Election 2011 Platform Comparison

Elections are a chance to choose the vision for Canada. This comparison will be long, but it is complete and based directly off the content that was available in the party platforms of the three major parties – the Conservatives, Liberals and NDP. In many ridings across the country, there will be a three-way race to choose their representing party and across the country some minds haven’t already been made yet. This article will include a meet the leaders section as well.
You have the choice for the vision of the country that you prefer. Everything will be classified by major headers and is in a random order. Blank spaces indicate that there was nothing concerning the topic in the platform. The Conservatives mentioned a $11 billion cut in a news release but since they do not mention it in their platform and don’t have any documentation to back it up, we will assume that it does not exist. Note that each of these parties can and probably will break these promises and that the Conservatives have some controversial views and contradictions when it comes to some of these.

Meet the Leaders

Leader	Stephen Harper	Michael Ignatieff	Jack Layton
Profile	Prime Minister of Canada for 5 years in a minority parliament and has been defeated due to his government’s high secrecy and scandals	A professor, a journalist, an academic, who has traveled the world and was a leading activists for Human Rights. He came back to return Canada to its traditional self.	Has the momentum in the popular vote polls and is a fighter. He is known for his stances on many issues from poverty to the environment.
Full Platform			Full Costing

Economy

Economy	Conservative	Liberal	NDP
GST	No Change	No Change	No Change
Personal Taxes	No Change	No Change	No Change
Corporate Taxes	Cut to 15% from 16.5%	Raised to 18% from 16.5%	Raised to 19.5% from 16.5%
Small Business Tax Rates	No Change	No Change	Cut to 9% from 11%
Fighter Jets	For	Against	Against
Mega Prisons	For	Against	Against
Deficit	Eliminate by 2015	Down to 1% GDP in 2 years	Balance Budget by 2015
Job Creation and Economic Plans	· Training trade · Hiring tax credit for small business · Foreign credentials loans. · Free Trade between EU and Canada by 2012 · New Trade in India by 2013 · Reduce paperwork burden on small businesses by 20% · Red Tape Reduction Commission to look at ways to deregulate businesses. · Permanent support for BizPal – online tool for ‘one-stop shopping’ · HST in Quebec	· Youth Hiring Incentive will hire 700,000 young Canadians annually. · Invest in education to spur innovation and new markets · Incentives given to innovators in environment · Incentives given to innovators in medicine · Innovation tax credit: 15% tax credit for innovators · Extend “Flow-Through Shares” tax model – companies with little to no revenue pass on tax savings to investors	· Re-introduce federal minimum wage · Cap interest rates of credit cards at 5% · Increase powers of financial regulators to ban excessive interest rates · Job creation tax credit of $4500 per new hire – if new employee kept for 12 months, $1,000 bonus. · Reduce threshold for foreign investment to $100 million · HST in Quebec · Not penalize BC for rejecting HST
New industries to be focused on	· Military and Aerospace	· Sustainable and environmentally responsible resource products · Medical technologies · Clean energy
Key Investments	· Canada-US border · Repair Champlain bridge · Canada’s research granting councils · Strategic Aerospace and Defense Initiative · Canada Space industry · 200,000 more homes can access internet · F-35 Jets · Super Prisons	· Invest in education · New Champlain Bridge · Science and research · public transport and infrastructure to spur innovation and new markets · 100% internet coverage across the country. · Lower internet costs · Arts and culture	· Eco-Energy program · public transport and infrastructure · affordable and social housing · Clean energy
Employment Insurance			· Families can take 6 months leave to tend to relatives
New Expenses	$6.61 billion	S8.23 billion	$68.94 billion
Cuts/ New Revenue	$67.60 million	$11.23 billion	$72.30 billion
Total	$6.54 billion deficit	$3.00 billion surplus	$3.36 billion surplus

Healthcare

Healthcare	Conservative	Liberal	NDP
Innovations and Changes	· Forgive portion of students’ loans in rural areas	· Review Canada Food Inspection Agency, Health Canada, and Public Health Agency of Canada to ensure food safety system is effectively coordinated to minimize risks · Canada Brain Health Strategy – meant to form a research team to help Canadians cope with Diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Multiple Sclerosis · Find ways to prevent mental disorders to put a family in poverty · Work with provinces to make access to doctors in Rural Canada possible	· Home care transfer · Double funding for forgivable loans to help seniors keep homes. · Renovation credit for families who renovate a home to support a senior – forgivable loan will cover 50% of costs with maximum of $35,000
Investments		· Increase food inspection budget by $50 million in 4 years · $100 for Canadian Brain Health Strategy	· 1,200 new doctors in 10 years · 6,000 new nurses in 6 years · Low income, rural and aboriginal medical students
Medication		· Work with provinces to ensure wide scope of medication coverage · Lower cost of prescription drugs by possibly supporting provinces expand bulk purchasing	· Bargain pharmaceutical purchases · Cut administrative costs through public administration · Aggressive Price Review · Public funded research and development
Pro-Active Measures	· Double children’s fitness tax credit and make it refundable · Adult fitness tax credit – cover up to $500 in registration fees for fitness activities	· Healthy Choices Program to educate Canadians on eating healthy. · Labeling regulations to make nutritional value of food and Product of Canada Labeling clearer. · Regulate trans fats and salts · Healthy Start program to get 250,000 from low income families healthy and well fed. · Commit on-going support for Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program and Aboriginal Head Start Program · Buy Local fund and promote home-grown food. · Support Farmers’ Market Development Program	· Support schools giving healthy meals · Injury reduction in amateur sport act
Provincial Deal	Maintain Public System	Maintain Public System	Maintain Public System

Families

Families	Conservative	Liberal	NDP
Equality		· Protect disabled · Everyone should have equal opportunity · Reverse Harper’s cuts to pay equity and establish pro-active pay equity	· Reverse Harper’s cuts to pay equity and establish pro-active pay equity · Give rights to disabled. · Protect transgender and transsexual Canadians from discrimination and impose tough consequences to infractions
Initiatives	· Family Tax Cut (in 2015-16 when budget is balanced) income-sharing for couples with dependent children under 18 years old will be able to share receive up to $50,000 of income for federal income tax purposes – average savings of $1,300 per year – supposed to increase fairness for single income families and ease burden on double income families · Establish a Family Caregiver Tax credit worth $2,000	· Family Care Plan includes: Family Care Employment Insurance Benefit and Family Care Tax Benefit · Six-Month Family Care Employment Insurance Benefit: Will cost $250 million, help 30,000 people, not increase EI premiums. · Family Care Tax Benefit – modeled off Child Tax Benefit: tax-free monthly payment worth up to $1,350 per year. Eligible to families with incomes under $106,000. Will help 600,000 people and cost $750 million. · Affordable Housing	· Caregiver Benefit modeled after Child Tax Benefit to give low and middle income families who care for a senior a tax credit of up to $1,500 per year · Affordable housing · Home heating sales tax rebate · Reinstate Harper’s cut funding for settlement of new Canadians
Fighting Poverty	· Top-up benefit to the Guaranteed Income Supplement providing $600 extra per year for single seniors and up to $840 per year for senior couples · Double tax-free savings account limit · Extend protection of workers via Wage Earner Protection Program to more than 6 months.	· Fund $700 million per year to strengthen Guaranteed Income Supplement · Create with provinces a Poverty Reduction Plan	· Increase annual Guaranteed Income Supplement enough to lift every senior out of poverty · Create non-taxable Child Benefit and give $700 per child – in addition to Universal Child Care Benefit · Poverty reduction targets will be outlined
Pensions		· Work with provinces to gradually increase defined benefits under core of Canadian Pension plan · Create Secure Retirement Option to be an alternative to RRSPs. Employers could give low cost plan to contribute to SRO. · In the event that an employer goes bankrupt, workers can transfer pensions to Canada Pension Plan to allow assets to grow.	· Work with provinces to increase pension plan - goal to double what people already receive. · End reduction of pensions for retired veterans

