A common response from many pundits on the recent Conservative budget seems to be: sensible, dull, uncontroversial. David Frum recently published his analysis and went a bit further asking whether or not this budget definitively proves that Canada is the “best-governed country in the advanced democratic world”. He thinks it does. His question is especially
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Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your weekend. – Karl Nerenberg reported on Marc Mayrand’s Robocon testimony, featuring some much-needed discussion of what can be done to improve the Canada Elections Act to ensure fair elections rather than creating an incentive for electoral fraud: Mayrand fretted to the Committee that there are
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: How Old Age Security Should Have Been Reformed
Instead of raising the retirement age and distressing seniors with low-income the government should have prevented wealthier Canadians from receiving Old Age Security; not only would this have been fairer but would have saved hundereds of millions of dollars more. It makes sense that Canadians who are 65 and older
Continue readingLeftist Jab: "If there was ever a Northern Alberta budget, this is it." Rona Ambrose
Symbolically, Parliament has already moved to Suncor’s plant in Fort McMurray. “The West wants in”! Substitute “West” by “Conservative Alberta” and this budget illustrates just how far “in” they are and how they’ve thrown everyone else out. As Rona Ambrose expresses quite clearly, there is very little relief for much
Continue readingImpolitical: Chart of the week
Click to enlarge. (Source) Elections Canada was largely singled out for budgetary savings, among all the Agents of Parliament in the Harper/Flaherty budget. When it is in the midst of a 200 riding-wide investigation across the country to determine what happened with harassing and misleading phone calls that may have
Continue readingCanadian Trends: #Budget2012 Analysis – Part 3 – Economic Developments and Prospects
We will now take a look at the second chapter of the budget. The highlights listed are as follows: The global economic recovery remains fragile. The European sovereign debt and banking crisis continues to weigh on global growth. The Canadian economy has remained resilient despite external weakness, reflecting sustained growth in
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Yes, there was huge news in Robocon yesterday, with Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand rightly declaring the Cons’ fraudulent vote suppression to be “absolutely outrageous” while sharing the news that reports of wrongdoing have now come in from two-thirds of all of Canada’s
Continue readingImpolitical: What should a future Liberal budget look like?
Paul Summerville took a shot at answering the question, in this speech that you can read at his site: “A 21st Century Liberal Budget.” So if you’re feeling a little put off or out of sorts today after yesterday’s Flaherty budget, maybe the best remedy is to start thinking about
Continue readingCanadian Trends: #Budget2012 Analysis – Part 2 – The Penny
Dropping the penny may be the most important yet most under-reported aspects of the budget. It represents a major admittance by the government wrapped in a pretty boe. Here’s one from canada.com: Search the couch cushions, roll all those lucky pennies and take them to the bank, because the government
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Setting the agenda
Quick, spot what’s different in the NDP’s response to the federal budget compared to any other official opposition ever: NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair today slammed Stephen Harper’s Conservatives for introducing a budget that recklessly cuts the vital services that Canadians rely on—such as Old Age Security and health care. “Stephen
Continue readingCanadian Trends: #Budget2012 Analysis – Part 1 – Overview and Personal Thoughts
So it’s finally here: the budget and the 0day reaction to go with it. Or should we say reactions as they are all over the map? In any case, I’ve had to spend all day trying to figure out where to begin and analyze this thing. I’ve been reading the commentary
Continue readingImpolitical: Flaherty to seniors on #OAS
At the 1:30 mark and onwards, Flaherty gives an answer on his OAS age eligibility increase that is receiving some attention tonight. Two callers to the CPAC call-in show that ended at 10:00 p.m. EST remarked on Flaherty’s comment being rude. In tone, the way he emphasized the word “poor”
Continue readingParliamANT Hill: Old Age Security changes confirmed in budget
Inspired by these stories: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/03/29/federalbudget-main.html http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/03/29/federalbudget-flaherty-penny-cent.html
Continue readingPolitics Canada: The Conservative legacy will be…
Article in the Globe and Mail says that this budget is Flaherty’s best shot at creating a Conservative legacy. I decide to think about what that legacy will look like: 1) Higher crime rate, more criminals, less safe communities (thanks to their dumb on crime bill)2) Death, (Walkerton tragedy repeats
Continue readingImpolitical: The greatest show on earth
The big budget circus happens today. The big item, not to be lost sight of among all the other baubles that will be in the window, is in the headline here: “Conservative’s budget to reset retirement at age 67.” It’s a legacy choice by Stephen Harper, he will be the
Continue readingImpolitical: Conservative Senators bring the optics on budget eve
Conservative Senators are complaining today about news that they’ll be losing a cafeteria in one of the buildings in which Senators work, the Victoria Building. Former Conservative party president, Don Plett, unfamiliar with the phrase “entitled to their entitlements” apparently, said this: “What a bad, bad idea. The Victoria cafeteria
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Evening Links
Assorted content to end your day. – Carol Goar asked this weekend for a reasonable explanation as to how to allocate the pain in times of austerity. Not surprisingly, the McGuinty Libs came to the wrong answer – and the Harper Cons figure to do even worse. Meanwhile, Trish Hennessy
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to start your week… – Remember the Cons’ talking point that we should assume all of the Robocon calls which purported to come from Lib candidates could safely be said to have come from that source? Because Glen McGregor and Stephen Maher just shot a massive hole in
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Sixth Estate catches a right-wing election contractor defending vote suppression, then theorizes as to how Robocon may have come together. – The introduction of Doctors for Fair Taxation is certainly a positive step in ensuring that Canadian physicians show their support for
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Fact Checking The New Paul Ryan Budget on Energy and Environment
ryan_620x350.jpg Representative Paul Ryan (R–WI) has released his budget for fiscal year 2013. To almost no one’s surprise, his outline is filled with too many falsehoods and outright lies to count. After analyzing just one section of his proposal – the section on energy and the environment – more than
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