Werner Patels Voice of the Conservative Party

Well Herr Patels of Alberta Avenue, the mulipleblogpersonalityszhioid is at it again. This time he is not only using the Royal We or Editorial We but is completely identifying with the Conservative party. He has published the following on his blog, defending the indefensible the Tory Tax Increases.

And he says 'our ' as if he speaks for the Conservative party. If so they can have him. He is a one man marching band of bad PR for whomever he supports. I wonder if he still is hoping to get nominated as an Alberta Liberal provincially?

Taxes would be far lower under a Conservative government

OTTAWA – This evening [January 6], CBC’s The National ran a so-called “Reality Check” alleging the Conservatives would raise taxes.

This report is not just misleading; it is false:

Taxes would be drastically lower under the Conservatives than under the Liberals.

Our tax plan will include cuts to the GST, and large cuts to personal income taxes and business taxes.

Under our plan, all Canadians will pay lower taxes.

Note to readers this is actually an official press release from the Conservative Party of Canada and should not be construed as being anything written by Mr. Patels on behalf of the Party or in any way associated with Mr. Patels.

Except that being lazy he posted it verbatim on his web site.

"Our plan" does not refer to any plan Mr. Patels may have for the future of Canada.

On the other hand he may now be in such a far out funk that he actually thinks that he is speaking on behalf of the party by publishing 'our' press release. If so the secretary will disavow any knowledge of his activities.


See:
Gotcha!
Thanks Herr Werner
A Confused Alberta Liberal

Tags
Canada
Alberta
Conservatives
blogs
Liberal
Federal Election
Politics

Kate Kinsella Warren McMillan

Its getting scary out there in the blogosphere when two of the biggest self promoters and mouths that roar actually say exactly the same thing on the same day.

I am speaking of Kate from Small Dead Animals and her doppelganger Warren Kinsella. Or perhaps they were just seperated at birth. Cause they had identical posts on Friday.

Kate:

January 06, 2006

It Must Be Friday

Updated - (and Im moving this item back up to the top)

Another day, another scandal. And all coming at such a inopportune time.

Warren:

Fri. 6 Jan., 2006

It's Friday, Why I Must Be In Canada!

Oh look! Another police investigation launched during a national election campaign, this time targeting a former aide to the nation’s most powerful elected leader!

If this is Friday, I must be in Paul Martin’s Canada!

And then they had identical picture posts. As the saying goes small minds seldom differ.

Kate:

The Enemy Is Everywhere

I'm beginning to suspect the Conservatives have recruited small children...

Warren:

January 6, 2006 -

(CP – Special) Unidentified child (top right) reacts to hearing “come Hell or high water,” “transformative change,” “essentially,” “very, very important,” “fundamentally” and – most recently – a sitting Prime Minister actually commenting on the merits of an ongoing RCMP investigation: “offensive.” Another unidentified toddler (top centre) slips into a self-induced coma after reading all two pages of Liberal campaign platform. Scott Feschuk, bottom right, channels Paul Wells for his next English-only blog entry.

So you see when I said Warren had gone to the far right....I was well, right. He and Kate think the same; PM bad, Liberals bad, Harper OK!

Like siamese twins seperated at birth.

Tags
Canada
Federal Election
Politics
Conservatives
Liberals
Blogs
media
Warren Kinsella
Kate McMillan

Quiz Time Again

"What a mystery is this, that Christianity should have done so little good in the world! Can any account of this be given? Can any reasons be assigned for it?"

You are John Wesley! When things don't sit well with you, you make a big production and argue your way through everything. You complain a lot, but, at least you are a thinker and not afraid to show it. You are also pretty liked by people, and pretty methodological about your life and goals. You know where you're going. Some people find you irritating, so watch out for people leaving you out of things they do.

What theologian are you?

A creation of Henderson

Scary how accurate these little quizzes can be. Which is why I posted this in my sidebar. Tag you are it.


Tags
blogs
internet
quiz

Conservatives Vision of Ideal Day Care

The Conservatives took the opportunity to reannounce their Baby Bonus for Baba Babysitting plan again this week. And as only these arrogant dweebs could they did it in a private upper scale day care for the rich. One their models of day care choices that they offer Canadians. If you can't afford this you get a measly $25 bucks a week for baba to babysit.

Yep I can see that $25 bucks really helping out here. His whole day care plan wouldn't pay for one month at this elite daycare. Vote Conservative if you love the rich.

