Dalton McGuinty's Mama Didn't Raise no Fools

Part of the Ontario Liberal campaign Forward Together was a promised cut to tuition fees for post-secondary education.  I'm sure many students thought they'd heard that before, but last week, McGuinty kept his campaign promise and announced that tuition fees would be slashed by 30% for any student whose parents make less than $160,000 per year.

Students were overjoyed with the announcement.  In Kingston, a group from Queens were dancing in the street, literally.

Not only was this the right thing to do, but it was a brilliant political strategy in the run up to the Speech From the Throne.  How can the Opposition take the government down by fighting against lowering tuition rates?

Dancing in the streets would become marching in the streets.

Of course this hasn't stopped Tim Hudak from blustering that his party cannot accept Dalton McGuinty's agenda. 

That man is always a day late and a dollar short.  He visited our city recently and spoke at one our most prosperous businesses, on how Ontario was bleeding jobs.  The staff looked at him like he was from outer space.

"I am here to save your earth by inventing the wheel."

Kingston has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, and we have been served by both a Liberal MP and MPP for decades.  Either avoid this area or use a different strategy.  The provincial Conservative candidate came third here in the last election.

Bob Hepburn believes that the Ontario neocons may start looking to Jim Flaherty to save them.  Ironic since Flaherty ran for the leadership twice and lost, because he was considered to be too right-wing, running on privatizing our public education and throwing our homeless in jail.  He was also a member of Canadians for George Bush.  Enough said.

I like the idea of the NDP holding the balance of power.  The Liberals will have to remain progressive, since Hudak has clearly opted out of providing any kind of realistic alternative.

Well played Mr. McGuinty.

If the Tax Man Cometh, Please Light the Lamp

On Tuesday night of this week, I took part in a town hall meeting, via the telephone, with John Gerretson, a cabinet minister in the McGuinty government.

Gerretson happens to be my MPP in Kingston, though his "wired" gathering was not for a Kingston audience, but was province wide. He was acting in his capacity as a senior provincial Liberal.

I had anticipated that the questions would relate to the economy, or healthcare, and of course the dreaded HST. In fact one caller spoke of the HST on Hydro bills, prompting Gerretson to point out that the HST was a federal tax and that rebates compensated most Ontarians for any extra tax burden.

However, many of the questions were about the state of our society. One woman was concerned with the plight of the homeless. She was obviously not homeless herself. There were questions about what could be done about the increase in the use of food banks.  About unemployment that was hurting families and why so many seniors were forced to live in poverty.

What was wrong with these people?

Why weren't they whining about high taxes, the debt or the deficit? Aren't they supposed to be our top priorities?

I generally tune out politicians, though I'm sure Gerretson's answers were just what the callers wanted to hear.

But I learned something about the Canadian people. We still care about the disadvantaged in our society, and more importantly, expect our government to do something for them.

And I learned that maybe we are smart enough to realize that if we lower taxes .... again .... our government would not have the means required to do what we expect them to do.

And maybe we now also realize that "lower taxes" is New Right speak for lowering the taxes on the wealthy, while offsetting them with reductions in services for everyone else.

The tired logic of lowering taxes, creating jobs, has been debunked.

I watch Bill Maher religiously, craving for a Canadian program promoting progressive ideas, and this week as a guest he had the lead singer from a group called Rage Against the Machine, Tom Morello.

I have to admit that I'd never heard of them, but I gathered that they may be a bit radical. However, Mr. Morello was intelligent and articulate, and absolutely captivating.

A champion of social causes, he told the story of a group of workers, who made guitars for companies like Gibson and Fender. The work had been outsourced to Seoul, Korea, where working conditions and wages were so deplorable, they would have been shut down in the U.S.

So the workers tried to unionize, and instead of hearing them out, the American based industry simply moved the factory to China, leaving many families destitute.

So they pooled their resources, sending three delegates, the 6,000 miles to the United States, hoping someone would take up their cause. As a result, Morello's group offered to perform a benefit concert, with all proceeds going to the struggling Korean workers.

However, the day before the concert was to take place, the earthquake hit Haiti. What happened next is nothing short of a miracle.

