Category: Conservative politics

 

A poll was just released today showing that the conservative party  has support from over 43% of the population. What I found telling in the article is the fact that the  Conservatives are gaining support in all key demographic groups.

This makes the likelihood of a spring election in my eyes more of a possibility. As well the stunning inability of Michael ignatieff to find any type of footing with the public should have staffers in the leader’s office scrambling.

From National Post

The new survey shows the Tories have a 16-point lead over the Liberals, led by Michael Ignatieff. The Grits, who have been trying to stoke voter anger over the government’s performance, have the support of 27 per cent of voters, up by two points.

Jack Layton’s NDP appears to be in political decline as it makes demands to the government over what should be in the budget. The New Democrats would receive 13 per cent of the vote, down by five points.

Similarly, the Green party, led by Elizabeth May, is in trouble. It would receive five per cent of the vote, down by five points

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.


[Continue].

At the liberals latest policy convention Premier Dalton McGuinty raised the specter of his predecessor Mike Harris,yet again. Joanne has the full story. Simply put the Ontario Liberals are one of the most predictable political parties in Canada. To illustrate this point Let’s play a game called  when did the premier say this.

Mr. Harris slashed government programs after he was elected in 1995. The Liberal Leader said Ontarians are fooling themselves if they believe his adversary could phase out the annual $2.6-billion health premium and still make additional investments in health care.
[A] 2010
[B] 2007
Answer 2007

It’s twice as big as all the cuts that Mike Harris made to our social programs and to the Ministry of the Environment combined.

[A] 2010
[B] 2007
Answer 2007

whenever the government can not defend the issue  or is not getting traction with the public, they go right to the old standby demonizing Premier Mike Harris’s record. Let’s not let them do it again, this time the Ontario Liberals have their own record to defend.

On Friday Rosie unemployment numbers were released showing that Canada for the most part is rebounded well from the latest recession. To this end  Premier Dalton McGuinty has begun to crow about how Ontario has gained 95% of the jobs it lost during the recession. However if you dig a little deeper this number is somewhat misleading. From the article.

TD Bank economist Sonya Gulati, who noted Ontario is one of five provinces that still haven’t reached pre-recession employment levels.

She predicts that will happen as early as this month — another 5,000 jobs are needed to close the gap — but said it’s only part of the story.

“When you take a look behind the numbers we do trail in terms of having part-timers and service-sector jobs . . . It could be someone who has been laid off in manufacturing and is working part-time.”

Getting the province to a situation where incomes and jobs are equivalent to pre-recession levels “is certainly going to take a bit of time,” she added.

Is  McGuinty  ignoring the inconvenient truth underlying Ontario’s unemployment numbers?