Brad Wall fails Saskatchewan

Premier Wall has consistantly said that his Government will get more for Saskatchewna than Calvert's did:

“If we are successful we will have done more than any equalization can do […] We need to get specific results for Saskatchewan and that’s my job…”
-Brad Wall, Star Phoenix, January 13, 2008

“Where Mr. Calvert has failed we believe we can be successful.”
-Brad Wall, Star Phoenix, October 12, 2007

Well Mr. Wall, unless I missed something yesterday, I think you were a little off the mark!!

Lorne Calvert also thinks you missed it a tad...

“Brad Wall told the people of this province that his friendly relationship with the Harper Government would mean results for Saskatchewan,” Calvert said. “Since the election, we’ve heard little from Wall on the file. We saw him weakening his stance on equalization and holding a secret meeting with his Conservative friends, which turned into a photo op.”

Calvert noted that while a trust fund for clean coal is a positive development it is a far cry from the $800 million dollars a year, or better, in additional investments and supports that Brad Wall promised to fight for.

“My question for Wall is where is the $800 million worth of roads, bridges and extra programming above what other provinces are getting on a per capita basis that you said you would get for the people of Saskatchewan?” Calvert asked. “Brad Wall said success would be Saskatchewan receiving more than it would under a fair equalization deal. It is clear, by his own definition, that he has failed.

“Brad Wall said he gave up the equalization fight because he could catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, but after this budget it’s voters that are left with the sour taste in their mouths.”

BUDGET EXTENDS AGENDA THAT FAILS WORKING FAMILIES

New Democrats rejected Stephen Harper’s 2008 Conservative budget as a continuation of an agenda that’s failing working families and the middle-class in Canada.

“A budget is where you set priorities,” said NDP Leader Jack Layton. “And this prime minister has again placed corporate tax giveaways ahead of investing in hard-working families.”

With uncertain economic times ahead, the Harper agenda has ensured corporations will be paying less than their fair share for government services, while hard-working Canadians will pick up the additional costs. Under the Harper agenda, revenues from personal income taxes will grow by 12%, while income from corporate profits will decline by 14% due to the massive corporate tax cuts.

“For every one dollar the 2008 Harper budget allocates in new spending, it spends six dollars in corporate tax giveaways,” said Layton. “Yet this budget fails to train a single doctor, make a single prescription drug more affordable or build a single unit of affordable housing.”

“At a time when our health care system is in crisis, this government has now officially abandoned its promise to reduce wait times by allocating no money to the initiative whatsoever,” said Layton.

The NDP noted that the Harper agenda gives profitable corporations multi-year commitments for tax cuts, while aboriginal communities, transit initiatives and research have to get by with temporary commitments and one-offs.

NDP Finance Critic Thomas Mulcair (Outremont) said the Harper budget continues an agenda that picks winners and losers. “The winners today are the banks, the big polluters and the well-off. Meanwhile, hard-working Canadians lose out,” said Mulcair.

“After years of unprecedented federal surpluses, this should have been an era of significant investment where the gap between the rich and the rest was closed,” said Mulcair. “The three Harper budgets, supported by the Bloc and now the Liberals, have turned out to be a tragic lost opportunity.”

Confidence votes begin two days after budget

From the Ottawa Sun:

OTTAWA–Election speculation continues in Ottawa with news that the first vote on the budget will be on Feb. 28, just 48 hours after Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivers it.

"The next cornerstone priority that the government will focus on is Budget 2008, which will be tabled Feb. 26, 2008," Conservative House Leader Peter Van Loan told the Commons.

"The first day of debate on the budget will be Wednesday, Feb. 27 – the day after the budget – and the second day of debate (and the first vote) will be Thursday, Feb. 28," Van Loan said.

The first confidence test will be a vote on a Bloc Québécois sub-amendment to the budget, followed by a confidence vote on a Liberal amendment and on the final budget vote itself.

The government hasn't said when it will schedule those votes.

Budget votes will be watched very closely because they are a matter of confidence. If the Liberals, NDP and Bloc decide they can't support the minority Conservative government's budget, Canadians could be going to the polls as early as April 7.

While it has been reported by party sources that Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion is ready to pull the plug on the government, some veterans are telling him to hold his fire.

"(Dion) has always maintained that he's got to see the budget, for one thing. He's not going to say he is taking the government down on a budget he hasn't seen," said Liberal spokesperson Mark Dunn.

