Ontario PC Leadership Candidate Analysis - Christine Elliott

Christine Elliott

• A flat tax
I like this very much.

• Increase maximum work week from 48 hours to 60 hours
Another good step towards helping employers.

• Freeze the minimum wage
I suppose killing the minimum wage completely is a tougher sell, but its a good start.

• Double tax credit for charitable donations
OK

• Review bail system and prevent repeat offenders
I'm always leery of "review" committments, but at least the direction is correct.

• Give more resources to combating illicit tobacco smuggling
OK

• Policies to combat gang violence
such as..........?

• Opt out of federal EI program
Should make for interesting dinner table conversations at home....


• Build a law school in the north
Because we need more lawyers????

• Ensure access to affordable broadband in the north
Good.

• Improve access to legal counsel in the north
Apparently we do need more lawyers. Who'd have thought that?

•Consider Musoka part of northern Ontario
Because?

Overall Impression: Christine has clearly staked herself on the "Red Tory" side of the leadership contenders, though I believe her to be to the right of John Tory. I don't agree with her of the HRC issue, but I see more evidence of her taking the long term path than many of the others. I think her 'Path to Victory" document is excellent and should be adopted by whoever wins. I like that she is the only one with amajor part of her platform geared towards improving party infractrusture and preparedness.

Ontario PC leadership Candidate Analysis - Randy Hillier

Randy Hillier

• Re-opening the spring bear hunt
I'm afraid I'm not up to speed on this one enough to comment.

• Repeal the pit bull ban
Agree.

• Opening competition for the Beer Store
Fully Support

• Abolishing the Ontario Human Rights Commission
Fully Support

• Reverse pesticide ban
Agree

• Allow freedom of conscience for professionals
Agree

• Change the apprentice to journeyman ratio from 1:3 to 1:1
An admirable goal

• Allow competition for the WSIB
First time I've heard this proposed anywhere. I like it.

• Require a supervised democratic vote of all employees before a company is unionized.
Absolutely. How about the right to opt out of union membership?

• Senate elections in Ontario
Agree

• Allow municipalities to determine property assessment
Agree

• Hold referendum to de-amalgamate cities
Agree This should be up to the residents, not the Province.

•Build new highways along vacant corridors around Toronto
At last, someone who isn't afraid of cars!!!!

•Replace street cars with more busses
Logical, practical.

•Extend hwy 400 and build hwy 448
More logical and useful transportation ideas.

•Create a Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs
OK

•Increase the value of farm land by amending the restrictions on farm severances
Agreed

•Remove the red tape that obstructs local consumers from purchasing local food
Agreed

•Farm property tax assessments and PST tax exemptions will be based on gross farm receipts – not a membership in a farm association.
Absolutely.

•Harmonize provincial and federal farm regulations
A positive step.

•Exempt bio-diesel production from excise and sales tax
OK


Overall Impression: There's not much to dislike in the platform. The most significant parts are reasonable and geared towards making daily live better for Ontariens. He's not as polished and "politician like" as the Toronto crowd are used to, so he will have some difficulty getting acceptance within the GTA, but the direction is right on.

Ontario PC Leadership Candidate Analysis - Tim Hudak

Continuing on in the series, today's candidate is Tim Hudak.

• An immediate one-year payroll tax holiday on new hires
Certainly a positive step towards encouraging hiring.

• Suspending the Land Transfer Tax for one-year on all new and resale home purchases
Again, I like the moves to encourage commerce.

• Cancelling the Harmonized Sales Tax
I like tax cuts as much as anyone else. But, by the time he will be in a position to implement this, the HST will already be a reality and business will have converted. Now you want them to go through another conversion process ? Why not just reduce the Provincial tax rate accordingly instead?

• 2 000 dollar rebate for people that turn in 10 year old cars and buy new cars
Why should I pay to have my neighbour buy a new car? Why just cars? I don't like this one.

• Wage freeze for non-unionized government employees
OK. Let's hope there is a plan to do the same with the unionized ones shortly thereafter.

• Increasing the small business tax threshold
A positive, business-friendly move.

• Scrapping corporate welfare programs
Love it!

• Freeze minimum wage
My preference would be to lose the minimum wage altogether, but this is better then the job-killing increases that McGuinty has planned.

• Appoint a minister in charge of cutting ‘red tape’
Shouldn't this be the job of every cabinet minister?

• Allow new companies to defer taxes for one year
Interesting proposal.

• Seizure of property of those suspected of committing a crime
As much of a "law & order" guy as I am, seizure should come after conviction, not before.

• Introduction of family savings account
OK, So I have an RRSP, a TFSA, an RESP, ...... How many frikkin' accounts do I need?

•Allow income splitting for families with pre-school aged children
A good start. Why stop with pre-schoolers?

•Enhanced use of phonics
Good stuff.

•High school exit exams
Fantastic. Let's give a high school diploma some credibility again.