All of the affected Korean workers asked Morello to instead give the proceeds to the Haitian Disaster Relief Fund.

If people with nothing can be so generous, what is wrong with us? Why has lowering our taxes taken precedence over doing what is right?

The "Tax Man" theme is played out across the United States, mostly by Republicans against their Democrat opponents. It's getting old.

Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendall Holmes, once said that "Taxes are what we pay for civilized society".

What is a civilized society worth to you?

Are we being impoverished by taxes, or is cutting taxes impoverishing our society?

I find that those who scream the loudest about taxes, are also those who scream the loudest about potholes, or rant, "where are the police when we need them?", or complain about standing in line at government service offices.

How do you think those things are paid for?

So if the "Tax Man" cometh, I'm lighting the lamp and putting on a pot of coffee. We need to talk. I don't want him to lower my taxes, only to make better use of them.

And if that makes me a "leftie, tree-hugging liberal", I'll wear the title with pride.

Another Word Tim Hudak Should Avoid on the Campaign Trail: Cronyism

Tim Hudak is on the campaign trail accusing the McGuinty government of "cronyism". I thought this was a dangerous path for Hudak to take, given the fact that his former boss and current mentor, Mike Harris, had made cronyism an art form.

A friend shared a 2004 article with me, one of many from the day, giving us some idea of how this was done.  The piece did not come from the CBC or the Toronto Star, but the National Post.  Hardly a "leftie rag".

Hudak recently warned the opposition to keep his wife out of any of their attacks.  For those who don't know, his wife Deb Hutton was Mike Harris's gatekeeper, who took her job so seriously that she earned the nickname, 'Jabba the Hutt'.

Hudak's protection of his family might seem more sincere, if he wasn't dragging them around for the cameras, painting himself as a "family man" simply because he has one.

Back to the National Post article.  We can't leave his wife out of it, because she was the centre point of the exposé .

New documents show Hydro One paid more than $400,000 to the consultancy run by former Conservative campaign co-chair Jaime Watt, as the list of Ontario Tories who received lucrative contracts from the utility continues to expand .... Documents obtained by CanWest News Service through freedom of information legislation show Navigator's bills, worth a total of $400,374 between October, 2001, and October, 2003, were for services that included company surveys, strategic counsel and communications planning.

In August, 2002, the utility paid $64,200 for an annual subscription to Current Opinion, Navigator's syndicated study of public opinion on electricity issues.  Almost all of Navgator's bills were directed to the attention of Deb Hutton, a senior advisor to both Mr. Eves and his predecessor, Mike Harris. For most of the period in question, Ms. Hutton was Hydro One's vice-president of corporate relations.

The Navigator deals bring the latest total for contracts awarded to senior Tories by the power distribution company to $6-million.

Six million dollars.  Yet Hudak is blaming Jim Flaherty's HST for the increase in Hydro bills.

The cronies involved, included Jaime Watt, former Conservative campaign co-chair.  Watt is still running Navigator.  You might remember the name from an investigation conducted over the relationship between the firm and the Harper government.

Another was Leslie Noble, former college pal of Tony Panayi Clement.  Noble was a top lobbyist who helped to run Mike Harris's campaigns, resulting in an undefined position of power within his government.  It is said that she often taunted elected MPPs, knowing how impotent they were.

One pipeline Noble has to influence government decision-makers is the unelected cadre of political aides in the offices of the Premier and his top ministers. These aides, many of whom report to Noble during the election campaign, wield tremendous power in government, a reality acknowledged by some Tory MPPs.

Tory backbencher Bill Murdoch says they openly flaunt their power. ``They say, `Hey Murdoch, we didn't even have to go through an election and we're running the place.' '' Queen's Park Speaker Chris Stockwell, a Tory MPP, calls them a "cabal'' and says they make decisions without input from elected politicians. (1)

And she wielded her power unabashed.

