the shareholders.... Those are my thoughts for the evening.'"

Free from the public trustee

The law should be changed . Good for the Winnipeg Sun expose of this freedom issue.



"It's too bad we had to go through all this trouble," said Grace Hanaway, Thomas' wife, adding she's relieved it's finally over. "Some people may need help but they (government) have got to sort it out properly and fairly."

And that's exactly the problem with the legislation and policies that govern the Public Trustee process.

There are almost no checks and balances in the system and no accessible appeal mechanisms. And once the Public Trustee takes over, it's very difficult to get them out of your life.

In fact, it's impossible without going to court and spending a few thousand dollars on lawyers' fees.

Hanaway, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, became ensnared in the system after he underwent a psychiatric assessment at a geriatric centre he was attending.

winnipegsun.com - Manitoba - Sale passes buck Interesting Canada 2nd in health spending ,30th in delivery

winnipegsun.com - Manitoba - Sale passes buck: "The provincial government admits it can't stop private clinics from selling MRI scans to the public unless Ottawa decides the practice contravenes the Canada Health Act.
'We don't have any choice, they're the body that sanctions us,' Health Minister Tim Sale said when pressed by reporters in the legislature yesterday. '(The feds) are the ones that will levy fines if this machine contravenes the act and they're also the ones that won't levy fines if it doesn't.'
The legalities of selling elective MRI scans outside of a hospital became a hot-button issue in Manitoba when Maples Surgical Centre in Winnipeg purchased a scanner earlier this month.
'Growing by the day'
Once the private clinic receives its accreditation from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, it will begin providing MRI scans at $695 to its list of patients that is 'growing by the day,' said Dwayne Venter, the general manager of the clinic.

'Hopefully it'll be within the next two weeks,' said Venter. 'I've got people contacting me, it's growing by the day. They're almost banging down the door.'
The Tories and Venter insist federal and provincial legislation does not prohibit private clinics from selling elective MRI scans."

Hamilton may be notcanada.com and w5 expose made the difference

Ont. unveils new labour deal with feds


Canadian Press


Wednesday, November 23, 2005



CREDIT: Pat McGrath/Ottawa Citizen
Belinda Stronach, Minister of Human Resources

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TORONTO -- Ontario and Ottawa have agreed two labour market deals that will put $1.3 billion in federal cash over the next six years into job training for the province's residents and recent immigrants.

The Canada-Ontario labour market development agreement will transfer millions of employment insurance dollars to the province, starting with $30 million in the first year and rising to $314 million in each of the fifth and sixth years.

The funds will go towards training, apprenticeships and helping immigrants enter the labour market.

A labour market deal between the province and federal government has been anticipated since late spring.

Business experts have said the agreement is important for addressing a shortage of skilled workers in the province, particularly in northern communities.

Federal Human Resources Minister Belinda Stronach and Chris Bentley, Ontario's minister of training, colleges and universities, announced the deal in Toronto.

The high price all Canadians pay for federal 'pogey'

Isn't it amazing that the adminstration costs 86% of the total amount spent of the ui budget in the maratimes - who are these people helping other then themselves

The destruction wrought by federal Employment Insurance (EI, formerly UI) on eastern provinces has been widely documented for two decades. Yet the federal government keeps expanding the program.

Two years ago EI was extended to workers who quit their jobs for six weeks to care for terminally ill family members. How kind.

Trouble is, Conservative EI critic Lynne Yelich revealed last week, it cost Ottawa almost $70 million on administration to dole out $11 million in "compassionate care" claims.

Forgive me for being uncompassionate, but this is simply one more reason to abolish the whole program.

EI has an interesting if depressing history. It was Ottawa's first invasion of the provinces' responsibility for social spending and required a special amendment to Canada's constitution by the British Parliament in 1940.

UI started sensibly enough, but in 1971 it was ramped up into a gigantic vote-getter, especially in rural Quebec and the Atlantic.

The idea was to save small towns by using EI to subsidize "seasonal" jobs in fishing and forestry --jobs which hitherto had not qualified for benefits. This became known locally as "Lotto 10-42" -- work 10 weeks and loaf for the next 42.

In his excellent book "Retreat From Growth," maritime economist Fred McMahon documents the devastating effect UI inflicts on the Atlantic economy.