Education

Education	Conservative	Liberal	NDP
Student Debt	· Enhance Canada Student Loans Program for Part time students · Double work exemption for Canadian Student Loans · Try to implement measures with Quebec Government since Quebec is not part of Canada Student Loan Program	· Liberal Passport: $1,000 per year for 4 years for every high school student to use towards college, university or CEGEP. For Low income families, $1,500 per year for 4 years. Current CEGEP and University students will be eligible, part time students get less. · Requirement: RESP account, no input required. Comes in addition to existing programs for students. · However, the initiative will replace the Textbook and Education tax credits. The Tuition Tax Credit, Canada Students Loans Program and the Canada Student Grant Program stay in place. · Give students additional $1,500 if they volunteer for at least 150 hours in a Canada Service Corps service for a year	· $800 million transfer to provinces aimed at tuition fees · $200 million per year more to Canada Student Grants program – aimed at aboriginals and low-income students · $960 increase in education tax credit.
Student Jobs	· Extend support for Canada Youth Business Foundation to give loans to young entrepreneurs	· Youth Hiring Incentive will hire 700,000 young Canadians annually.
Educational Infrastructure	· 30 new Industrial Research Chairs at colleges and polytechnics to allow students to interact with researchers · Enhance Research Granting councils to support research partnerships between researchers and students	· Early Learning program · Invest $120 million to Veterans Learning Benefit for veterans who want to go back to school · Invest $200 million to ensure that education is available for Aboriginal people; additional money will also be given to aboriginal students directly.	· Early Learning program

Democracy and Accountability

Democracy and Accountability	Conservative	Liberal	NDP
Initiatives	· Scrap voter subsidies for parties · Fill senate vacancies with individuals who support Conservative senate reform goals · Add more seats to parliament · Open Government Working Group – release information to the public and open dialogue with citizens	· Open Government – allow Canadians to see what government is doing. · People’s Question Period – A weekly occurrence of a day in parliament dedicated to answering questions and concerns from the people · Reinstate Court Challenges program which conservatives scrapped which provided financial assistance for pursuing language and equality rights in constitution. · Create internet voting · Work with all parties	· Electoral Reform – Shared Riding system and proportional representation · Prevent prorogation of parliament when confidence vote on table and require parliamentary vote first · Renegotiate constitution to allow Quebec be a part
Senate	Reform: Elected		Reform: Abolish
Long Form Census	Reform: Abolish	Reinstate	Reinstate
Long Gun Registry	Reform: Abolish	Reform: Improve · Decriminalize first offenders · Eliminate license fees for new users and renewals · Simplify forms and obtainability

Environment

Environment	Conservative	Liberal	NDP
Investments	· Clean air using ecoEnergy retrofit · Support for research and development in clean energy · Support Lower Churchill hydro-electric project · Allow Quebec to exploit off shore resources such as oil	· Clean energy · Scientific research and monitoring of impacts of oil sands development · $100 million with annual increase of $125 million in Canadian Fresh Water Strategy · Support Lower Churchill hydro-electric project	· Public transit
Changes	· ecoEnergy Retrofit-homes program will be extended by one year · Establish National Conservation Plan to create new National Parks, make land between protected areas more permeable to wildlife and expand use of digital technologies to help connect Canadians to nature · Restore degraded ecosystems and reintroduce native species	· Green Renovation tax credit with goal of retrofitting 1 million homes by 2017 – people who make energy efficient changes to their homes (such as new windows, doors and roofing) can claim a tax credit of up to $13,500. Government will cover 50% of cost of energy audit required in advance of the renovation – this leads to average of $500 per year in savings on energy costs · Export resource-based products that were produced with lowest impact · Supply knowledge, technology, and expertise to other markets · Quadruple Canada’s low-impact renewable energy production level from 2009 by 2017 · Restore Renewable Power Production Incentive that the Conservatives cut · Conduct review of offshore oil spill prevention and response capability plans – introduce legislation to prevent disasters – create world leading oil spill contingency plan which will ensure safety measures part of cost of doing business · Liability on companies will be from $30 to 40 million (companies would have to pay for it if found negligent in court) · Halt Oil exploration in Arctic	· Work with provinces to get binding deal · Promote green made in Canada products · Support low income make shift · Green Bond Fund to allow investment in green research and projects · Tax exemption for employees who use public transit
Oil Sands		· Accelerate development and deployment of technologies that reduce environmental impacts with goal of eliminating 15% differential compared to conventional oil · Immediately end tax break for industry · Invest	· Regulations to protect fishery, trans boundary waters, science-based monitoring and enforcement for oil sands
Fresh Water Strategy		· Address issue of water contamination · Protect water from being subject to bulk exports · Restore Great Lakes and St. Lawrence regions · Support cleanup of Lake Winnipeg · Advance Research and improve efforts to protect fresh water ecosystems from invasive species
Reduction Target		80% below 1990 levels by 2050
System used		Cap and Trade	Cap and Trade

Canadian Culture

Canadian Culture	Conservative	Liberal	NDP
Initiatives	· Implement Children’s Arts tax credit that would give each child $500 for the expenses of arts · Support Royal Conservatory of Music and Canada Periodical Fund	· Defend CBC · Double federal funding for arts · Support Bilingualism and will consult a next generation Official Languages Plan. · Reduce wait times for immigrants and refugees on the waiting list	· Strengthen bilingualism · Refocus mandate of CRTC · Fund Canada Media Fund and Telefilm Canada · Regulate Canadian TV to keep it Canadian owned · Promote broadcast of Canadian content