When Mike Harris was elected Premier, Leslie Noble became the hottest power broker in Ontario. The 37-year-old is one of Harris' closest advisers and runs the leading lobbying firm dealing with the Ontario government. No other lobbyist has Noble's access to Harris. And no other top political adviser to Harris is a lobbyist. Noble helped write the Common Sense Revolution, ran Harris' successful 1995 election campaign and will run the Tories' next campaign, expected later this year. Noble has no official job with government but regularly briefs Harris, his cabinet ministers and Tory MPPs on what needs to be done politically to stay in power. In corporate circles, Noble is the lobbyist Ontario business executives hire when they want the Harris government's ear.  (1)

Her involvement with the Common Sense Revolution, leads us to another name mentioned in the 2004 National Post offering.  Said April Lindgren:

Also a beneficiary was Tom Long, a senior Conservative strategist. The headhunting firm at which he is a senior official at one point was paid $88,000 to recruit Ms. Hutton - who was working in the premier's office with Mr. Harris - for her job as vice-president.

Long was another Clement pal, and the man who met with American publisher Steve Forbes and Republican strategist Mike Murphy, to draft the CSR, borrowed from then New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman.
 
Hudak has to be careful about generalizations like "cronyism", when attacking his Liberal opponent.  His party's history is one he'd be wise to keep buried.  If there are two words that can still put many Ontarians into the fetal position, they are "Mike" and "Harris".
 
NDP leader Andrea Horwath, is running a nice clean campaign, sticking to the issues.  The Liberals are hoping that their record will keep them in power.  The Conservatives need to stick to issues that define who they hope to be, not remind us of who they were.
 
Sources:
 
1. Queen of the Park: She's the Premier's adviser and Ontario's leading lobbyist. Should taxpayers be concerned?  By Kevin Donovan and Moira Welsh, 1999

Dean Del Mastro Plays the Race Card From an Incomplete Deck

When Dalton McGuinty released his party platform, one item had Federal Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro in a flap.

The $10,000 incentive to employers who hire immigrants.

For Del Mastro it brought back chilling reminders of Bob Rae and affirmative action, that made it difficult for him as a "young white male".

Mind you, according to Del Mastro it did not mean that he couldn't find work, only that it restricted his opportunities. He should have tried living as a non-white male, or a female of any shade, when doors were permanently closed. For many there were no opportunities at all.

To me this Peterborough MP is a "chilling reminder" of the racism of his Reform-Alliance-Conservative Party. They were singled out in the 1995 book The Colour of Democracy, as bending toward "white supremacy".

This way of thinking characterizes the ideology and behaviour of right-wing Supremacist groups such as the Heritage Front. While such groups can, to a certain extent, be ignored because of their small numbers, such thinking is also evident in the doctrines of the Reform Party [those doctrines written by their policy chief Stephen Harper], who won a substantial number of votes in the federal election of 1993 and who hold 52 seats in Parliament.(1)

Reform members were notorious for racial slurs.

Tim Hudak is going to have enough trouble removing the shadow of Mike Harris, without having to contend with the wider shadow of the Reform Party.

Hudak himself weighed in, suggesting that it was an insult to immigrants to be singled out. Rich coming from the man who sought Jason Kenney's advice on how to mine votes by exploiting immigrants.

I found that offensive.

The fact of the matter is that immigrants remain among the poorest of Canadians. They are also more likely to be exploited in the workplace (2).

Del Mastro's colleague, Lee Richardson, once suggested that most crime is committed by immigrants, not those you lived next door to. He was wrong of course, but it didn't matter. They were convenient scapegoats.

I look forward to the day when hiring incentives are not needed, but unfortunately, today is not that day.

I think that this was not only a smart political move, since it challenges Hudak to remove the "hand up" to those he's hoping to court, but it is the right thing to do.

Sources:

1. The Colour of Democracy, Racism in Canadian Society, By Frances Henry, Carol Tator, Winston Mattis, and Tim Rees, Harcourt Brace & Company, 1995, ISBN: 0-7747-3255-5, Pg. 24

2. Persistent Poverty: Voices From the Margins, by Jamie Swift, Brice Balmer and Mira Dineen, Between the Lines Toronto, 2010, ISBN: 978-1-897071-73-1

"Tough on Crime" Stumping is the Socialism of Fools

When former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher met Conrad Black for the first time, he chewed her ear off about crime, with typical "hang 'em high" rhetoric. She knew she had to be nice, because Black then owned a large share of the British media, but when he walked away she remarked to those around her, "compared to that guy, I'm a liberal"

Now Conrad Black is coming out publicly criticizing tough on crime legislation, that puts the emphasis on penance. Costly crime bills and "build it they will come" prisons, are relics of a by-gone era.

