Election Night in Canada?
Unless the NDP's change their mind at the last second and make some sort of deal with the Liberals (again) there will be an non-confidence vote in the House of Commons tomorrow and that means there will be an election in the new year. Perhaps there is a chance that the people of Ontario have had enough of the waste that has been well documented in the past 12 years of power, that they are ready for a change as well. Here, out in the "Redneck West" (thats for you Bravus), we can only hope that there is a change in government. Unfortunately, the election winners are decided when the polls close in Ontario. So basically, the West normally gets to pick the opposition. There still seems to be some hesitation of a new government that we out west don't really understand. Bravus has a post on his blog asking people about the election: Call It There you can see that there is a sense of fear of another party, particularly one that has western roots. I don't really understand that fear because I haven't been the beneficiary of the current government's offerings. I don't even see what the Liberals do to enhance the Ontario people's lives. We certainly can see how they enhance certain Quebec people's lives.
I know Bravus looks more at the social issues than most people I know and that is great. I am not as concerned as much about the social issues that Bravus is concerned with and that is great too. But besides Gay/Lesbian marriage, what social issues would be hurt if there was another government in place? You can't take the Medicare/private health care into consideration because the Liberals are looking at it too and there are already many private health clinics in Canada with most being in Ontario and Quebec. Lowering taxes would be a good thing for the people and it would probably increase spending and drive some of the economy. I'm not sure about the Fist Nations promise of another $8 billion dollars on top of what they already allocate which adds up to approximately $18,000 per native person in Canada, far more than for each person in Canada that is not native. Granted that is a social issue that I think throwing money at is not going to solve the problems.
I think what differentiates Western Canadians from Eastern Canadians stems back to when the west was developed. There wasn't a lot of Government help once people got here and people learnt to do things on their own or else it just wouldn't get done.
I think a government plays an important role for many reasons, but first and foremost is to help the people of the country. The whole country, not just the part that gives them the most votes.
2 comments:
So, what party do you support?
And are you suggesting to reducing funding to the First Nation as well as transfer payments to Quebec?
I am supporting the Progressive Conservative party with Rona Ambrose as my MP.
Reducing funding to First Nations? No. I think the funding is fine, although a bit too lopsided. I think a look of what this money does for First Nations would be in order before throwing more money at a problem. I wouldn't mind finding out what the money does now. I have read that there is a lot of money given that is not accountable. If there is a requirement for more then great. But don't just throw money without tweaking the funding that is going there now.
Quebec is a so-called have-not province. In fact I think there is only 2 or 3 that are considered have provinces. I'm not sure if Saskatchewan is still one but they were recently but were close to losing that status. Yes...Saskatchewan!! :-) Anyway, it seems odd to me that of the 10 provinces only 2 or 3 are have provinces. Why is that? What is the basis for inclusion in the have-not club? Why is Quebec a have-not province? They currently do get transfers but I don't know how much. Cibby, do you know? David said you lived there for some time so maybe you could share that with me.
Another note about transfer payments...the Atlantic provinces could actually become have provinces if the federal government would allow them to collect the royalties from the offshore oil. Could you imagine the growth of those provinces if they could get off the federal teat? I think it would be more beneficial on a national level if all areas of the country could prosper, not just one. However, that being said I still don't think it is right to take away from the part that is doing well and hand out to the parts that are not. Transfer payments, if warranted are OK. But taking more just to take from the rich and give to the poor, no. Again, just throwing money at a problem is not going to solve the problem. Something else should be done to help the have-not provinces to become have provinces. Give a man a fish and it feeds him for a day. Teach him how to fish and it feeds him for life.
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