The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
A federal election Ð some issues Is a federal election a sure bet for this year? We may know shortly, but all political pundits seem to think so and opposition parties are furiously scheduling nomination meetings. It looks like the Liberal ship is sinking as they were defeated in the House on an opposition motion to ask them to resign, which they refused to accept as a motion of confidence, but it is clear that they have lost the confidence of the House of Commons. Even "Prime Minister" Jack Layton put the squeeze on the government, demanding that their new social spending be part of a balanced budget, and not include the $4 billion plus corporate tax cuts at all. The Finance Minister's weak answer that the cuts weren't due until 2008, and can therefore remain on the books didn't appease Layton, but he and his 18 members will vote for the Liberal/NDP budget. Under constant attack, the government refuses to resign and attempts to blame the Tories and Bloc for possibly being responsible for the possible end of an agreed-on Veterans' bill, if they are defeated. What happened is that the four party leaders agreed on the proposal to enhance veterans' benefits, which quickly passed three readings in the House, but was sent to the Senate where the Liberal majority referred it to a committee instead of passing it immediately. They said it would be ready for May 18th if the government is not defeated, an obvious attempt to hold the opposition to ransom. This didn't work as the committee, headed by a Conservative senator, quickly passed the bill, as did the Senate. Paul Martin declared there will be a vote on the budget this week which he will view as a vote of confidence. He desperately wants this budget to pass and has bought the support of the NDP and (he thought) the support of Edmonton independent David Kilgour, who broke from his party because of the scandal and the same-sex marriage bill. Kilgour has an obsession with the atrocities being committed in the Darfur region of the Sudan, and Martin quickly announced 100 non-combatant soldiers and a few million dollars for the ravaged country. Kilgour says it's not enough and he's holding out for more aid, but Sudan doesn't want our soldiers and says Paul and Pettigrew never asked them. Nice try Paul! Let's see this week if David has been bought and paid for! Paul tried to buy the Tories, but so far no luck, and he was hoping the two cancer-ridden conservative MPs will be unable to vote, but tough luck again as old Ed Broadbent (who isn't running again because his wife is seriously ill) offered to "pair" with one of the sick Tories as did Pat Martin and Alexa McDonough, both good New Democrats. Paul is still hoping that the three independents will support his budget and the give-a-way document will pass. The Liberals hope to make the budget the main election issue and blame the opposition for not supporting it Ñ a brazen attempt to bribe the voters with their own money, however very recent polls reveal that Liberal, and Paul Martin, dishonesty is emerging as a main election issue. The opposition is hoping to make the Adscam the main issue in the next federal election, and far more than last time the daily revelations are showering the Grits with acid rain. Every day top former Quebec Liberal bosses speak of kickbacks, cash payments and payoffs to the Liberal party in return for huge government contracts. Liberal "volunteer" election workers were paid of with envelopes of cash, which one would suspect they did not declare on their income tax. All of these payments made in the last two elections were in violation of The Federal Election Act, and heads should roll, and criminal charges laid, but will they? Scott Brison who appears often as Liberal spokesman, keeps saying to wait for Judge Gomery to sort out the truth, but further testimony seems to corroborate the early witnesses like Brault and Guite. Brison and Martin also know quite well that Judge Gomery's terms of reference are quite narrow and he has no right to assess blame or punishment, a fact not realized by most Canadians. It will be up to the government and courts to determine if anyone should be jailed or punished. Stephen Harper asserts that the Gomery report would have been buried if the Liberals had won a majority, and will be if they somehow win the next one. A lot of writers, commentators, and "political" experts agree with him. The Liberals are hoping the scandal will drop off the voter's radar screen and will not be sustained in a 35-day campaign. They also hope that their budget promises Ñ billions for health care, day-care and that many give-away promises to groups and Provinces will attract the voters. Dalton McGuinty squeezed more than $5 billion for Ontario from the Finance Minister, and wants more! The Ontario Premier who lied about no tax increases to the Ontario voters in the last campaign there, claims Ontario pays more than $23 Billion more than it should to the Feds. Even Saskatchewan's Lorne Calvert came to Ottawa to seek money clawed back from the oil industry. Best bet is that he will get some, but Saskatchewan has only one Liberal MP and little hope for more. Liberal strategists hope the "Sovereignist" and "tolerance" cards will help convince voters to fear Harper's "hidden agenda". Even though they have no credibility in Quebec, they hope to frighten the rest of the country (especially Ontario and the Maritimes) that the Tories will somehow allow Quebec to separate, and only the Liberals can save the country. Is there enough cash left in the Federal treasury? The "tolerance card" is the Liberal's gay marriages bill which probably will not pass in this Parliament. The spin is that the Tories are intolerant and that gay and lesbian couples should have the same right to marry as heterosexual couples. The Conservative proposal is hardly intolerant, it would allow homosexual civil unions, but will reserve the term "marriage" for a man/woman union. It would also protect churches and the clergy from being forced to conduct same-sex marriages. It should be an interesting election issue. See 'Scary' P.# Con't from P.# The Conservative platform (so far), hardly scary or hidden, promises to curb wild and irrational Liberal/NDP spending, provide meaningful tax cuts to improve the economy, provide day-care dollars to those who need it such as single or low-income parents and those coming off welfare. It will also include tax credits for stay-at-home moms. They also pledge Senate and House of Commons reform to enhance the roles of the members by making most votes free votes. As well, they hope to make the Auditor-General and other parliamentary "watchdogs' responsible to Parliament, not the Prime Minister or the government. They offer to meaningfully rebuild and equip Canada's armed forces with proper, not used or non-working equipment, and to restore Canada's reputation in North America and the World. Stephen Harper offers an honest government, responsive to Canadians. Scary stuff indeed!