•Make economic and financial literacy a mandatory part of the high school curriculum
Again, a good concept. I'm curious as to how to implement it though.

•Eliminate unfair pressure on teachers to make sure students pass even if the student is unwilling or unable to complete the work
Teachers need the ability to give a failing grade to students. Similarly, there should be a way to get rid of underperforming teachers. When was the last time a teacher was let go because they couldn't teach?

•Toughen enforcement on graffiti
I like the "broken windows" approach on crime.

•Increase penalties for defacing private and public property
Again, I like the "broken windows" approach on crime.

•Expanding capacity at Ontario medical schools
Are we still correcting Bob Rae's mistakes?

•Promoting flexible retirement alternatives for aging doctors
OK

•Improving recognition for foreign credentials for internationally trained doctors whose training meets or exceeds Ontario’s standards
A positive idea.

•Increase the incentives and make it easier for those studying medicine abroad to return to Ontario to practice in their home province
A positive idea.

•Focused infrastructure investments to fill the gaping holes in northern roads, bridges, internet and cellular service
I like this.

•Targeted funds for northern colleges and universities
OK

•Using Crown land as an economic development tool that encourages residential, tourism and industrial development
A positive idea.

•Working with municipalities, the private sector and First Nations to facilitate economic partnerships
A positive idea.

•Ensuring reliable and affordable energy is available to attract and retain investment in Northern Ontario
Refreshing to see "reliable and affordable" take precedence over "green and undoable". This gives me hope he's a realist (as much as is possible with politicians.)

•Scrap HRT's.
The HRT issue is the big difference between some of the candidates. I have to say I'm with Tim (and Randy) on this one. Thse kangaroo courts have no place in a just society. Crimes should be prosecuted in a court of law. The right "not to be offended" does not (and should not) exist.


Overall Impression: He's a little thin on the non-political resume, but has decent cabinet experience and a decent track record. I don't agree with all his proposals, but I do agree with the large majority of it. Certainly promising.

Ontario PC Leadership Candidate Analysis - Frank Klees

I haven't decided who to support in the Ontario PC Leadership Contest yet, so I guess that makes me part of the valuable "swing vote" segment. On the surface, I'd be happy with any of the four, as they all have some proposals I like and any one of them would be an improvement over our current Premier.

I have always been a policy based voter, so lets look at the policy positions of each on the candidates. I'll go through one a day in reverse alphabetical order (for no other reason than everyone else does alphabetical) and give my impressions. So, that makes Frank Klees today's topic

Thanks to Hugh at Freedom is my Nationality for the updated policy summaries.

• Supports Senate elections

I'm with you on that one, Frank.

• Opposed to liberalizing liquor laws

Sorry, but I see no reason for the government to be the sole purveyor of booze in the Province.

• Opposed to the HST

Anything to reduce taxes is good in my book. Just reduce spending along with that. I could live with a harmonized tax if the Provincial rate was reduced accordingly, but Dalton missed out there.

• A reduction in business taxes and the creation of tax incentive zones to attract new industries and create jobs

Ontario is in serious need of a reduction in business taxes. I'd like to see some details on "tax incentive zones" before commenting further on those. I like the direction though.

• A tax credit against corporate income taxes for new manufacturing jobs

Why just manufacturing? Is a new programmer any less valuable to Ontario than someone cranking out widgets? I've never been a fan of a sop to segments of the population, even if it is intended to help.

• tax amnesty on severance payments

I see an accounting nightmare come tax time unless the Federal government does the same.

• Propose the implementation of reliable broadband communication networks to assist northern communities

Propose or implement? - they aren't the same thing. I'd rather he was longer on implementation for this one.

• Ministries of Tourism and Natural Resources be designated as priorities in order to improve destination marketing

A positive effort, but not a game changer for anyone.

• No faith-based private school funding

I'd love a tax credit for those attending schools outside the public system, but can live with this at the moment. Any plans to pull funding from the Catholic Boards? Isn't that discriminatory faith-based funding?

• A 4-year Ontario income tax holiday for graduates from universities, colleges and trade schools

Expect people "graduating" from shady trade schools every 4 years if this gets implemented. Not a fan of this one.

• Help children with disabilities and specifically autism

Generally good intentioned.

• Enhance anti-bullying strategies in schools

Give me some specifics here. "Enhance" how?

• Private delivery public payment for health care

Good to see him embracing the private sector here.

• Issuance of receipts outlining a description of the services provided and the cost to provide those services

If the out of pocket cost to the consumer is still zero, I see this as adding cost to the practitioner, with little benefit to anyone.

• Creation of a council that will provide a second opinion on health issues

I see no use for this at all.

• E-health record system

Should have been done years ago. It can't be that hard.

• $200 million for youth mental health services, as recommended by the McMurtry-Curling • Report, “Roots of Youth Violence.”

