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.
Stephen, Jim and Wayne Who are Stephen and Jim? Why none other than Canada's new Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. Stephen Harper, whose popularity is growing by leaps and bounds, certainly helped himself by trying to keep his election promises, a refreshing change from the Chretien and Martin governments who promised everything and delivered little. Harper's popularity has increased most rapidly in Quebec,and at this writing; his party is even ahead of the Bloc. As one Francophone lady said: "I like him! I know he's from Alberta, but he is interested in Quebec." The Liberals in that province are languishing in the polls. At near 10 per cent, they're not much ahead of the NDP. If Harper keeps it up, he will surely get a majority next election. It looks like the Tories have taken over as the main federalist party in Quebec, and may have given federalism a big boost. Jim Flaherty, with his sense of humour and lack of an "I'm important" manner, is also a refreshing change. The handsome Irish- Canadian yukked it up during his budget speech. Of course he had a lot to smile about, as he had something for most Canadians, especially those who work, and even pensioners. The budget really did have something for everyone, even advocates of a national child care plan and Aboriginals, whose leaders complained of being left out. The Minister mentioned hundreds of millions for aboriginal issues. If not the $800 million promised by Martin in the now-dead Kelowna Accord, it is a significant amount of extra money. The ones complaining about the so-called national child care plan being dropped are mainly the Liberals, NDP and child care unions. This plan would have done nothing for shift workers or stay-at-home moms, and would have provided more tax dollars for administrators and bureaucrats. The Conservatives are providing some real money for working families and over $250 million for daycare spaces. Still to come is their promise to work with business to provide on-site daycares. I talked to a parent with two children in day-care. He pays $200 per week for each child and writes off the total cost. He makes too much money for subsidized spots, but he said a single parent friend with an income of less than $20,000 had two spots in daycare and paid a total of $120 per month. He expressed his satisfaction with the present system and praised the Harper government for its sports subsidy and employment tax credit. What about the tax credits in Flaherty's first budget? There are credits for seniors, students, families with kids in sports and recreation activities, people who are employed, fishermen and farmers. The first Tory budget in 13 years is a true conservative budget, returning some of the overtaxed Canadian workers' money to them, with an emphasis on support for families. This is quite different from the Liberals, who emphasized programme spending, underestimated huge surpluses and used the money to try to curry favour with voters. There was no support for the seriously-flawed Kyoto plan. Good news for mining and smelting towns, as the Tories' made-in-Canada plan will not require smelters to shut down like strict adherence to Kyoto would have. And who is Wayne? Not a politician, but Flin Flon's Wayne Warren, who became one of the leaders in computer technology in the province while working for a large school division. Wayne contacted this writer from Sri Lanka, where he has just completed a stint advising on setting up a distance education network for post-secondary degrees and diplomas. Wayne mentions a huge disparity in educational equality in that Third World country. He also speaks of the "black bears" at the dump, which are really wild elephants, and the two soldiers with machine guns who protect the public if the "bears" attack. There have been recent troubles in Sri Lanka, and Wayne and a colleague passed by Colombo an hour before a suicide bomber blew herself up, killing nine people. As he concluded, "That's a trifle too close to the action!" And our politicians think they have it rough. Roger's Right Corner runs Wednesdays.