Modern society has learned from the past, that rehabilitation goes further than retaliation. As the popular Gandhi quote goes: "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind".

However, this is not really about eye and teeth exchanges, but rather the new conservatism, that feeds off people's fears and insecurities. They create a crisis and then suggest that only they can save us from it.

Tim Hudak is the new hombre determined to clean up Dodge City, not only with populist rhetoric, but visible "chain gangs", which will not be so much a deterrent, as a reminder of the divisions in society.

Among those he plans to get "tough" with, are people who commit "welfare fraud", remnants of Mike Harris, who encouraged citizens to report anyone they believed was abusing the system. It was clever, linking welfare to fraud. Making criminals of poor people, by suggesting that it was an epidemic.

When federal finance minister, Jim Flaherty, was in the Harris government, he suggested throwing homeless people in jail, thus making poverty a crime in the literal sense. An obvious attempt to change our empathy to contempt.

Hudak's chain gang musings have provided fodder for his opponents, but they have to be careful. NDP leader Andrea Horwath is right when she says that this will take jobs away at a time when they are so badly needed.

However, Hudak can paint this as a stand-off with unions, and indeed he already has.

Big bad unions. Poor people who are only poor because they are lazy. Anathema to the populist crowd that could reap dividends at the ballot box.

The Liberals may also be making a mistake by overplaying it, suggesting that sex offenders and dangerous criminals would be out in the open. In fairness to Hudak, it's highly unlikely that they would be included in the program.

Instead they should ask citizens, what kind of province they want to live in. One with chain gangs and Gestapo style raids in low income neighbourhoods, or one that promotes fairness and justice for all.

Strengthened social programs to help eliminate the real crime of poverty, and one that promotes trust, not suspicion.

In the last Ontario election campaign, on the day that Conservative leader John Tory was announcing tough on crime policies in a high crime district, Dalton McGuinty announced his "Family Day".  A stat holiday providing time to spend with family.

This was not only smart electioneering, but revealed our priorities. Both the Liberals and NDP need to focus on that.

But if Hudak wins and gets his chain gangs, I think we should lighten the mood by forcing those in chains, to keep us entertained with a little "Hoo! Hah! Hooh! Hah!

I May be Through With Dalton McGuinty for Not Calling an Inquiry into the G-20 Abuse

Martha Hall-Finlay is pushing for an inquiry into the police abuse at the G-20 weekend from hell. But Dalton McGuinty, Ontario's premier, appears to be pulling a Stephen Harper, and refusing to provide answers.

Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay is suspicious of any government that rejects calls for a public inquiry into alleged abuses of power by police during the protests at the G20 summit in Toronto last summer. So what does Dalton McGuinty have to hide? On Monday, Ontario Liberal Premier McGuinty shrugged off calls for that public inquiry being made by Findlay herself and others in Ottawa on the same day.

If he continues with this, I'm done. Anyone who watched the Fifth Estate this week can settle for nothing but a full public inquiry.

Why did Stephen Harper give a single source contract to a firm no one ever heard of? Why did he not step in to protect Canadian citizens, but instead showed images on the videotron, telling the delegates that that was the reason why he spent so much for security.

Why?

To beat up those who oppose his government? There is no other explanation.

Even the police board was shocked by the images.

Anyone know anything about Andrea Horwath?

While Tony Clement Prorogues, Claude Gravelle, Gilles Brisson and France Gelinas Roll up Their Sleeves

When Canadians are suffering, we should be able to expect that our elected politicians do what they can to ease that suffering. But where are Tony Clement and Dalton McGuinty, when the people of Sudbury and Timmins are in trouble? Who knows?

I only know that they are not in Sudbury or Timmins.

Fortunately, there are three politicians there who know what it means to have people put their trust in them, by voting them into office. And as such, they know that they must step up to the plate, when those very people need them to.