Not a game changer for most.

• I will propose to review long-term care facilities

"Review" means spending money and doing nothing. Where are the concrete proposals?

• Eliminating local health integration networks

Positive step.

• Creation of a ministry of long term planning

Good to see some commitment to long term planning. Let's hope successor governments follow suit, so the efforts won't be wasted.

• Development of a trans-Ontario high-speed rail link connecting east, west, north and south

At a cost of.........? Run by..........?

• Stable, predictable and reliable funding for transportation infrastructure projects

Good practice.

• Reach out to minority groups

A must for any serious government.

• An energy policy that embraces renewable energy as an important component of Ontario’s overall energy supply

Hydro, sure. Until someone can demonstrate wind, solar or anything else "sustainable" is even remotely cost effective, let's go with nuclear where hydro can't fill the bill.

• pursue affordable and sustainable energy that will allow renewable generators to be a part of a balanced mix of electricity generation through a competitive process

Hydro, sure. Until someone can demonstrate wind, solar or anything else "sustainable" is even remotely cost effective, let's go with nuclear where hydro can't fill the bill.

Overall Impression: Some good, some not so much. There are a lot of things cited in "politician speak" (propose, review enhance - with no specifics) that make me nervous. Frank is a decent speaker and has a business background, which I like. The platform is no "Common Sense Revolution" (which I loved), but decent nonetheless.

Sometimes, doing more isn't better

Words of wisdom from Jon Hall at the American Thinker:

One of the advantages of "doing nothing" is its cost. But not only would we not go deeper into debt, we would gain an awful lot of knowledge from a "natural recovery". The market has already told us we don't need Circuit City. It's also telling us we don't need 2 Starbuck's on every street corner. Perhaps we don't need Chrysler, either.

The American economy must go through a painful restructuring. Any attempt to spare us the pain, only kicks the pain down the road for others to experience, like the grandkids. And more importantly, it forestalls real recovery.

What Congress should be most focused on isn't keeping folks in homes they can't afford and in jobs in moribund businesses, but correcting the systemic problems that got us here. Only then will we have a durable economy. But Congress is propping up failures rather than letting the natural process of creative destruction do its work.

The same principle applies in Canada, or any other country for that matter.

The full article is here.

The price of government "stimulus"

This would be a valid assessment if it were published today:

Government-guaranteed home mortgages, especially when a negligible down payment or no down payment whatever is required, inevitably mean more bad loans than otherwise. They force the general taxpayer to subsidize the bad risks and to defray the losses. They encourage people to “buy” houses that they cannot really afford. They tend eventually to bring about an oversupply of houses as compared with other things. They temporarily overstimulate building, raise the cost of building for everybody (including the buyers of the homes with the guaranteed mortgages), and may mislead the building industry into an eventually costly overexpansion. In brief, in they long run they do not increase overall national production but encourage malinvestment.

The interesting that it was published in 1946 and is still as valid today as it was back then.

If you haven't read Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson, do yourself a favour and get a copy.

Stand Tall

Now that we have had the pitches for Mr. Harper & Mr. Dion, the PM should go ahead with the vote in the House, as scheduled.

Politics is a contact sport, and you need to be able to take the hits as well as dish them out. The rules still need to be followed and are the same for everyone.

There is a big difference between being in opposition and being in power. In opposition you can talk all you want, but in power, you actually have to walk the walk. Deliver things. Its not as easy as most would believe. Mr. Layton and Mr. Duceppe have never had that responsibility. They both have campaigned in campaigns where they knew they would not be PM when it was done.

Thus far, when called upon to deliver in an election, Mr Dion has offered up one of the worst electoral results in Liberal Party history. He was called upon to deliver three of the "four wise men", two of whom didn't join on. He has been called upon to deliver a 10 minute videotape, and came in an hour late and a few pixels short. What has he actually delivered on? Not much.

Next Stéphane Dion will be called upon to deliver his MP's in a confidence vote. I don't think he will be able to deliver them either. I predict that enough Liberal MP's (and maybe one or two Dippers) will find ways to make themselves absent, that Harper will carry the day. I believe Ignatieff and some of his prominent supporters will find a way to not follow through and defeat the government at this time. They owe nothing to Dion and have already declared they don't want him as party leader anyway.

As overwhelming as the Liberal lust for power is, there is a strong streak of self-preservation instinct as well. Mr. Ignatieff knows the party will be his soon enough, and if the coalition is sussessful in gaining power it will only be for a short period. There will be further job losses in the automotive and other sectors in the next year and the party in power, most likely thouugh no fault of their own, will take some heat for it. If that party is the Cerberus Coalition, who will be portrayed as coming to power without electoral legitimacy, the Liberals will be crucified in the next election (which will happen in at best a year and a half) and he will wear it.

Prorogueing parliament, while legal, isn't the best solution here.
Call the bluff. Put the cards on the table.