Foreign Policy

Foreign Policy	Conservative	Liberal	NDP
Diplomacy	· New Trade in India by 2013 · Free Trade between EU and Canada by 2012 · Create Office of Religious Freedom in Department of Affairs and International Trade to promote religious freedom and advance programs that support religious freedom · Protect religious minorities · Rally world leaders to follow through on commitments to improve heath of women and children in developing nations · Reintroduce Human smuggling legislation · Expedite deportation of foreign criminals · Give law enforcement power to prevent terrorism	· Global Network Strategy · Create Trade Deals with China and India · Improve Canada-US relations · Reverse thickening of border · Improve Canada-Mexico relations · Strengthen ties with Europe · Re-Invest in international priorities · Help Africa	· Play a role in new International Climate Change agreements · Work toward meeting requirements of international contracts
Military	· Follow through with purchase of F-35 · Give Coast Guard Law Enforcement Mandate · Establish Armed boarding teams for incoming suspicious ships · Arm coast guard vessels	· Revive Peace-keeping traditions of the Canadian Military · Renew Canada’s leadership in conflict prevention · Abolish F-35 project	· Make the military take a peace keeping role · Maintain the Canadian Forces · Maintain defense spending commitments · Defense White Paper – Redefine roll of military and its needs and review major defense projects · Review purchase of F-35 as part of Defense White Paper · Enhance the Canadian Navy
Afghanistan	· Focus on post-combat efforts in Afghanistan	· 2011-2014 training mission in Afghanistan along with development work to phase out Canada’s military and help Afghans fend for themselves	· Replace combat mission with development and bring troops out of Afghanistan
Arctic	· Fund in education and job growth in region	· Appoint new ambassador for circumpolar affairs to get a voice on Arctic council

WikiLeaks: American Officials Critical of Harper

For a man who has long been known to want a close partnership with the US and American social policy to be instated to make Canada a leader rather than a “second-tier socialist country,” his American plans do not resonate well with American officials. WikiLeaks has struck again – with criticisms of a broad range of criticisms that the United States made about Stephen Harper’s governance. A picture is being painted – American officials don’t think Harper is the right leader for Canada.

International relations will always be important when it comes to the coexistence of nations and super powers, and it seems that Harper has made Canada a laughing stock in more ways than just the environment at Copenhagen.

In January 2010, the US ambassador to Canada weighed in on Harper’s ‘tough on crime’ agenda in a leaked cable stating, “"The Conservatives have used the crime agenda to great effect, making it an essential part of their "brand," in spite of the fact that they have not actually passed most of their proposed crime and security legislation."

When it comes to copyright legislation, Harper receives a failing grade. On February 29, 2008, the US Embassy stated, "Embassy Ottawa remains frustrated by the Government of Canada's continuing failure to introduce — let alone pass — major copyright reform legislation that would, inter alia, implement and ratify the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Internet Treaties.”

When it comes to prorogation, the American government paid close attention. In December 2008, a cable said:

"Michäelle Jean, who returned to Ottawa on December 3, will likely be guided by custom in the present situation, although the complexities of the current impasse … mean that she may also end up establishing a new precedent for vice-regal authority.”

"Her primary challenge must be to act in the best interest of Canada, while preserving the non-partisan character of her office."

When it comes to senate reform, Harper gets slammed, a report from December 2008 suggests that Harper’s appointment of senators as "a major about-face for a PM and a party that long campaigned for an elected upper chamber. The cost of the eighteen new senators also conflicts with political messaging about the need for official belt tightening."

The Liberals also faced criticism. A leaked document from January 2010 said that at the return of the prorogation issue, the party had “a lack of energy and hands-on leadership.”

"The Liberals face a tough road ahead if they hope to beat the Conservatives in the next federal election — whether in 2010 or 2011."

If there is but one glimmer of hope for Harper’s dream of an American Canada, it lies in his minister Lawrence Cannon – in the eyes of the US. In November 2008, an official at the US embassy suggests that Cannon is "an experienced and competent administrator who is likely to provide stability to a department that has had four ministers since the Conservatives took office in 2006." The official also said that Cannon was "one of very few in the national Conservative caucus with experience in government.”

If it wasn’t Harper’s dismal attendance and participation at the Copenhagen summit that brought the world to tears of laughter, it is stunning to see how his attempts to follow his leader – the US – has failed him so miserably.

Did the Conservatives declare mutiny on Stephen Harper?

The Liberal party was given a present by the Tories today, a 500 page book of Harper’s most controversial quotes from the 80s to present. The document is organized in alphabetical order by subject matter and covers everything from abortion to western alienation. The fact that the Tories felt compelled to research and expose their own leader is an indication that the party isn’t stable and that something is seriously wrong. Harper refused to tell reporters what would happen to his career if he didn’t win a majority government, but based on this kind of betrayal, his time as leader of the party must be on a short leash.

The quotes include those that we know of already and when it comes to the abortion debate, Harper had this to say when he was a leadership candidate in 2002: “I’m not ashamed to say that, in caucus, I have more pro-life MPs supporting me than supporting Stockwell Day.”

In 1995, Harper said that “providing for he poor is a provincial, not a federal responsibility.”

In 1999, Harper said that Quebec’s language law was created by the Parti Quebecois “to suppress the basic freedoms of English-speaking Quebecors and to to ghettoize the French-speaking majority into an ethnic state.”

It is remarkably unusual that a party would dig up dirt on its own leader as it is usually the other parties that dig it up for them.

In Tom Flanagan’s book Harper’s Team, he wrote, “When I became chief of staff in 2003, one of the first things I did was organize a 'Harper research' program to collect everything he had ever written or said in public." He refused to comment on how the binder got obtained by the Liberals.

A Tory source who was familiar with Flanagan’s project told CBC that the binder was genuine and that it included all of the up-to-date installments of their research which started in 2003.

Harper may have problems defending his healthcare stances now that they are all in the opposition’s hands.

A cover note on the 2004 installment said, "that [the quotes] have the potential to be the most problematic are the quotations dealing with health care."

Below are two quotes that haven’t been dug up by the opposition concerning Harper’s stance on healthcare – both of which from 2002.

“The private provision of publicly insured services should be permitted. The monopoly of provision of services s not a value that, in and of itself, is worth preserving.”

The Canada Health Act “rules out private, public-delivery options, It rules out co-payment and all kinds of options that are frankly going to have to be looked at if we’re going to deal with the challenges that the system faces.”

Harper’s Economy

Stephen Harper is making the pitch that he is the best suited leader and has the best suited party to guide our economy out of the pit that he put it in. His Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, the man who destroyed Ontario’s economy under Mike Harris, has left his mark on the Canadian economy and it is now weaker than ever. Here are just a few of the Conservative’s many flops concerning the economy – and their campaigning of it.

Jim Flaherty Promises that there won’t be a recession or deficit

On May 30, 2008, economists predicted an economic decline, but Flaherty thought otherwise.
“If some people are saying that (Canada is recession-bound) I disagree with them,” Flaherty told reporters, according to The Financial Post.