"That would be totally irresponsible.

"After he sees the budget, he is going to have to consult with people," Dunn said, adding the party will hold its regular caucus meeting the day after the budget.

Van Loan said beside the various budget votes, Parliament could be looking at two other confidence tests around that time.

Van Loan announced that debate on a motion to extend Canada's mission in Afghanistan will begin Feb. 25. The Conservatives have made it a confidence vote so it, too, could trigger an election.

"Before the budget, we will continue to work on the common ground that has been built on the Afghanistan mission," Van Loan told MPs.

The Tories refused to say when they will vote on the Afghanistan mission – although they have set the stage for one following two days of debate on Feb. 25 and 26.

Dion is still holding his cards close to his chest regarding the timing of precipitating a possible election.

"I want to say to the Canadian people – I always say the same in public and in private – two things. ... The first thing is that we will choose our time. The second thing is that we need to be ready at any time," he told reporters.

"For the ones (in my party) that insist on the first (part) of my sentence, I insist on the second part."

NDP Leader Jack Layton urged the government to hold the vote on Afghanistan before the one on the budget.

Layton wants to see the Liberals voting alongside the Conservatives so he can wage an election campaign presenting his NDP as the only anti-war national party.

PM makes 'em gag

This ran in the Ottawa Sun yesterday: PM makes 'em gag Harperites muzzle opposition beyond Parliament Hill By GREG WESTON Over at super-Steve's fun emporium, the prime minister and his advisers are merrily passing their days playing whack-a-critic, offing heads of federal agencies who dare to doubt The Conservative Way. It started just after the last election -- first it was out with the pinko-commie law reformers, then the nagging women's advocates, escalating in recent weeks to the federal nuclear regulator and the entire office of the national science adviser. Meanwhile, over at the Canadian Wheat Board, it seems, any day is a beautiful day for an execution. First, the Harperites mowed down board president Adrian Measner, a 34-year-veteran of the board. Last week, the Conservative plow got the board's VP of communications, Deanna Allen, the agency's official spokesperson and frequent public face. The sin of both execs, apparently, was not championing the Harper government's proposed legislation to end the wheat board's monopoly on grain marketing -- so-called Bill C-39 -- a move that the farmers' union and other critics claim would effectively kill the agency altogether. We don't pretend to understand all the minutia of the great grain debate, but even we can comprehend Measner's concern expressed at the time of his firing: "If you aren't free to speak out, what kind of country do we have?" Predictably, Harper's speak-no-evil style of governance is beginning to leach beyond the federal executive suites into the working bureaucracy. A recent memo from the Canadian Grain Commission's director of human resources to rank-and-file public servants, for instance, sent a clear message: In Stephen Harper's wonderful world of open and accountable government, having an independent mind and mouth risks not having a job. Seems one of the major federal public service unions has been encouraging its members at the commission to write to their MPs, opposing Bill C-39 killing federal control of grain sales. A subsequent e-mail from management, approved at the highest levels of the Harper administration, warned in part: "You are free to convey your views to your Member of Parliament, so long as you do not criticize the Government of Canada, or otherwise bring into question your ability to perform your employment duties." Translation: As long as you agree with Harper, by all means write and tell your MP. Otherwise, best not leave your office as a return address on the letter. The muzzle doesn't stop there. Even letters to the editor that may be critical of The Conservative Truth are apparently out. "If you identify yourself as a Canadian Grain Commission employee in a letter to the editor that criticizes government policy relating to (the commission), you could create a perception that your views of government policy are not impartial, and that you may not be able to follow or apply government policy in an impartial manner." Translation: By all means write to the paper, and be sure to check the want ads for your next job opportunity. On the web Finally, for those who think the Internet is the ultimate forum for free speech, here is the Harper government's official position on that subject. "We would like to remind you that inappropriate behaviour by employees on websites, blogs and public fora (newspapers and meetings, etc.) could result in administrative and/or disciplinary action. "We encourage you to consult your manager should you need further clarification and guidance." Translation: Criticize the Harper government's wheat policy, and you're toast.

Firings continue.......

Harper and the Conservatives continue to fire and eliminate anyone who stands in opposition to him. The firing of a top Canadian Wheat Board official late last week is one more example of the Conservative government's heavy-handed attempts to silence its critics.