During the 1960s, before the feds showed up to "help," the region had almost caught up to the rest of the country. Unemployment was only slightly higher than the Canadian average, private job-creating investment was the same, and education and skill levels were rising.

Then came Lotto 10-42, along with a raft of bogus "job creation" grants to help people get their 10 weeks to qualify for benefits.

It didn't matter what the jobs were, and still doesn't -- fixing park benches, counting cars, making fibreglas caskets in Cape Breton. Atlantic political careers are won or lost on the delivery of EI make-work grants.

A maritimer who "hoards" a make-work job longer than the EI qualifying period is considered selfish. The wage rates of these bogus jobs are set exactly high enough to deliver the maximum EI benefit.

Meanwhile, real jobs frequently go begging for lack of anyone willing or skilled enough to do them, private investment lags, and Atlantic skill levels have dropped, because you can't collect pogey in school.

Ottawa might as well have handed out heroin. In some towns 90% of the people are addicted.

It got so ridiculous that in 1993 even the federal Liberals decided to scale it back. Resentment flared, and the Liberals dropped from 31 Atlantic seats to 11 in the 1997 election. Benefits were later significantly restored.

The question is, who will end this ridiculous program?

Well, not the federal Liberals. Nor the federal Conservatives. Nor the "have-not" provincial premiers. Politically they can't.

Only the premiers of the "have" provinces, Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan and B.C., have a motive to end it, because their workers are paying for it through higher-than-necessary EI premiums -- $800 annually per Albertan and $900 per Ontarian.

Until the "have" province premiers push for a constitutional amendment restoring EI responsibility to the provinces, nobody will fix the problem, and the whole country will go on paying the price.

Hamilton Amazing truth from the liberal finance minister himself

The tax system in Canada amounts to legalized stealing and looting from you. Imagine what you could do with your money if these parasites did not have it. PR


Hamilton: "Goodale admits Canadians overtaxed
But cutting GST not the answer, says Federal Finance Minister

Bruce Cheadle
Canadian Press


Friday, November 18, 2005



Finance Minister Ralph Goodale says that Canadians may be overtaxed but the Goods and Service taxes will remain in effect. (CP PHOTO/Fred Chartrand)

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OTTAWA -- Canadians may be overtaxed, but cutting the goods and services tax is not the answer, Finance Minister Ralph Goodale said Friday.
Goodale was responding to media reports that the Conservatives could pledge to cut the GST as part of their platform in the coming federal election. In a round-table discussion with The Canadian Press, Goodale said that would be one of the least effective and most costly tools for improving economic productivity and Canadian living standards. "

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - Liberals to the rescue after years of inaction

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - Liberals to the rescue after years of inaction: "Gelinas says Indian Affairs found risks to drinking water quality on three-quarters of reserves in 2001, but there are still no laws or regulations governing their water supply.
She told the aboriginal affairs committee that some First Nation communities have been under boil-water advisories for years.
Hmmm.
And we have had a federal Liberal government for years ... 12 of them to be exact.
Yet this is same gang, from Martin on down, will go on the election trail -- either days or weeks from now -- and tell us with a straight face that it was the Opposition that disrupted plans to sort out the problems on reserves. That only a Liberal government can be trusted to put things right.
It would be amusing if the truth weren't so tragic. "

National Post

It just keep getting better and better . Whatever happened to equality and merit in Canada - truly discusting . PR
National Post: "White males need not apply
Internal e-mail reveals hiring ban at Public Works

Tom Blackwell
National Post


Saturday, November 19, 2005


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A major federal department has temporarily banned the hiring of able-bodied white men in an unusual move critics say could spark a backlash against the very disadvantaged groups it is meant to help."

CTV.ca | Black's career takes a further step into darkness

Too bad - lets see what happen to the warrior. It is amazing that the same legal targeting is not used against people of adscam fame. Are there different rules for different folks ? PR

CTV.ca | Black's career takes a further step into darkness: "Black's career takes a further step into darkness
TORONTO
'His astonishing career as well as the vagaries of his romantic and family life provide practically unlimited possibilities for dramatization.''"

