Fixing the Fiscal Imbalance

Maxime Bernier, the newly elected Conservative MP from Beauce (south of Quebec City), mused Wednesday about how the federal government could fix the fiscal imbalance. He stated that:

Or the surplus could be put back into Canadians' pockets by reducing taxes, so that provinces would then have more taxation room, to get the sums they need from the pockets of Canadians.

Brilliant! Make the provincial governments, who want more money, ask their own taxpayers for it!!! Equalization aside, the primary complaint about the fiscal imbalance is that the federal government is running massive surpluses, while the provinces are running deficits (save Alberta of course). So, leave equalization alone to start with, cut taxes and tell the provinces they have been given the option of raising provincial taxes to counteract the federal tax cuts. The net effect to taxpayers would be neutral, but the provincial leaders would have to stand up and say "We are raising your taxes".

This will likely lead to a massive cut in overall taxation, and reduction in state influence in the lives of Canadians. It would also provide an excellent opportunity for Harper's government to get the federal government out of all the areas that are constitutionally provincial juridisctions.

I dearly hope the new government does this...

Voting Irregularities

There are accusations about that there were voting irregularities in some ridings in Canada during the 23 January election, particularly with regard to the riding of Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River, Saskatchewan.

The problem in Canada is that the Controls required to be a voter in this country are ridiculous. I personally know landed immigrants and Americans on work permits who received voter cards (because they filed Canadian income tax). This would allow them to vote if they were so unscrupulous.

Additionally, many people can vote without a registration card simply by proving they are who they claim (photo ID), and that they live in the riding (gas bill). This would allow you to vote in multiple ridings if you have a residence and business in separate areas, or if you own many properties. Since the record of voters at polling stations is manual, there is no ability to track individual voters to prohibit multiple voting.

Therefore, Canada needs to do two things:

1. Implement a mandatory identification system at voting stations, where you must produce proof of citizenship. This could be a birth certificate, naturalization certificate, or passport. It would be easier if we had a national ID card. You would also have to present photo ID, SIN, and proof of residency.
   
2. Implement an electronic system of tracking voters so that when you take a ballot at a polling station, the system can record that you voted. That way you can't go to another polling station in another area because you would already be in the database.
3. Failing this, we could adopt the "purple finger" method of identifying voters used in new democracies (like Iraq).

Because our democracy is subject to manipulation. I'm not saying it necessarily has been - just that it could be. And waiting until there is a major voting scandal is not the right action to take.

Bestow the VC on Franklin

I'm no military man, but I will say that the actions of Master Cpl. Paul Franklin in Kandahar, Afghanistan, where he applied a tourniquet to his own shattered leg, and then assisted (and saved the lives of) his two compatriots qualifies as:

"...the most conspicuous bravery, a daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice or extreme devotion to duty, in the presence of the enemy"

This is taken from the definition of when Canada would bestow the Victoria Cross upon one of our soldiers. This is one of those times. It would raise the profile of our men and women in uniform, and remind Canadians of the honour with which we should hold the military that defends freedm for us and others.

I call upon the Governor-General and General Hillier to do what is right for Paul Franklin, what is right for the Canadian Forces, and what is right for Canada.

For those who want to do so, please contact your MP or the Governor-General herself. I could not find contact information for General Hillier, but if someone can find it, great!

Trudeau said, "Just watch me."

So, the Liberal Party of Canada pulled one of their attack ads off their website before many people could see it. Luckily, the media has archived it for us, and Damian has a transcript.

The basic gist of the ad is:

Stephen Harper actually announced he wants to increase military presence in our cities. Canadian cities. Soldiers with guns. In our cities. In Canada.

What I find really funny about this is this quote from Pierre Elliot Trudeau:

PET: "Well, there's a lot of bleeding hearts around who just don't like to see people with helmets and guns. All I can say is go on and bleed. It's more important to keep law and order in this society than to be worried about weak-kneed people who don't like the looks of helmets."

REPORTER: "How far are you going to take this?"
PET: "Well, just watch me"

So you see, Paul Martin is now exagerating the Conservative plan for deploying troops in the cities to being enactment of the War Measures Act. Which, by the way, would be impossible to do if you got rid of the Notwithstanding Clause...

It would also appear to me that Paul Martin is also one of those "bleeding hearts" Trudeau was talking about... The old man must be turning in his grave.

Paul Martin wants American-style Judicial Power

Paul Martin challenged Stephen Harper to a constitutional amendment that would remove the ability of the federal government to invoke the Notwithstanding Clause (NwC) to override the courts on Charter rights...

This would give absolute power to the judiciary, and in turn absolute power to the PMO who appoints the judiciary. A Prime Minister could appoint numerous justices to long term posts and change the face of Canada through their decisions.

This happens in the United States. It's why liberals (Democrats) in the US have been so fearful of George Bush nominating strong conservative justices to the SCOTUS.

As Stephen Harper said, the NwC is what balances the Canadian system between the British (where Parliament has absolute power) and the US system (where the judiciary does).

Methinks this was Paul Martin falling on his own grenade...

Tories should hire Canadianna!!!

Canadianna has come up with a series of questions that the Conservative Party should put into TV commercials ASAP...

"We stand for the state" says Dosanjh

Canadianna has picked up on a very telling comment from Ujjal Dosanjh (the current Liberal health minister):

"We stand for the state," said Dosanjh. "The state can do good in people's lives. Mr. Harper doesn't (believe that)."

Now we all knew that, but it's rare to hear a Liberal say that out loud. Mr. Harper should jump on this statement, particularly in the English debate. Challenge Mr. Martin on the statements of Mr. Reid, Mr. Duffy and Mr. Dosanjh.

Harper should point blank quote these Liberals and then ask Mr. Martin whether he trusts Canadians to make choices in their own lives, or whether the state should make those choices for everyone. And then ask if Mr. Martin thinks other ideas of Karl Marx should be implemented in Canada...