“The strengths in the economy across the country are quite remarkable,” Flaherty said.
After the recession struck, Flaherty told the economists, who forewarned that there would be a recession, that no one saw it coming.

Despite the fact of the recession, Flaherty predicted that Canada could steer through it calmly without a deficit of big catastrophe. Canada at that point was already in deficit, and had been since July of that year. The recession only struck by the end of November.

Canada’s books plunged in the red due to tax cuts where Jim Flaherty underestimated the economy, according to The Star and The Canadian Press. The deficit in July 2008 was $500 million and would mark the trend of Canada’s slipping economy – even before the global crisis started.

Flaherty had initially predicted in February 2008 – upon the release of his federal budget – that Canada would have a $2.3 billion surplus and a slim $1.3 billion surplus in the 2009-2010 year – which was reduced to a deficit.

"The budget will be balanced for this … fiscal year. The big challenge is 2009 and going into 2010," Flaherty responded in December 2008. "But 2009 is going to be a difficult year for Canada and Canadians and we have to gird ourselves for that."

The once strong $13 billion surplus left behind by the Liberals had been disintegrated within two years of Harper’s election win in 2006. Harper’s legacy deficit reached $53 billion at its peak.

Income trust Will Not Be Taxed

In the 2006 federal election campaign, Harper pledged that he would, “stop the Liberal attack on retirement savings and preserve income trusts by not imposing any new taxes on them,” in the Conservative Platform.

“When Ralph Goodale tried to tax income trust, don’t forget this,” Harper said in a rally in Regina on December 2, 2005 which was aired on Global News. “They showed us where they stood. They showed us about their attitudes towards raiding seniors’ hard earned assets and a Conservative Government will never allow either of these parties to get away with that.”

However, on November 1, 2006, CBC reported that Flaherty imposed a new tax on income trusts. Shortly after, the stock markets fell and $20 billion of trading was wiped out on the first day of trading since its implication and the Canadian dollar fell the most in four months as a result.

Liberals are ‘Tax and Spend’

Historically, the GST was put into place on September 27, 1990 when then Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney stuffed the senate because the Liberals vowed to kill the bill. His record includes creating a $39 billion deficit and spending measures that dragged our economy into a state of peril.

Ironically, it was Jean Chretien, Leader of the Liberal party at the time who campaigned to abolish the GST but couldn’t when he came to power because the damage that was done by the previous government was worse than the perception going into the election.

On another ironic note, Kim Campbell who was leader of the Conservatives used the same dirty attack ads that Stephen Harper is using right now. In that time, the ‘Face Ad’ was the controversial deal. It mocked Jean Chretien for face deformities.

Members of the Progressive Conservatives distanced themselves from their party adverts – something that Harper’s Conservatives won’t do.

Canada’s new F-35 Planes will cost $16 billion

While Michael Ignatieff and Jack Layton want to fund students, healthcare and families, Harper insists that all of these plans will be bad for the economy and that an untendered contract for arguably unnecessary planes for the moment is a better way to spend public funds than students and families.

The United States of America purchased the same model of planes that we did and they warn us that our cost estimations are way too low. Harper himself had to come up with a new estimate for his hand-picked contract.

Apart from the inflating costs of the planes, the quality is also questionable. Both Democratic and Republican politicians in the American congress agree that the planes were not what they had hoped for.
If this spending project alone were to be cut, Canada would come a lot closer to slaying the deficit that Jim Flaherty said that we would never have.

Provincial Transfers for Healthcare are Safe with the Conservatives

In October 2010, Maxime Bernier told CBC the following,

"This [bringing back a balanced federalism envisioned by the founders of Confederation] would be done by putting an end to all federal intrusion into areas of provincial jurisdiction. Instead of sending money to the provinces, Ottawa would cut its taxes and let them use the fiscal room that has been vacated. Such a transfer of tax points to the provinces would allow them to fully assume their responsibility without federal control."

In a nutshell, this means that the Conservatives would cut all funding to the provinces. This is something Harper promised that he wouldn’t do. Look at all of the lies that he has spread and the out-right refusal to release information, do you think he can be trusted with our healthcare system?

Harper asks for a majority government after destroying the Liberal $13 billion surplus in less than 2 years – a job that would have taken Brian Mulroney 8 in the 90s.

Military Funding: Not Harper’s Forte

This may or may not surprise you, but the man who is attacking the Liberals over their promised cancelation of the F-35 purchase deal is also responsible for slashing the tools that our military needs in half. Hypocrisy sees no boundary with Harper and his government, but, this strikes a hit to their commitment to aiding the Canadian Armed Forces.

All the while, Harper is now stating that he can fund untendered contracts for fighter jets. No one knows the exact price of these planes, but to Harper, that doesn’t matter. Just like on March 25, 2002 when he wanted to join Iraq, he stated, "I don't know all the facts on Iraq, but I think we should work closely with the Americans.”

One of Harper’s main promises – regarding the Arctic – got slashed.

The man who said, "You don't defend national sovereignty with flags; you need forces on the ground, ships in the sea, and proper surveillance," canceled air force surveillance in the winter of 2007.

Harper has stated that, "Canada has a choice when it comes to defending our sovereignty over the Arctic. We either use it or lose it. ... Canada's Arctic is central to our identity as a northern nation. It is part of our history. And it represents the tremendous potential of our future." But in two elected terms, he hasn’t made anything from it. Canada’s winter travel capacity is far weaker than that of Russia and the United States and Canada currently isn’t using the passage that it claims is legally theirs – while the other countries all the while stake their claims. In the International Courts, such a finding of Canada’s legal occupations over the north will be difficult to settle if it cannot access or use the north.

Dan Middlemiss, a defense expert and professor at Dalhousie University said, "The reality of lack of funds for operations strikes home. We've seen this earlier this year with the navy's reduction in its planned exercises at the end of its fiscal year."

In 2010, Harper slashed the navy’s coast patrol fleet in half due to a shortage of money and sailors. Twelve vessels that are used to patrol the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific coasts have been removed from service.

While the navy was cut in two, Defense Minister Peter MacKay made the case that the Conservatives were ramping up funding.

"We're investing in the Canadian Forces in unprecedented numbers," he said. "The Canadian navy, in its 100th anniversary, will have more money than it's had in a 100 years."

However the budget contradicts MacKay’s claim. Canada’s Maritime Forces were allocated $2.1 billion in 2009 and allocated $1.97 billion in 2010.

Meanwhile, the programs that helped the military cope with suicides, marital breakdowns, and combat-related stress are being lost in the view of the personnel.

Monthly reports given to the Chaplain General highlight funding cuts that affect some chaplaincy training courses, retreats and meetings that help military personnel cope with their environment.