France Gelinas, NDP MPP for the riding of Nickel Belt, Gilles Brisson, NDP MPP for the riding of Timmins—James Bay, and Claude Gravelle the federal NDP MP for Nickle Belt, stood in the cold and spoke up for their constituents; in the way that they should.

My hats off to all three.

I am not that partisan, and though I have decided to support the Liberals federally, provincially I'm still on the fence. I would never vote for Hudak, because I don't support the neoconservative agenda; but I'm seriously looking at the NDP for the next provincial election.

And when I see these brave souls standing out in the cold, standing with their people and standing up for their rights; it won't take much convincing.

Tim Hudak is Far Too Immature to Run This Province. It Will be Mike Harris All Over Again.

If you closed your eyes while listening to Tim Hudak, you would swear it was Mike Harris when he was younger. Same rhetorical nonsense. Tough on crime. Lower wages for public servants. Allow police to manhandle Native protesters. Been there, done that.

Ontario cannot afford another Mike Harris.

That doesn't mean we should condone the actions of the McGuinty government, but Hudak is dead wrong on the HST. It's a political game, nothing more. Even most in his own party support the HST, they just no longer say that publicly. And let's not forget that MPP Christine Elliot is married to Jim Flaherty, the man who bribed the provinces to adopt the HST in the first place.

And remember, the vote in Parliament only paves the way for the provinces to be allowed to adopt their own tax measures. Harper set them up.

However, while Hudak opposes Native protests, he turned the Ontario legislature into a romper room, while clearly losing the control of his caucus. The provincial Conservatives chose the wrong leader, because the veterans have already turned their backs on him.

Coyle: Hudak and the Tory sit-in bring to mind Wile E. Coyote
By Jim Coyle Queen's Park
December 7, 2009

How many classic cartoons were based on the premise of the perennially hapless hunter – Elmer Fudd tracking Bugs Bunny, Wile E. Coyote chasing Road Runner – caught in booby-traps of their own making?

The Law of Unintended Consequences is often good for a laugh. Around Queen's Park last week it provided lots of food for thought.

For novice PC Leader Tim Hudak, his party's protest over the Liberal government's proposed harmonized sales tax produced a couple of unforeseen outcomes.

The first was his own loss of face when a caucus member apparently defied the boss's wishes in a stunt that spun out of control.

By most accounts, the sit-in that saw two PC members expelled indefinitely from the Legislature was intended to involve only Owen Sound-area MPP Bill Murdoch.

As it unfolded, eastern Ontario MPP Randy Hillier hopped aboard, apparently ignoring instructions from caucus elders that he leave the Legislature when ejected by Speaker Steve Peters.

Hillier's defiance of not just the Speaker but his own leadership raised embarrassing questions as to who was running the PC show.

Worse for Hudak were the justifications he offered once the standoff ended for why his MPPs flouted Legislature rules, blatantly defied the Speaker, and usurped the seats of other members.

Hudak said that, irrespective of rules, sometimes "extraordinary measures" are warranted. With that utterance he undercut his own law-and-order positioning and his credibility on long-running issues of civil disobedience.

What Hudak essentially did was give licence to civil disobedience any time anyone feels sufficiently aggrieved to arbitrarily take "extraordinary measures."

How will he stand, for instance, against any future native highway blockades in support of land claims? How can he say his right to extraordinary measures trumps anyone else's?

How can he go to Caledonia, say, and denounce native blockades and occupations there that his own caucus members have long railed against but, in essence, mimicked?

The ominous message of the PC protest was that might makes right. One of the remarkable scenes when the protest began was the way in which several of the larger male MPPs surrounded Murdoch to prevent the sergeant-at-arms from removing him.

Beside Murdoch as a self-described blocker was Toby Barrett, the MPP from Haldimand-Norfolk who has complained bitterly about the native protests at Caledonia.

By this act, Barrett disqualified himself as a credible opponent of anyone else's blockade. And as the Murdoch-Hillier siege played out, the PC caucus disqualified itself as a critic of anyone else's occupation.