Valerie Nease, the Copper House day-care director, refused to en-dorse Harper's child-care plan and begged off wading into the political debate.

"I can't comment on that ... I'm staying status quo," she said.

The Conservatives requested a visit to the high-end facility where parents with toddlers pay $1,200 a month, pre-school children pay $900 a month for a spot and children who need care before and after school pay $400 per month.

Nease said her day care, which doesn't qualify for any government funds, welcomes 150 children and there is still a waiting list.

Tags
Canada
Federal Election
Politics
daycare
Conservatives
Stephen Harper

Harper 's Phony Tax Cut

Well we now know what the Tories mean by cutting taxes. They cut them for the rich and business and increase them for Canadians who earn $40,000 or less a year.

As we reported here the Conservatives intend to tax the lowest earners in Canada to pay for their tax cuts for the rich and their 1% GST cut. Harper attempted to clarify what his plan is for low and middle income Canadians. CBC reported:

"Our plan will mean substantially lower taxes for Canadians. It's a combination of a GST cut, of selected personal tax cuts and some cuts for a range of business.
Harper did add one small tax detail on Saturday, pledging to remove the capital gains tax on charitable stock donations to encourage Canadians, especially the wealthy, to be more generous.

Andthose 'selected personal tax cuts' do not apply to the lowest income earners. The Harper then says that even though the Conservatives intend on abolishing the Liberal Tax cut which comes into effect this year thats ok cause well the Liberals weren't serious about it anyways.

"The problem with general tax reductions, as the Liberals have shown in the past, is they're always offset by other measures," Harper said. "That's why nobody's going to notice this particular tax reduction."

Huh? Talk about the ultimate in cynical statements. So the Conservatives will turn back the Liberal Tax cuts cause they are Liberal Tax cuts. Not because they will be offset by user fees or other increases. This does not make any sense and this Harper guy says he is an economist.

The Liberal government's plan, announced before the campaign began, would increase the basic personal exemption by $500 and trim the tax rate at the bottom income bracket to 15 per cent from 16 per cent.

Now thats a real 1% cut for working Canadians, not like the phoney 1% cut of nothing that the Harper promises he will do with the GST a tax his party introduced in the first place.

Liberal Leader Paul Martin, who was campaigning in Montreal on Saturday, said the Tories would actually have to increase income taxes to pay for the GST cut."They intend to go to those Canadians who need that money most and they intend to increase their taxes," Martin said.

Yep I have to agree with Paul on this one. And so can any rational Canadian. Which will immediately leave out all the partisan Conservatives and Blogging Tories as they try and spin this Tax Increase (which even Andrew Coyne recognizes it to be).

It's politically dishonest and sleazy. The Conservatives now say they will not honour the Liberal tax cuts after saying they would before the election.

"We will be doing our tax plan, not the Liberal tax plan.We can’t do both."

And like 100 monkeys in a room with a calculator the brain trust for the Tory's can't estimate what their tax breaks to the rich will really cost.

Members of Harper's team said they had costed their plan, estimating Tory tax cuts would total $32 billion. Later Saturday, on the campaign plane, Stephen Harper told reporters that the Conservative tax cuts would actually total about $49 billion.

And who will pay for this? Canadians who are lower and middle income earners. Cause thats whose going to pay for the Harper Tax Cut for the Rich regardless of its cost.

Harper spoke to reporters as he visited a car dealership in this southwestern Ontario community to showcase how the cut in the GST would give families a visible tax cut. Posing beside a minivan, he said the party’s promised GST cut would save buyers of such vehicles between $400 and $500.

Yep that Van cost $49,999 not exactly the average family vehicle for the average family that earns less than that annually. Who can afford this why those who earn $100,000 a year of course.

And if I have to hear one more cretin from the right talk about how the NDP is all about increasing taxes, lets hear what Jack has to say about all this.

NDP leader Jack Layton meanwhile, vowed to fight to keep Martin's tax cuts because they help low-income earners.

NDP Leader Jack Layton said he was shocked to hear of Harper's plan and said it shows he has no other way to pay for his earlier tax-cut promises.

"The fact this has come forward should give every Canadian citizen pause as to what kind of an agenda is here, and certainly it's the wrong way to go," Layton said after a rally in Vancouver.