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - Health-care hypocrisy

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - Health-care hypocrisy: "Health-care hypocrisy



Why is Prime Minister Paul Martin silent on the growing moves to privatize health care in Quebec, which even his own party in that province now supports?
Quebec already has more private medical clinics than any other province in Canada -- including Martin's favourite whipping boy when it comes to medicare, Alberta.
Martin can't plead ignorance about the huge number of private clinics in Quebec. His own doctor runs one.
Last weekend, the Quebec wing of the federal Liberal party endorsed a resolution calling for the expansion of private health care in that province as a way of combating unacceptably long waiting lists for medical treatment. "

When will the bubble burst?

There is a natural financial correction every 25 years. Do you remember 18% interest rates in the 80's . Those in priveledged monopoly positions with their inflated wages -those normally protected from economic realities will feel the pain. Beware you are heading for a painful and rude awakening. Question your ability to sustain or survive your existing life style. The question to ask yourself is:

• Inflated salaries means inflated living costs- can you afford or sustain your 4000 sq ft house or palace for 2-if your real salary or personal revenue is reduced dramatically . (Conserve and save - lower your consumption habits and expectations.) CYA.
• Can we sustain inflated salaries and wages when we compete with the rest of the world?
• Check what a policeman, teacher, judge, jailgaurd, doctor, nurse,other workers are paid in China or India -the reality check .
• Are you worth the money when those in China produce the same products for 10% of what you produce?

Do you really believe that a corrupt and bloated "over tax it" government that has failed in economics 101 can help you? The fall of the " roman empire" is a economic reality. Greed and everyone for themselves will continue to prevail at great personal cost for those that pay for the misadventures of over inflated non performancers. If you can't compete you will perish.

Be aware , forearmed and forwarned - get ready for the unpleasantness of economic reality.

winnipegsun.com - Manitoba - Hospital admits mistakes made

winnipegsun.com - Manitoba - Hospital admits mistakes made: "We need to have a health-care system that is held accountable,' said Gerrard, adding the bill would ensure measurable outcomes are in place and agreed-upon recommendations are implemented.
Another bereaved daughter was in the legislature gallery yesterday afternoon, also asking for accountability from the health minister.
Mimi Raglan's mom -- Frances Raglan -- was mistreated at Riverview Health Centre and died after being discharged in October 2001.
'It's outrageous there has been no apology to us. My mother was clearly put on the wrong treatment plan,' said Raglan.
Health Minister Tim Sale acknowledged the error and apologized for the family's grief but wouldn't commit to remedial action. "

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - We've heard it before

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - We've heard it before: "What an insult to the intelligence of Canadian voters. For starters, to suggest that his party is the only one capable or caring enough to implement social policy change is arrogant in the extreme. Then there's the troubling fact that they have had well over a decade to make progress and in that time have managed to do very little to fix health care, or the conditions on reserves or day care or offshore revenue sharing. "

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - End the immigration charade

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - End the immigration charade: "And while Volpe says a hike in immigration is needed to meet Canada's labour needs, the fact is we already have far too many foreign-trained doctors and engineers working as cab drivers because the feds, after 12 years, still haven't figured out a sensible way to recognize their credentials. "

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - Harper on right track

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - Harper on right track: "That means keeping government at a reasonable size and acting as a catalyst, instead of an impediment, to business growth. It means a commitment to balancing the federal budget by learning to live within our means, not by taxing us half to death. It means tax breaks for individuals and corporations, in recognition of the fact that we'd like to make our own choices about how our money is spent. It means creative solutions to our health-care system instead of the kind of tinkering we have seen in recent years that has frustrated medical professionals and the general public alike. "

National Post quick facts on the gomery report

Can you believe that it took this long to discover that those in power have an absolute disregard for public funds? Do we have the right to be a country when such blatant "criminality" is permitted and condoned by our "leaders ". Trust be dammed PR

National Post: "Gomery Report

Mary Vallis
National Post"

Hamilton

Water water everywhere and not a safe drop to drink! safe water should be a canadian right - why not fix it -enough meetings - why not just fix it .

PR We have lots of people with talent to do so- get rid of the administrators who do not have the will or brains to act.


Hamilton: "More water woes near Walkerton

Keith Leslie
Canadian Press"