Category: Canadian politics

Rates are Going Up

Electricity rates  are skyrocketing on March 1, now the question should be this fall can Ontario taxpayers afford this increase and are they better off now than they were four years ago.

From  Canadian press

Hydro One, the giant transmission utility that also acts as a local distribution company for about one million customers, is threatening to cut off power to people it knows are struggling to pay their bills.

“We recognize that some Ontario families are experiencing financial difficulties and having problems paying their utility bills,” wrote Hydro One’s manager of public affairs, Enza Cancilla, Jan. 27.

I admit this issue is more complex than partisan rhetoric but cutting or threatening to cut people’s power off because they can’t pay the bills is unbelievable.has Ontario now become unaffordable for a great swath of families .

Could Ontario Really Go Bankrupt

If you believe the national citizens coalition it could, that’s a scary proposition in itself. One just has to take a look at states like California to see the folly of a bloated bureaucracy and big government.

From NCC

With Ontario now officially a ‘have-not’ province in Canada, we cannot rely on a robust economy and thriving manufacturing sector to drive growth and underwrite foolish spending. Ontario needs more than simple band-aid solutions, or nominal spending freezes – we need to reduce government spending immediately.

“The horse is already out of the barn,” comments Stephen Taylor, Director of the National Citizens Coalition. “This is not a potential problem, on the distant horizon – this is an urgent matter that needs attention now.”

Many Ontarians are wondering where all of this out-of-control spending has been directed, as services have not improved in the province. “After nearly doubling provincial spending in less than eight years, Ontarians’ lives have not improved, our economic situation has not improved and our access to services has flatlined. Where has this money gone?” asks Coleman.

Free Speech on College Campuses

This is a good commentary on the state of free speech in academia. I thought I would republish part of it.


From Hamilton Spectator

Over the last decade, we’ve seen an increasing intolerance on Canadian university and college campuses for the free exchange of ideas across the social and political spectrum, from anti-abortion to the Middle East conflict.
In our so-called enlightened age, people seem more concerned about protecting their own sensitivities and convictions than defending the principles of free speech and open debate.


It began, arguably, in 2002 at Concordia University in Montreal, when rioting students forced the cancellation of a speech by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.


There has been a slew of other incidents since then. Recently, protesters at the University of Waterloo prevented author and columnist Christie Blatchford from speaking about her book on native anarchy in Caledonia.
Last year, right-wing commentator Ann Coulter cancelled a gig at the University of Ottawa out of fear that demonstrations might turn violent.


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The Problem with Premier Dad’s Popularity

Today columnist Chris Vander Doelen put forward the idea that Dalton McGuinty’s  problems don’t end with his sagging public popularity. Increasingly he has to  worry about those in his own ranks positioning themselves to take his place. .

A quote from the article

“McGuinty has got so many voters mad at him on so many fronts, he has to start making peace with some or he’ll be deader than a Norwegian blue parrot. “

Ignatieff Clueless On Corporate Tax Rates

From FP

Earlier this week, federal opposition parties joined forces to demand that the Conservative government reverse its reductions on the corporate tax rate. “[This] will send a very clear message that this government ought to change course,” warned Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff.
But if increasing corporate tax rates is good policy, why have governments of all ideological stripes across Canada done the opposite and slashed them?


It’s because they understand the economics. Business tax reductions yield significant benefits to all Canadians by way of making the economic landscape more attractive for investment. Jurisdictions that lower business taxes increase the after-tax rate of return on investment. Increased returns, then, provide the incentives for investment and leave firms with more money to reinvest.


When businesses invest in machinery, equipment, and technology, workers have more capital to work with and can produce more and higher valued output for each hour they work. In other words, workers become more productive. Because increased productivity leads to higher wages, workers, in the end, benefit greatly from corporate tax reductions.
The Liberal government of Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin got it: “Business income tax rates have a significant impact on the level of business investment, employment, productivity, wages and incomes.”


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Michael Ignatieff is not only out of step with his own party’s predecessors but a bipartisan chorus of leaders that have all seen how lower corporate taxes can create jobs.  For Ignatieff to go after corporate taxes as an election issue, it might be good politics but it’s definitely bad policy and shows him to be another tax-and-spend liberal who cares more about the size of government then the money left in your wallet.