With Canadian troops stationed in Afghanistan, these programs are necessary. A report from last July states:

"Nearly every chaplain in the (Canadian Forces) has felt the effects of the Afghanistan deployment. Yet we are heading into a period where we will be unable to provide chaplains with the very programs that were developed to mitigate these effects."

The report states that funding for Maritime Forces Atlantic was reduced from $105,000 in the previous year to $79,000.

The Defense Department spokeswoman told CTV that no one could comment on the issue.

The documents also suggest that morale is also suffering as a result.

A survey done three years ago found that 52% of chaplains were at medium to high risk for anxiety or depressive disorders.

With the Conservative Party acting contrarily to their promise to build the military, they now promise an untendered jet-fighter deal when they cut several other military facilities. Lack of funding was the main cause for the cuts in the previously stated military domain, what makes Harper so sure that he can afford F-35s where the true price isn’t known by anybody, the Americans warn are a lot more expensive than Canadian figures and American Democrats and Republicans are somewhat dissatisfied with the quality and results of the model that Canada is now purchasing.

It is not new for Harper to follow the United States, and it is not new that he doesn’t research or present all the facts prior to a decision. On March 25, 2002, Harper said in Report Newsmagazine, "I don't know all the facts on Iraq, but I think we should work closely with the Americans."

Healthcare: Stephen Harper’s Worst Nightmare

It is clear that Stephen Harper doesn’t value Canadian healthcare – among other social programs that makes us the caring people we are. In the past, Harper and his pals have tried to reform healthcare to match it up to American standards. As Michael Ignatieff’s Liberals hammer away at the Tory misfortune in such an important campaign issue, they ask for pardon after all of their ads against Ignatieff. Harper is making a big deal about a Liberal misrepresentation of the Conservatives when the Conservatives have spent years misrepresenting the Liberals.
From the iPod tax to the fact that Ignatieff has traveled the world to abusing Ignatieff’s caucus rally, the Conservatives have a lot to be ashamed of. For instance, below are two ads that the Conservatives released and were forced to pull after 24 hours due to its class act at taking Michael Ignatieff out of context and using his own words to attack his character.

Probably the most ruthless of the two lies.

Now let’s keep Michael in context, here is what he really said.

Michael’s actual speech

If Harper’s Conservatives lied about these ads, what about the others? How much credibility do they have?
Let’s look at that great iPod tax ad, one would hope it is a joke! A university professor by the name of Michael Geist said that this rhetoric was “borderline fantasy.” Read More

Now, Harper comes after Michael Ignatieff over two mistaken quotes in his attack ad and demands that he pulls it. Did Harper and his Tory friends consider that before releasing their non-stop ads over the past 2 years? Michael Ignatieff remained a gentleman and for the name of fairness said he would tweak his ad and will even let the people choose the quote that takes its place. You can vote here.
The video has since been replaced with the corrected version and will receive further updates soon.

The Liberal Party writes the following update in their description:

The Globe and Mail has corrected a quote Liberals used in the original Stephen Harper is a "health risk" ad. Accordingly, we updated our ad. Stay tuned for more...
"Stephen Harper is demanding absolute power. Can you trust him with your health care? He said the law that protects universal health care should be scrapped. And he's open to American style private for profit health care. Last year Harper's finance minister called for massive cuts to increases in health spending. Now Harper has a risky plan to cut 11 billion dollars from government spending. Where would Harper's cuts leave your family's health? The stakes are too high. Vote Liberal."
Authorized by The Federal Liberal Agency of Canada, registered agent for the Liberal Party of Canada.

Healthcare isn’t Harper’s best friend. In a statement to reform party members, he tells them to dodge Medicare altogether and say that it is strictly provincial jurisdiction.

Open publication - Free publishing - More apathy

In the Firewall Letter that was sent to the National Post in 2001, Harper and a handful of conservative academics argued that Alberta should move ahead with plans to implement its own healthcare agenda that is independent of the Canada Health Act and made the case that they are ready to pay the fines that come with it. They wrote:

"Resume provincial responsibility for health care policy. If Ottawa objects to provincial policy, fight in the courts..
Albertans deserve better than the long waiting periods and technological backwardness that are rapidly coming to characterize Canadian medicine. Alberta should also argue that each province should raise its own revenue for health care — i.e., replace Canada Health and Social Transfer cash with tax points, as Quebec has argued for many years."

The quotes regarding Harper’s plans for the Americanization of Healthcare are endless.
Harper pitted the solution to our healthcare woes as the following:

“...what we clearly need is experimentation -- with market reforms and private delivery options within the public system. And it is only logical that, in a federal state where the provinces operate the public health care systems and regulate private services, that experimentation should occur at the provincial level."

On the Canadian Alliance Leadership website in 2002, Harper told the crowd, “Our health care will continue to deteriorate unless Ottawa overhauls the Canada Health Act to allow the provinces to experiment with market reforms and private health care delivery options.”
It is no wonder that Harper told his reform colleagues to “avoid  problems, stick to the themes and the Party priorities. Do not talk about Medicare – that is a Provincial issue. Because Medicare is not a Federal issue, the Reform Party does not have a position on it.”
Maybe it is time that Harper stop lying when he tells Canadians that he will maintain the 6% federal funding transfers when he has shown the discontent for the Canada Health Act and his minister Maxime Bernier has already attacked it in October 2010.

"This [bringing back a balanced federalism envisioned by the founders of Confederation] would be done by putting an end to all federal intrusion into areas of provincial jurisdiction. Instead of sending money to the provinces, Ottawa would cut its taxes and let them use the fiscal room that has been vacated. Such a transfer of tax points to the provinces would allow them to fully assume their responsibility without federal control."
"There would no longer be any ambiguity if each province stopped depending on federal transfers and raised the amount of money necessary to manage its own problems."

In other words, Bernier wants to scrap federal transfers to the provinces and make each liable for its own costs – that includes healthcare.
Without federal control over provincial finance and affairs, provinces that have poor fiscal management and a weak economy will not be able to fund such programs which would lead to either large tax hikes or program cutting. Based on the economics and lack of economic power, these programs would be cut severely or completely dismantled. A Statistic Canada study published in 2004 predicts that, “These changes [An increase in retirement rate with a lower replacement rate] will fundamentally affect the workforce. A scarcity of workers may lead to rising wages. This could encourage older workers to stay in the labor force longer or deter younger people from pursuing long-term postsecondary education. Also, employers may institute more automation and strive for greater workplace productivity.” With this reality among us, the healthcare system could be privatized, and so would medical insurance. If this were to happen, Canada’s healthcare framework will crumble, and so will the budgets of the average middle and lower class Canadian.
You can read more on the consequences of Bernier’s proposal here.
May 2 is about choosing the path of Canada. Harper has lied to us before and will so so again. Can you really trust him with your healthcare and the Canadian Identity?