For more on the Tax Cuts that aren't see:
Leaders battle over tax cuts


Tags
Canada
Federal Election
Politics
tax cuts
Conservatives
Stephen Harper

Much Ado About BCE

The Blogging Tory universe is all a buzz about with the latest conspiracy theories about Bell Canada (BCE) and its Bell Global media units, CTV and the Globe and Mail, and their connection to the Liberals.See here, and here

Toronto Tory has been digging up dirt onthe executives , all two of them, who are on the BCE board. And how BCE donates to the Liberals. From this he jumps to the conclusion, complete with nice Yahoo Stock charts, that BCE somehow benefited from Ralph Goodales Income Trust announcement.

Of course BCE is a publicly traded company and NOT an income trust, but of course that begs the question when those with conspiracy on their minds start to play connect the dots.

Well all capitalist corporations benefit from and support the state, regardless of the party in power. They donate to both main parties and they hire from both parties. Here is a former BCE excecutive manager who was instrumental in the BCE buying CTV and the Globe and Mail and she is a Conservative.

She is now the President of the Board of Trade in Montreal, do you think she is helping the Conservatives gain votes in her home province. Do ya? Is it a conspiracy? No of course not it's politics of the rich and corporate elite as usual.

Isabelle Hudon
President and CEO
Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal

Isabelle Hudon has worked in the field of public affairs, communications, and strategic positioning for more than sixteen years. She has developed solid expertise in the areas of company reorganization, strategic counseling, communications, crisis management and government relations in both the public and private sectors.

In 1988, Ms. Hudon began her professional career in federal politics, where she worked for more than six years. Starting out as regional organizer and coordinator of ministerial tours for the Quebec wing of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, she joined the office of Minister Monique Landry as press secretary in 1990 – first in the Department of External Affairs and International Trade and then in the Department of Canadian Heritage. For six months, in 1994, she served as executive assistant to Ms. Mila P. Mulroney, responsible in particular for managing the Mulroney family's transition to private life.

After a one-year sabbatical in France, Ms. Hudon joined Bell Global Solutions, a subsidiary of Bell Canada, as a communications consultant. Her mandate focused on positioning Bell solutions in the emerging e-commerce sector.

From 1999 to 2001, Ms. Hudon was senior manager, communications and public relations, with BCE Media. Spokesperson for the company, she was also responsible for coordinating internal and external communications and planning and managing advertising purchases. In particular, she worked on the acquisition, by BCE, of CTV and the Toronto Globe and Mail .

In 2003 before the Elections act changed to reduce direct Corporate donatiaons, Bell Canada and BCE were in the Top 50 donators to the Conservative party. Information is from Elections Canada.

1007

Bell Canada

Conservative Party of Canada

4

B

20,000.00

Monetary

1005

BCE Inc

Conservative Party of Canada

4

B

10,000.00

Monetary

The Top 10 donations bankrolled the party for the 2004 election.

10 biggest contributions received

No.	Name of contributor	Name of political party	Part number	Class of contribution *	Amount of contribution $	Type of contribution
1114	Magna International Inc	Conservative Party of Canada	4	B	380,337.43	Monetary
1155	PM Capital Inc	Conservative Party of Canada	4	B	275,000.00	Monetary
1067	Goldcorp Inc	Conservative Party of Canada	4	B	250,000.00	Monetary
1096	Jetport Inc	Conservative Party of Canada	4	B	250,000.00	Monetary
1165	Rogers Communications Inc	Conservative Party of Canada	4	B	250,000.00	Monetary
1199	WITTINGTON INVESTMENTS LIMITED	Conservative Party of Canada	4	B	250,000.00	Monetary
1069	Grant Forest Products Inc	Conservative Party of Canada	4	B	120,000.00	Monetary
1051	EnCana Corporation	Conservative Party of Canada	4	B	100,000.00	Monetary
1137	National Steel Car Ltd	Conservative Party of Canada	4	B	100,000.00	Monetary
1189	TRANSCANADA PIPELINES	Conservative Party of Canada	4	B	75,000.00	Monetary

The Top 10 Liberal Corporate donations included Bell Canada.

