Solberg, who has asked for an official probe by the federal ethics commissioner into the income-trust matter, says the Conservatives don’t want to reveal their fiscal plan until they have unveiled all their unreleased platform planks.
the star
The Liberals are after the Tories on the cost of the Harper promises. Now you cannot help but admire the gall of a party which slips on the fiscal hairshirt after a pre-election spending spree of around 25 billion dollars.
But why is Monte being coy?
It is barely possible that Canadians have finally woken up to the fact that politicians of all stripes spend much of a campaign coming up with clever spending ideas which, as there is no other source of funds, will come out of those voter pockets. Playing the dance of the seven veils leaves a rather bad taste in the mouths of voters.
When it comes down to it, the taxpayer has at least some right to know how his or her pocket will be picked. Keeping the cost projections a deep dark secret leaves the Tories open to this sort of shot,
NDP finance critic Judy Wasylycia-Leis says neither the Tory nor Liberal numbers can be trusted.
“It’s pretty clear that Stephen Harper didn’t cost out his plan,” she said in a statement.
“And it’s pretty rich for the Liberals to criticize them — given that they’ve been wrong with their numbers for years.”
the star
We’ve come to expect this from the Liberals, Solberg is bright enough to know that keeping obvious stuff a secret simply annoys voters. The CPC has the opportunity to do things a little differently beginning with hard costs on their promises. Pity they seem to be avoiding that opportunity.
Written by jay on January 9th, 2006 with 4 comments.
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Five more cases of bird flu were reported in Turkey on Sunday, including three cases in Turkey’s capital Ankara, raising fears the deadly bird flu virus was spreading.
Preliminary tests showed that two children and an adult have tested positive for the deadly bird flu virus in Ankara, the city’s governor Kemal Onal told state news agency Anatolia on Sunday.
CTV
That was quick, too quick for any sort of comfort. The story from Van was that the poor children there pretty much lived in a house cum chicken coop. But the people in Ankara are not so obviously in contact with chickens. Soooo..
“This is unusual, and the WHO has to ask themselves whether something has changed,” said Prof. Earl Brown, from the University of Ottawa. “Has the virus changed, or is it something to do with the people in Turkey and their immune systems, or something regional with respect to people?”
ctv
It might also be a good idea to ask when Canada will be imposing a quarantine on Turkey. Or at least a wait period on travel. Hey, maybe someone might ask that question at the “debates”.
Written by jay on January 9th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Canadian Politics and Uncategorized and bird flu and culture.
Bob Tarantino notes and details the rather abrupt departure from the relatively fair media coverage the CPC enjoyed before Christmas.
The CP and the Star have also taken to “reporting” Liberal attacks as news, sans context or rebuttal, in this case the matter of whether CPC fiscal policy will result in deficits.
let it bleed
This turn and what I suspect will be a savaging of Harper and the resurection of the Holy Dumpling after the debates, is all pretty predictable. People who live in the Annex run such institutions as the Toronto Star and the CBC precisely so people like Stephen Harper cannot ever hope to get a look in. They will be getting back to the office after the Christmas break and it will dawn on them that while none of their friends are voting for the CPC it the polls suggest people they do not know (and do not wish to know) are actually going to vote for this quasi American…
What would Trudeau do? Or, more to the point, what would Peter Gzowski? So the Canada Geese will be scrambled and the Maude Barlow/Judy Rebick brigade will create some news about abortion rights or free trade or American style X. This will be reported as if it actually is news and the Dumpling will be trotted out to condemn Harper’s lack of commitment to Canada.
And so on.
Now, the only question in this election is whether or not, having failed the IQ test last time round, the folks in 905 will have the wit to see through the Liberals scare tactics and pandering. Personally I rather doubt it. The brief blip in the polls was, I fear, no more than the alarm bell reminding the Liberals and the media that there was in fact a campaign on.
It is now going to get very nasty indeed. On past performance nasty wins and if the current CPC momentum reverses itself, as I am almost certain it will, a desperate Liberal Party, being creamed in Quebec, may very well eke out its majority by taking closely held CPC seats.
The “tough” new NDP with its commitment to “American style” minimum sentences will also be training its guns on the CPC. there are plenty of seats in BC the NDP can win.
At this instant the CPC has a lead in the polls. What it has to remember is that this is the beginning rather than the end of the campaign and slim lead is not good enough.
Written by jay on January 9th, 2006 with no comments.
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