Jack Layton Is Nothing Different Than The Rest

Jack Layton is travelling coast to coast to coast attacking his opposition concerning healthcare and a wide variety of issues, but it turns out that Layton isn’t so clean when it comes to honesty and healthcare himself. While he claims that he stands by Tommy Douglas and the public healthcare system, he slapped it in the face in the 1990s. 

 

Jack Layton says that he wants to change Canada. He claims that the Liberals and Conservatives are same old, same old and that he offers something better. He will defend our healthcare system to the brink and do Tommy Douglas proud. Reverse that thought, did he really say that he would defend our healthcare system? He did. While that is all fine and dandy, in the 1990s, he slapped public healthcare in the face by using a private clinic to get surgery.

In the Toronto suburb of Thornhill, Layton went to the Shouldice Hospital, a private facility, for hernia surgery. Layton defended himself claiming that he didn’t know the place was privately owned.

He said in an article on CTV during the 2006 election:

"It's just part of the system. The doctor says, 'Go there.' You pay with your (Ontario health) card. It never occurred to me (it was) anything other than Medicare, which it is.

I can tell you now if my doctor ever refers me anywhere, I'll ask him that question. It never occurred to me at the time, it wasn't a controversy at the time. It wasn't something on one's mind."

For a man who claims to be the defender of public healthcare, Layton should have known better than to go to a private hospital. The word ‘pay’ shouldn’t even be an operative in that statement if he was so innocent.

From coast to coast to coast, Layton uses Tommy Douglas’s name in vain. How shameful is that Jack Layton?

Harper, Do you Believe in Free Speech?

It can’t be ignored that today is the 29th anniversary of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which was enacted on April 17, 1982. The bill was enacted under a Liberal Government that was lead by Pierre-Elliot Trudeau. While Canadians enjoy the luxuries of the charter and their extended freedoms, many across the underdeveloped world fight to reach our stature. But does Stephen Harper feel the same way?

We can give Harper credit for sending in Canadian planes to Libya to help the fight against Muammar al-Gaddafi who has spent a lot of energy quelling his people by attacking them abruptly – but the Liberals would have done the same thing anyway.

From Libya to Toronto

However, when it comes to democracy and human rights on Canadian soil, Harper is lacking on the very credential that he claims to defend.

From throwing non-conservatives out of campaign rallies to the G8/G20 fiasco with police brutality to the ballot box disruption in 2008 and the quest to destroy 700 votes that were marked by students at Guelph University in this past week.

As we reflect to nearly 30 years of freedom in our great country, we never take into account the consequence of the wrong decision that could lead to its disappearance.

Harper has proved on several accounts that he does not care about the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, or the matter at which that government is accountable to the people and the opposition parties’ confidence – and this was with a minority government.

Harper Claims that People Don’t Care about what he does in Parliament

Now Harper tours the country warning that if he doesn’t receive a majority – which would effectively give him next to absolute power for 4 uninterrupted years – Canada will be faced with a coalition featuring the ‘socialists’ and the ‘separatists.’

It is clear that a coalition will not happen, and should it happen, it is a reflection of the 60% of Canadians who back the same party and principles under different people and banners. A coalition has always been a legitimate means of governing.

While the Conservatives paint fear in the eyes of its people concerning the effects of a non-conservative government, including an iPod tax that experts quoted as close to fantasy as it got, and tax hikes that never happened under a Liberal regime, but was instead introduced with Mulroney – the GST that all Canadians love to hate.

So now we are in a predicament. If the votes on the other side of the spectrum remain split, the Conservatives will stretch their mandate that continues to destroy the Canadian Identity at home and abroad. If they split enough, that mandate could very well be a majority.

If Stephen Harper can do as much damage as he has done in the past 5 years as a minority – without revealing most of his true policies in fear of defeat, what would a majority entail for Canada?

On May 2, there will be a vote by the Canadian people. A vote to decide the fate of Canada. A vote to choose the future of Canada and its government. Will you keep the ‘Harper Government’ afloat?

Michael Ignatieff Finds His Voice

Michael Ignatieff has finally come up with something that can play as a game changer if he doesn’t let it fade away. He told Canadians today to “Rise up” at a rally in Sudbury, Ontario and addressed the reaction of the populace to Harper’s actions. Ignatieff clearly makes the case that Canadians don’t need to stand for the actions that the Harper government has been doing and can say no to Harper and vote for change – stating that it wasn’t for the Liberal Party, but for Canadian democracy.

Ignatieff tells crowd to “Rise up”

Ignatieff told the crowd:

“We’ve got a prime minister who shut down parliament twice and Canadians kind of shrugged,” he said. “We’ve got a prime minister who’s found in contempt of parliament. It’s never happened before in the history of our country and people say, kind of, ‘So what?’ We got a prime minister who tried to shut down the long-form census and people thought, that’s crazy, but kind of, ‘So what?’ And then we have a prime minister who just went out and smeared a member of his own caucus, tried to destroy her public reputation, and people say, kind of, ‘So what?’

And then we’ve got a prime minister who’s got a convicted criminal who was his chief of staff. Convicted five times of fraud and people say, kind of, ‘So what?’

And then we’ve got a prime minister who’s got, right now, in his election campaign, four people accused of election fraud. And people say, ah, kind of, ‘So what?’ And then we’ve got a prime minister who allows only five questions to the press, the press are following him around, they only get five questions and if they ask six he walks away. And people say, kind of, ‘So what?’ And then we’ve got a situation where at Guelph university the other day, students lined up for two hours, some of them voting for the first time in their lives, to vote. And a Conservative operative tried to shut it down and stop it and some smart Conservative lawyer downtown tried to write a letter to get 700 votes by Canadian students disallowed in a federal election in Canada and people say, kind of, ‘So what, it’s just all political games, who cares?’

And I kept hearing that refrain from Bruce Springsteen—Rise up. Rise up. Rise up, Canada!

Rise up! Rise up! Why do we have to put up with this? Rise up! Rise up! … Rise up! This goes beyond partisan politics! This goes beyond the Liberal party! This is about our country! This is about our democracy! Rise up! Rise up!

We have got to fight here. We have got to stand and fight. This is not about me. This is not about the Liberal party. This is about the kind of democracy we hand to this child and this child and this child. We gotta rise up. We gotta stand and we gotta fight and we gotta win. This is not about the Liberal party of Canada. This is about the country you love. So rise up, Canada!

A week is a lifetime in politics, and there are two left to go. Maybe this will enlighten the electorate and sway the outcome of the election.

For more information on Harper’s list of scandals, read:

• Conservative Contradictions; Only Tip of The Iceberg
• The Harper Government
• Stephen Harper’s Campaign Handbook
• Auditor General: Conservative Government Mislead Parliament
• Can We Really Afford to Lose Our Identity?
• Another Conservative Charged with Fraudulent Activity
• Harper’s Campaign Woes
• If Elected, Harper Will Scrap Democracy
• Harper Government Defeated on Contempt

On May 2, Canadians will make their decision: Forgive Harper and reelect him, or punish him and oust him. With the list of things that Harper stands for, it would be surprising if Canadians forgave him easily. Actions speak louder than words.