10 biggest contributions received

No.	Name of contributor	Name of political party	Part number	Class of contribution *	Amount of contribution $	Type of contribution
50	55555 Inc.	Liberal Party of Canada	4	B	2,974,341.20	Monetary
371	Bombardier Inc.	Liberal Party of Canada	4	B	139,795.22	Monetary
501	Canadian National Railway Company	Liberal Party of Canada	4	B	119,579.93	Monetary
1091	Grant Forest Products Inc.	Liberal Party of Canada	4	B	105,889.00	Monetary
888	EnCana Corporation	Liberal Party of Canada	4	B	103,473.60	Monetary
1392	Kruger Inc.	Liberal Party of Canada	4	B	103,000.00	Monetary
6233	Donald Meehan	Liberal Party of Canada	4	A	100,000.00	Monetary
2227	SNC-Lavalin Inc.	Liberal Party of Canada	4	B	84,664.99	Monetary
326	Bell Canada	Liberal Party of Canada	4	B	78,469.94	Monetary
1962	Power Corporation of Canada	Liberal Party of Canada	4	B	70,000.00	Monetary

So yes the Blogging Tory's are right to identify Bell Canada,now BCE its parent holding company as being big donors tothe Liberals, but so what. Thats just business, if the Conservatives were the government then the corporate donations would roll in to them too. Mind you they won't be getting as much from Magna Corp.

Don't believe me that Capitalist corporations play the winner game in politics and put their money on the party in power. Lets go back a decade to the 1993 election when the Progressive Conservatives were last in power. Here is what BCE donated to them and to the opposition Liberals.

Progressive Conservative Party donations 1993

BCE Inc.

$50, 000

BCE Inc.

$30, 000

BCE Mobile Comnunications Inc

$5, 000

Liberal Party donations 1993
BCE Mobile Communication Inc. $5, 000

Meanwhile the Conservatives coming into this election had already raised $5 million dollars in donations. Because the ceiling on personal donations was set at $5000 as Democracy Watch points out it still allowed corporate donations to be funneled through the staff and employees of a company.

Mr. Conacher said that the $5,000 limit is higher than what an average Canadian can afford in a year and should be lowered to $1,000. He added that the limit, as well as the new law in general, is undemocratic because it "facilitates funnelling of donations by corporations, unions and other organizations through executives and employees." Not all of the donor's information, such as employers or major affiliations, is disclosed, Mr. Conacher said, so voters still don't know who is supporting or "bankrolling" the parties.

It's one of the ironies in this election that the Conservatives have benefited from Bill C-24 and its electoral reform, allowing more funds to be laundered into the party without corporate identification, since only members of the Conservative Party of Canada voted against the bill en masse. And yet the new election act has leveled the playing field, as the case of the Power Corporation shows.

Conservatives out-fundraised Liberals in first three months

For the first quarter of 2005, the Tories raked in $2.6-million in donations compared to the $2.2-million raised by the Liberals. Critics say the new fundraising rules banning corporations and unions have been a 'bonanza' for parties.

According to the list of contributors published by Elections Canada, many well-heeled Canadians contributed to the Tories and Liberals, including Montreal's powerful Desmarais family, owners of international management and holding company Power Corporation.

Five family members, including Paul Desmarais and his son Paul Guy Desmarais, gave the maximum allowed contribution of $5,000 to the Liberals for a total of $25,000, while four family members gave the maximum amount to the Tories for a total of $20,000.

Of course the Desmarais family is closely connected by marriage to Liberals such as Jean Chretien. But a certain lonely heart Conservative Deputy Leader has been romancing one of the Desmarais girls. So do you think he is being a bag man for the Tory's as well as a young Lothario? Well of course, if we use the logic of the Blogging Tory's.

And yes while BCE is a hornets nest of Liberals, Rogers Communications is a hornets nest of Conservatives. But of course the Blogging Tory's are not talking about Ted Rogers at all.

As for bias in the media, well yes Mike Duffy does literally gush over every Liberal he see's. While Don Newman over at CBC 'this is pooooolllliiiitics,' plays time keeper between disputing talking heads on his program. So again the Blogging Tory's attempt to create a Liberal conspiracy out of personal political peccadilos is a bit much.

They are trying to say that where there is smoke there is fire. Sometimes, to paraphrase Freud, where there is smoke there is just a good cigar.


Tags
Canada
Federal Election
Politics
Conservatives
Liberals
Blogs
media
BCE
Globe and Mail
CTV
Income Trust Scandal

Canadians Give Harper the Boot

Harper is toast, no matter how ya spin it. He is toast if he wins Minority government, he is toast if he looses the election. Toast. As I have said all along.

Poll finds 44% low on Harper
Sun Media, Canada - 6 Jan 2006
TORONTO -- The Conservatives may be ahead in the polls now, but 44% of Canadians think their chances would improve if Stephen Harper wasn't leader.



My Columns:

Harper

Tory Watch

Tags
Canada
Federal Election
Politics
Conservatives
Stephen Harper