As exercised by one of our intrepid cabinet ministers: Mr. Duncan described the provinces as being blindsided by Mr. Flaherty behind closed doors. “He put the document in front of us and said, ‘This is the way it’s going to be,’” the Ontario Finance Minister said. “We all kind of
Continue readingTag: Jim Flaherty
Impolitical: Health care trial balloon
I think that’s what today’s Ibbitson column on future health care funding must be, a trial balloon. It is probably positioning by the Harper pros in advance of health care discussions starting this week between Flaherty and provincial finance ministers and that continue early in the new year with Harper.
Continue readingImpolitical: Flaherty commits to 6% health care increases
Look who’s on SoundCloud! Excellent to see this use of audio media: In light of Flaherty’s musings this week on tying health care transfers to the umbrella and unrelated concept of economic growth, that promise is one to keep in mind. Note also that Flaherty’s musings came on the heels
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Even Canadian Bankers are Hoping that the "Occupy" Movement is a Success
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released a report yesterday, showing that Canada’s income disparity is growing faster even than that of the U.S. Low paying jobs and a diminishing middle class, are partly to blame, but also deregulation, that allowed the wealthy to become even wealthier, is a
Continue readingImpolitical: Housing bubble for Canada?
The Economist thinks Canada is vulnerable: To assess the risks of a further slump, we track two measures of valuation. The first is the price-to-income ratio, a gauge of affordability. The second is the price-to-rent ratio, which is a bit like the price-to-earnings ratio used to value companies. Just as
Continue readingImpolitical: Wednesday drive-by blogging
1. Google has published its Transparency Report which includes the User Data Requests from governments around the world. A helpful comparative tool. Canada made 50 user data requests, reported there to be part of criminal investigations, with a complia…
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Rick Perry Steals Stockwell Day’s "Flat Tax" idea, who Stole it From the CTF, Who Stole it From ….
In 2006, Time magazine raised the alarm over Stephen Harper’s control of the media, which included his unprecedented secrecy of what goes on in cabinet meetings.However, if you want some idea of what they might sound like, watch the Republican debates …
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: It’s Not About Occupying Wall Street But How Best to "Occupy" Ourselves
In the 1960s, college and university campuses, known for their apathy, began to erupt into political activism. Rosa Parks, the black woman who refused to move to the back of the bus, inspired many to stand up, or perhaps more appropriately, “sit-in”, f…
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: Jim Flaherty: We Are The 1%
No, taxing the wealthy can’t generate enough $ to kill the deficit and fund all the social programs we might like. Everyone’s going to have cut back and put their shoulder to the grind-stone and etc. if we as a nation want to do all that st…
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Swindlers Revisited: Why Canada’s Occupy Wall (Bay) Steet Movement is Important
A friend left a comment on my blog yesterday, reminding me of a book I had read several months ago, Swindlers. She was just in the process of reading it herself. Timely, given the current protests against Wall Street greed.Anyone questionin…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Latest Threat To Financial Stability? Canadian Obstructionism
While we reflect on the concepts brought forth by the Occupy movement, namely that the many are ill-served by the control exerted by the few, we should also consider the role that our own government is playing in the world. I have written extensively …
Continue readingExcited Delirium: Follow the Money Behind Europe’s Debt Crisis
Fake fiscal emergencies are breeding the need for ‘austerity measures’ which must be resisted.
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: Flaherty Is Right
Canadian banks were insulated from the worst of the 2008 financial crisis because they were better regulated, with these regulations put in place long before the current regime came into power.If you want your protest to be about some specific corporat…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your day.- Thomas Walkom points out that the effect of cracking down on peaceful and legal strikes – as the Cons are so determined to do – is to force workers to take more creative steps to make their concerns heard:Canada’s m…
Continue readingTrashy's World: Two stories…
One about an ex-Harris henchman who now toils for a guy who pulls levers behind the curtain at 24 Sussex… And the other about a guy that is so blasted partisan that we will cut the reference to his own country and one of the greatest PM’s who ever lived – because he was from […]
Continue readingImpolitical: Fun with Jim Flaherty’s debt lessons
Mucho chutzpah from Jim Flaherty today: …Flaherty told the Tory blue lunch crowd that Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty’s government has doubled the debt.Before the Liberal government came to power, the surplus was $117 million, said Flaherty, who is …
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Tony Clement and the Crime of the New Century
As Tony Clement sits in stony silence, like a petulant child, refusing to admit he was the one who stole the cookie, despite the crumbs on his face; others are having to defend the indefensible.The 50 million dollars that was misappropriated and spent …
Continue readingThe Equivocator: Christine Elliott shy on issue of Health Care Accessibility
From The Elizabeth Roy Chronicle WHITBY – OSHAWA – In reaction to the case of Whitby paediatrician Dr. Karen Dockrill, Christine Elliott has left Whitby-Oshawa constituents confused about her stance on publicly administered, accessible health care. Dr. Karen Dockrill is … Continue reading →
Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading.- David Olive weighs in on the disastrous results of the all-too-prevalent obsession with austerity when economic conditions are still fragile around the globe:From London to Berlin, and Ottawa to Washington, the w…
Continue readingRedBedHead: Debt Is Not The Cause Of The Crisis
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Stephen Harper are all over the media attacking European Union politicians for failing to take decisive action to deal with the “debt overhang”, particularly in places like Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy. This failu…
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