Apparently trying to provoke their physical ouster, Murdoch and Hillier later occupied seats other than their own – seats to which they hadn't been elected, seats to which the elected MPPs were denied access, thereby unable to vote on legislation, robbing electors in those ridings of their voice.

As affronts to the parliamentary system go, this was fundamental.

Yet Hudak called it "fighting the good fight." If so, it was the sort of good fight that must have been designed by the Acme Co. that produced the explosives so favoured by Wile E. Coyote – and which invariably blew up in his own face.

In the end, the only useful "unintended consequence" for Hudak was that, whereas once he owed Hillier for his support in winning the leadership, he owes him nothing anymore.

Hillier cashed in whatever chit he held. And, by thumbing his nose at the leader, probably cashed in any chance he had for a place of influence should Hudak ever form a government.

Stephen Harper Admits That He's Threatened by Michael Ignatieff

As a deflection from war crime allegations and his non-action on climate change, Stephen Harper; running scared from Michael Ignatieff, has decided to change the channel. The only problem is he's tuned to the wrong program.

The bluster against the HST is coming from Tim Hudak in Ontario and Jack Layton federally, but he's using it to challenge the Liberals?

Unless he's just a complete moron, this is rather a ridiculous route to go, because it leaves a further opening for the NDP. In fact, the Conservatives have been trying to distance themselves from the tax and they won't be able to now. And yes Ontario and BC have Liberal premiers, but Hudak hopes to be premier of Ontario someday. (Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha)

And let's not forget that most economists believe the HST is a good thing, so this could work in Mr. Ignatieff's favour. I think Harper may have finally lost it.

But hey, it's made me forget everything horrendous he's done, because I now feel sorry for him (not really). Clearly he can't read, or maybe he only reads US papers. Besides the Bloc intends to support the motion. Maybe he didn't see that coming.

Tim Hudak is Losing His Credibility Faster Than Mike Harris Did

Ontario Conservative leader Tim Hudak, is making a complete idiot of himself over the HST, clearly just making stuff up now.

If this is the best he's got, then I don't see the PC party winning an election in this province anytime soon.

But then what did you expect from a Mike Harris protege. The worst premier we ever had.

PC leader, OFA face off over HST’s impact
By Kevin Werner

Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak says the Ontario Liberals’ proposed harmonized sales tax (HST) will plow farmers under a financial burden.

But the president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) disagrees, saying the HST will actually help economically-stressed rural communities.

At a London, Ont. event last week, Hudak said the proposed tax will “discourage people from getting into the farming business in the first place.”

He said farmers purchasing 100 acres of farmland at $10,000 an acre will have to pay an additional $80,000 in harmonized sales tax. He also said the “point-of-sale-exemption” that farmers now receive for the PST will be “history” when Premier Dalton McGuinty implements the HST on July 1, 2010.

“That is not correct,” said OFA president Bette Jean Crews. She said no decision has been made by the province to eliminate the point-of-sale-exemption. “It’s a work in progress,” said Crews. “We are still lobbying for that.”

Under the Ontario Farm Business Registration Program, provincial farmers have a card that exempts them from PST on farm items at cash registers. To qualify for the card, farmers need to show they are earning $7,000 in gross revenue.

A call was made to Hudak’s assistant asking to talk to the newly elected Progressive Conservative leader to elaborate on his statement. Hudak did not return the call.

There is some concern among farmers that they may have to apply monthly or quarterly for a rebate to the provincial government under the new HST, a similar process they already do for the federal government’s GST.

Roy Shuker, president of the Hamilton-Wentworth Federation of Agriculture (HWFA), says he’s afraid the exemption could be taken away from farmers. Still, regardless of how the HST will affect the farm sector, it will have an impact on farmers.

“We are consumers, too,” he said.

Shuker acknowledged the HWFA hasn’t seen any details about the proposed HST, nor how it will be implemented. And he knows the OFA has been talking to provincial officials about the issue.

“It might not be that bad,” he said.

Crews said OFA researchers have found that harmonizing the 5 per cent GST and the 8 per cent PST will turn out to be “a real benefit for us.”

She said the OFA says the agricultural sector could save about $30 million a year. Crews didn’t know how much money individual farmers would save. As for beginning farmers, she said, the OFA will be working in collaboration with financial institutions to assist young farmers financially.

