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.
Political spin 2005 style There has been a lot of comments lately about 'political spin', especially, but not completely at the federal level. 'Political spin' is trying to seek the best advantage for your party or member on any issue. Sometimes it is to try to make black seem white or at least grey, and is sometimes called 'damage control'. Take the Adscam scandal as a good example. The Prime Minister, who was Finance Minister when the tax money was disappearing, denies any knowledge or involvement. He claims the Finance Minister only draws up the budget and is not accountable or responsible for the spending. Can we really be expected to believe that the chief financial officer of any large or small corporation could lose sight of 200 or so million dollars? What would happen to the C.F.O. of any business in this type of situation? Testimony at the Gomery Inquiry continues to question Paul Martin's role in the scam. Former powerful Liberal aide Warren Kinsella testified that Martin knew of the problem with regard to contracts and mentions Paul's close ties to the Earnscliffe Company which was headed by key Martin advisors and received untendered contracts due to Martin's intervention. The Prime Minister's office denies any involvement and claims Kinsella is a "Martin hater". One commentator claims the Earnscliffe thing was worse than that, that the company was involved in budget preparation and could tip off its other clients about what was coming in the budget Ñ a conflict of interest, not allowed in our parliamentary system. The most damning testimony was released on May 5th by Mr. Sponsorship himself, Chuck Guite who testified that Paul Martin was one of the cabinet ministers who agreed to bend the rules to favor Liberal-friendly companies. Martin's office flatly denies the allegations, but it looks like more damage has been done to the PM's credibility with a lot more testimony to come. Why would Mr. Guite mention Martin if the former Finance Minister and his Earnscliffe buddies were not involved? Can Paul be saved by 'political spin'? The spin on buying the NDP support for about $4 billion was really quite humorous Ñ who to believe? Martin claimed the extra spending was okay and would help his party pass the budget desperately needed by Canadians Ñ besides the corporate tax cuts weren't to start until 2008. Stephen Harper called it a "union with the devil" and also said there is now a need to "put this government out of its misery." Jack Layton attacked Harper for name calling and claimed the extra expenditure is needed for social programs not tax cuts. The NDP hopes to have it both ways, and pledge to support the budget, but not the post-budget Liberals. Layton's offer was to replace the $4.6 billion in corporate tax cuts with the same amount for social spending programs Ñfiscal responsibility NDP style. Are corporate tax cuts good or bad? Some economists say it has big time consequences for Canadian business and jobs, as Canada's economic performance is only a shadow of the U.S. growth, and foreign investment in Canada is declining, due at least in part to the punishing taxes on corporations and incomes over $64,000 per year. Eliminating the corporate surtax and lowering the tax rate is deemed essential for Canada's future economy and for providing jobs for our workers. Paul Martin claims the tax cuts can still be there if the Tories will support them, and said he actually didn't get rid of them, which caused a negative reaction from "Prime Minister" Jack Layton Ñ smoke and mirrors, Liberal style! How about the Liberal 'spin' on accusations of trying to buy off Tory MPs? For the second time, Dauphin Tory Inky Mark claims he was offered a plum post if he would get out of the Commons. Mark earlier had claimed he was offered something like Minister of Agriculture if he would join the Liberals. Recently he announced he was offered an ambassadorship. Manitoba Liberal boss Reg Alcock denies any offer was made, and says Mark is fantasizing and that Reg would know if any offers were made. He also made some disparaging remarks about Mark's "gene pool", not a smart thing to say about a prominent and successful Chinese-Canadian. Alcock apologized, but the damage has been done. Stephen Harper says that Mark and three other Conservative MPs have been approached by the Liberals, trying to buy them off with plum taxpayer-funded jobs. The Grits deny any such nefarious schemes, but what about Scott Brison, the openly gay Tory MP, now Liberal Public Works Minister, who switched to the Liberals after voting for Stephen Harper for leader. Brison was well rewarded for his defection, and is a prime example for would-be defectors. The Liberal attack on the Tories includes an appeal to Canadians about sovereignty, i.e. about the danger of Quebec separating, with if the Bloc and Conservative combine to defeat the Liberals. With the Bloc showing about 60 per cent of the vote in Quebec, Martin claims there is a danger of Pro-Canada MPs being wiped out, which could lead to the separation by Quebec. How would this happen? The theory is that the Provincial Liberal Government of Jean Charest is unpopular, could lose the next election to the P.Q., and another vote on separation could pass, and it is all Harper's fault! So, for the good of the country, the Tories should not help defeat Liberal MPs in Quebec, should not align with the Bloc to cause an election, and besides, Harper cannot win any seats in Quebec. Stephen Harper claims this spin won't work, he can win seats in Quebec, and the reason for the Liberal's decline in support there is because of the Adscam affair. This is an obvious Liberal scare tactic, but what about opinions on this so-called issue? All Westerners do not agree that it would be a bad thing. One prominent former Manitoba P.C. cabinet minister told 'The Corner' that he would like to see Quebec out of Confederation, and an end to "phony bilingualism Ñ forced bilingualism for us and unilingualism in Quebec." "Think of all the money we would save," he said. He also claimed that this would be the end of Liberal political dominance in Canada Ñ an attractive alternative for the West. In addition to the 'spin' of the beleaguered Liberals, assisted by Liberal-friendly pollsters (such as Ipso-Reid-Angus Reid who was a Liberal pollster) and the Eastern press, Paul Martin's government is using every trick to try to prevent votes in the House. They even cancelled 'opposition days' leading one Tory MP to accuse them of Robert Mugabe-like tactics. Much more to come.