An iPod Tax… Really?

The Conservative Party has done a good job manipulating people with their ads. If it isn’t for the classic “he didn’t come back for you” and the dreaded ‘coalition,’ the Conservatives have went on a high extent in their mission to destroy their opposition. One of their latest attack ads puts square aim on the Liberals and the so called coalition about their wish to impose such an attack. While the ad may be effective at grabbing attention, is it effective at displaying the facts of the manner?

The Conservatives are trying to paint the Liberals as ‘tax and spend’ and are doing a good job at it as poll numbers haven’t been budging and the attacks are  consistent. However, not many people are going to make the necessary fact check on the ad to see if the truth is being portrayed.

Conservative attack ad concerning a so called iPod Tax

This ad was derived from a House of Commons Heritage Committee Report which recommended expanding the definition of “audio recording medium” to include devices with memory to the “levy on copying music [that] will [now] apply to digital music recorders as well.”

The new legislation made the levy on items such as blank CDs and tapes to help artists get money back from illegal pirates and copiers also applicable to iPods and MP3 players/

Last April, the bill passed 155-137 with only Conservative MPs opposing it.

Charlie Angus, former musician and New Democrat MP, introduced his own private members bill which suggested that a $250 iPod only cost $5 more so that no one would notice. 

"By updating [current copyright levy], we will ensure that artists are getting paid for their work, and that consumers aren't criminalized for moving their legally obtained music from one format to another," Angus said.

Copyright expert and University of Ottawa Law professor Michael Geist said that the Conservative attack ad borders on fantasy. Figures saying that the Liberals wanted a $75 increase were referenced from a failed 2007 plan from the Copyright Board of Canada and has no connection with the Liberal Party.

While the Bloc and NDP push for the extra levy, the Liberals oppose a new levy.

Geist noted an irony stating that Industry minister Tony Clement’s Bill C-32 would have doubled the current levy.

Upon the dissolution of parliament, the bill died with many others.

So the bottom line is: The iPod tax adds to the list of Conservative rhetoric based on lies and deception. How many people bought the ad? – That is worrisome.

Leadership Debate Will Have No Bearing on Campaign

The Conservatives only had one defense when it came to the Motion of Contempt that kicked them out of power. It was that it was a solely opposition-based ordeal. Now that the Auditor General comes out with a report on the G8 and G20 summits echoing the opposition’s call of ‘lack of transparency,’ Harper will have quite a bit to worry about. From the campaign of accountability came the ‘In and Out’ scandal, staffers who are being investigated for fraud, G8 funding for borders which landed 300km away from any type of border and was used as bribe money for a riding.

The leaders got a chance to attack each other in a formal manner and they all chose their targets in last night’s leadership debate.

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff took square aim at Conservative leader Stephen Harper while Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe started the debate on a strong note for the opposition. New Democrat Leader Jack Layton came out swinging at both Harper and Ignatieff as he tries to take his fourth place party in the House of Commons to the head position.

Each of the leaders did a good job. Michael Ignatieff, however, could have been a lot stronger. You must respect the man for being a polite gentleman, but politics doesn’t work that way – unfortunately. By being smooth, Ignatieff allowed Layton to trample over him and that wasn’t pretty. However, Layton has always been a very vocal man, and props to his ambitions, but in the past, they haven’t resulted in the gains that he is looking for in particular.

Gilles Duceppe knows that there isn’t a chance that he will become a Prime Minister in the current context. This is why it is the most entertaining to watch him debate. He has absolutely nothing to lose by attacking Harper rigorously – which he did a good job at.

The way that the debate was organized was fine; however, the questions weren’t mix-matched with the right leaders. The question concerning the tax breaks for corporations was best suited for Ignatieff, but it was the Layton vs. Harper segment. But, Ignatieff weighed in a bit later and nailed each of the points that he needed to nail – just he was barely noticeable from the crowd.

This is an overall trait of the Liberals these days… compare their campaign posters to their rivals and you can see that they won’t get noticed.

It is no surprise that Layton performed powerfully. Given his experience and passion for politics, a flop would have been a shocker.

Harper didn’t perform that well. While there were parts where he seemed comfortable, the beginning close-ups of his face showed that the context of the debate was getting to him. At some points, you could hear in the tone of his voice, a man who was trying desperately to prevent himself from losing control.

It shows that Harper was unscripted in the beginning as most of what the opposition brought up took him by surprise.

Overall, the debate was fine, but won’t change anything. If scandals keep coming out on a daily basis as they have been, Harper might soon take the impact.

There are still two weeks to go and in politics, that can be the equivalent of a lifetime!

Conservative Contradictions; Only the Tip of the Iceberg

Canada is in the fourth election in seven years and the contradictions that have been set forth by the current government could not be more rampant.

Stephen Harper’s Conservative party has made plenty of promises over the years. They promised to bring accountability back to Ottawa. They promised not to tax income trust. The list of broken promises goes on, as does the list of the lies that they committed along the way.

Stephen Harper and his party have committed several lies and contradictions in their careers; here are just a few.

Dealing with Power

Everyone has Equal Say

Stephen Harper claims that he will defend Canadian democracy, but when someone opposes his views, he opposes their presence and discards their beliefs.

In London, Ontario, Conservative Party organizers threw a group of students out of a Conservative rally after screening Facebook to find that one of them had made a group picture with Michael Ignatieff.
CTV reported that Awish Aslam, a second-year political science student at the University of Western Ontario, "We were waiting for Harper and then an official came by and said, ‘We need to talk to you girls outside,'" the 19-year-old Western student told A-Channel London. "(The official) said, ‘You are no longer welcome here.'"

Aslam asked why she was being banned from the event and was answered with, "We know you have Facebook ties to the Liberal Party."
He also limited media output by baring them to four questions per day and keeping them stacked behind fences a good 15 meters away.
 

Opposition plot a coalition that will grab power and unrightfully form a government

Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff made it clear from the first days of the campaign that a coalition would not happen.
On March 26, 2011, Ignatieff told the media, “This is about a Liberal government and not a coalition government.”

In 2004, Stephen Harper fought to have a coalition government with the New Democrats which he refers to as ‘socialists’ and the Bloc Quebecois, which he refers to as ‘separatists.’ In an article entitled, “Our Benign Dictatorship,” Harper defends the concept of a coalition government and explained that it was a democratically valid form of government. It happened in a time when the opposition parties lost confidence in Paul Martin’s government – similar to what happened in 2008 with the Dion-led coalition which got dismantled and thrown away by Michael Ignatieff himself. Meanwhile, Harper is campaigning that his former friends are evil and are only in it for power.
 