Hudak stated the HST will prevent start-up farmers from getting into the agricultural business.

“Start-up farmers will have to include the cost of the DST (Dalton Sales Tax) in any mortgages they take out to buy new farm property,” he explained.

Ontario government officials have argued farmers’ rebate eligibility will be expanded under the HST to include trucks, light vans, vehicle parts, furniture, lawn mowers, farm equipment, computer services, office equipment and refrigeration units. In addition, families earning less than $160,000 per year will get three payments totalling $1,000, and individuals will see a $300 rebate.

The HST is proposed to be applied to fast food, home heating fuels, children’s clothing, diapers, feminine hygiene products, books and child care seats. New homes costing less than $400,000 will only be subjected to the 5 per cent GST.

In 1997, the federal and provincial sales taxes were merged in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. British Columbia recently announced it will merge its provincial sales tax with the GST by next year.

Hudak has been criticizing the harmonized tax, arguing it will unfairly hit families, renters, farmers and other vulnerable people during an economic recession.

“Ontario farmers deserve our support, especially now during tough economic times,” he said.
Still, Hudak has refused to say what he will do about the HST once it takes effect July 1, 2010. Instead, he has said McGuinty will ultimately not implement the HST.

Stephen Harper Gives Ontario Re-Fried Beans

Ontarians are saying something smells with all the good news about new infrastructure spending.

It's a case of deja vu all over again, as Harper's reunion tour has the same old material. We've just been waiting for the show promised two years ago.

So why wasn't the money allotted in 2007, spent in 2007? A little creative bookkeeping or a political move? Wait to give good news until you're really down in the polls, or did you spend the 2007 money on something else?

These Mike Harris flunkies learned from the best. They told us the books were balanced then, but guess what was hiding under the rug? A six billion dollar deficit.

Harper talks stimulus with Ont infrastructure plans, critics say it’s old money
Pictou News
May 15, 2009

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced more than a billion dollars for infrastructure projects and touted his stimulus spending plan Friday during a swing through Ontario, but critics noted that Ottawa was simply dipping into a fund that kicked in long before the economic crisis hit.

Harper and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty first attended a photo-op together at a depot of the Toronto Transit Commission to announce a shared contribution of almost $1 billion to build a light-rail transit line in the east end of the city.

The two leaders then flew to Kenora in the far northwest of the province to make another infrastructure funding announcement — $100 million to widen a 10-kilometre section of the Trans-Canada Highway.

Harper said the moves are part of the federal government’s plan to get shovels in ground as soon as possible and steer Canada through the global economic crisis.

“The focus of the government of Canada right now is on our economic action plan, which is designed to deliver stimulus today, designed to deliver money to projects that are ready right now,” he said in Toronto.

The Harper government committed in the Jan. 27 budget to dole out $4 billion over two years through the infrastructure stimulus fund — a reaction to the global economic downturn. The funding is to be matched by provinces and municipalities.

The federal contribution to the Toronto project announced Friday comes from the Building Canada fund, which began in 2007.

That makes it “old money” that the government never got around to spending, said Liberal critic Gerard Kennedy.

“It in no way shape or form can be seen as stimulus, which is supposed to be new money being spent to help the economy,” he said.

The cost of the Trans-Canada Highway project will be split 50-50 by Ottawa and the province and will create 700 jobs. It’s part of a long-term plan to twin all 40 kilometres between the Manitoba border and Kenora, which is cottage country for many Winnipeg residents.

“There is growing traffic on (the highway), and a lot of trade between Ontario, Manitoba and the northern states that border us,” McGuinty said. “Clearly, a two-lane highway no longer suffices.”

For the new transit line in Toronto, Ontario will provide two-thirds of the estimated $950 million cost, and the federal government will cover the remaining one-third, which Kennedy called “kind of chintzy.”

“The federal government should not nickel-and-dime or put its political fingerprints on (the project),” Kennedy said.

When the Toronto press conference was first announced some had speculated the city might be getting the $1.22 billion it’s seeking for another project to replace its aging fleet of streetcars.