Fixed Election Dates will come to Law

On May 30, 2006, the Conservatives stuck to their promise to enact a piece of legislation that would set a fixed election date so that the government could not fall when the Prime Minister wished – which is usually done in terms of reelection strategy.

The fixed election date law would have stated that the election after January 26, 2006 would have taken place on October 19, 2009 according to the federal page that was made specifically to promote the new legislation.
Harper declared that parliament was unstable and an election was needed – effectively breaking his own fixed election law. He went to see Michael Jean and an election took place on October 14, 2008. Polls suggested a Conservative majority; election results gave him a strengthened minority at a vast expense of the Liberals who lost over 20 seats.
 

Dealing with Finance

Canada’s new F-35 Planes will cost $16 billion

While Michael Ignatieff and Jack Layton want to fund students, healthcare and families, Harper insists that all of these plans will be bad for the economy and that an untendered contract for arguably unnecessary planes for the moment is a better way to spend public funds than students and families.
The United States of America purchased the same model of planes that we did and they warn us that our cost estimations are way too low. Harper himself had to come up with a new estimate for his hand-picked contract.

Apart from the inflating costs of the planes, the quality is also questionable. Both Democratic and Republican politicians in the American congress agree that the planes were not what they had hoped for.
If this spending project alone were to be cut, Canada would come a lot closer to slaying the deficit that Jim Flaherty said that we would never have.
 

Jim Flaherty Promises that there won’t be a recession or deficit

On May 30, 2008, economists predicted an economic decline, but Flaherty thought otherwise.
“If some people are saying that (Canada is recession-bound) I disagree with them,” Flaherty told reporters, according to The Financial Post.

“The strengths in the economy across the country are quite remarkable,” Flaherty said.
After the recession struck, Flaherty told the economists, who forewarned that there would be a recession, that no one saw it coming.

Despite the fact of the recession, Flaherty predicted that Canada could steer through it calmly without a deficit of big catastrophe. Canada at that point was already in deficit, and had been since July of that year. The recession only struck by the end of November.

Canada’s books plunged in the red due to tax cuts where Jim Flaherty underestimated the economy, according to The Star and The Canadian Press. The deficit in July 2008 was $500 million and would mark the trend of Canada’s slipping economy – even before the global crisis started.

Flaherty had initially predicted in February 2008 – upon the release of his federal budget – that Canada would have a $2.3 billion surplus and a slim $1.3 billion surplus in the 2009-2010 year – which was reduced to a deficit.

"The budget will be balanced for this … fiscal year. The big challenge is 2009 and going into 2010," Flaherty responded in December 2008. "But 2009 is going to be a difficult year for Canada and Canadians and we have to gird ourselves for that."

The once strong $13 billion surplus left behind by the Liberals had been disintegrated within two years of Harper’s election win in 2006. Harper’s legacy deficit reached $53 billion at its peak.
 

Liberals are ‘Tax and Spend’

Historically, the GST was put into place on September 27, 1990 when then Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney stuffed the senate because the Liberals vowed to kill the bill. His record includes creating a $39 billion deficit and spending measures that dragged our economy into a state of peril.

Ironically, it was Jean Chretien, Leader of the Liberal party at the time who campaigned to abolish the GST but couldn’t when he came to power because the damage that was done by the previous government was worse than the perception going into the election.

On another ironic note, Kim Campbell who was leader of the Conservatives used the same dirty attack ads that Stephen Harper is using right now. In that time, the ‘Face Ad’ was the controversial deal. It mocked Jean Chretien for face deformities.

Members of the Progressive Conservatives distanced themselves from their party adverts – something that Harper’s Conservatives won’t do.
 

Income trust Will Not Be Taxed

In the 2006 federal election campaign, Harper pledged that he would, “stop the Liberal attack on retirement savings and preserve income trusts by not imposing any new taxes on them,” in the Conservative Platform.

“When Ralph Goodale tried to tax income trust, don’t forget this,” Harper said in a rally in Regina on December 2, 2005 which was aired on Global News. “They showed us where they stood. They showed us about their attitudes towards raiding seniors’ hard earned assets and a Conservative Government will never allow either of these parties to get away with that.”

However, on November 1, 2006, CBC reported that Flaherty imposed a new tax on income trusts. Shortly after, the stock markets fell and $20 billion of trading was wiped out on the first day of trading since its implication and the Canadian dollar fell the most in four months as a result.
 

Provincial Transfers for Healthcare are Safe with the Conservatives

In October 2010, Maxime Bernier told CBC the following,

"This [bringing back a balanced federalism envisioned by the founders of Confederation] would be done by putting an end to all federal intrusion into areas of provincial jurisdiction. Instead of sending money to the provinces, Ottawa would cut its taxes and let them use the fiscal room that has been vacated. Such a transfer of tax points to the provinces would allow them to fully assume their responsibility without federal control."

In a nutshell, this means that the Conservatives would cut all funding to the provinces. This is something Harper promised that he wouldn’t do. Look at all of the lies that he has spread and the out-right refusal to release information, do you think he can be trusted with our healthcare system?
 

Dealing with Crime

Conservatives are Tough on Crime

Stephen Harper and his party claim that they will crack down on crime. They want to fund new prisons to jail criminals, but let those in their party with criminal records get by and make the rules.

Stephen Harper played the “I didn’t know” card when his right hand man had been found scandalous along with the errors that other of his party staffers have committed in the campaign and during public office.

Stephen Harper invited Bruce Carson to work with him because Carson helped his launch in politics. Carson told The Canadian Press, "Mr. Harper invited me to come and work for him when we were in opposition. It was an interview in his office, that's all. It was just a meeting in his office."

Harper’s Chief in Staff Ian Brodie said that "There were only a handful of people in the office with Top Secret clearance. When I talk about a handful I mean, probably, five.”

Carson, however, never received his clearance, speculating, “For the kind of work I was doing that seemed to be sufficient, I guess. I don't know."

William Elliott, now head of the RCMP, said that it was Secret-level classifications were never denied and added that even someone with a criminal record will be accepted.

How can you be tough on crime if your own crimes happen on a daily basis?
 

In and Out Scandal is not a Scandal; it is a dispute with Elections Canada

As money went into Conservative ridings as a part of regular election money distribution practices, Harper ordered money to go out to fund a centralized national campaign, and allowed an extra $18.3 million in to save for a rainy day.

A lawyer ran for the party and refused to apply the “In and Out” scheme because he knew it was illegal. Meanwhile, the Conservatives claim that it is nothing more than a legal dispute.

Harper came IN to power on a platform of accountability and came OUT of it with a next to daily scandals.
When voting on May 2, it is important to consider what the incumbent government has accomplished and is trying to accomplish to decide whether one is satisfied with the status-quo. Every action stated will continue if Harper is re-elected – why would he change now?

Stephen Harper has made his path clear, if you don’t vote, this is what you will get.