I'm Getting Worried
Well...It seems Mr. Martin is playing the fear mongering card again and by the polls it might actually work. And the scary part about it is that the noise is coming out of Ontario. Harper has said what he is going to do about these social issues but Martin is putting doubt in the Ontarian's minds.
So lets see how bad a Conservative Government really is. I know it isn't probably a good comparison but for this lets say we compare Alberta's Conservative Government with the federal one. Do not forget that Harper did come from Alberta. Anyway, Alberta has the lowest taxes, reaps billions in surpluses, leads in a lot of ways with health care, has great universities, etc. Life is pretty good here for most people. Now the Conservatives want the give the provinces more of the power that they have and is actually in the Constitution. What might that look like? Say all you want about Quebec but the big difference between Quebec and the other provinces is that they fight for their provincial rights that are in the original Constitution. Simple things like taxes. They actually fall under provincial jurisdiction. Them, as well as the Federal government can collect taxes. But now, we all send our money to Ottawa so they can give us back the money they collected for us, after the federal take of course. Another thing....could you imagine the East Coast being able to have more of the oil revenues from offshore oil reserves? Natural resources are under provincial jurisdiction too.
I know it is too early to panic but darn I'm getting worried that the rhetoric is going to turn the tables. Too bad Canada wasn't one country instead of 5 countries under one rule: The Territories, The West, Ontario, Quebec, The East. Each area is so diverse in thinking that they really are not as one big happy family.
3 comments:
Yes, things are good in Alberta, but that depends on how you define good.
These past years have been good since oil prices have shot up, resulting in a lot of excess money. The govt is smart enough to throw the money in the right places, low taxes, hospitals, schools.
But in other ways, notably environmental issue, Alberta is a bad, bad boy.
Dalban,
You make some good points so let me try to comment on them.
Alberta has reaped a huge windfall in oil revenues. But did you know that natural resources fall under the provincial jurisdiction? That being said, did you know that other provinces also get those oil windfalls? Do the other provinces get to keep the windfalls that they reap? Not all of the provinces do. Here are some excerpts from the Premier of Newfoundland, Danny Williams on Oct. 29, 2004:
MACNEIL: The Supreme Court of Canada decision that said that offshore oil and gas is the territory of the federal government.
WILLIAMS: But you see people fail to understand Alberta acquired their oil and gas lands when they joined Canada - we brought ours in with us. When we came into Canada in 1949, we had the oil and gas it was our offshore obviously so we brought it in. Canada took but then in 1985 Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador reached an agreement whereby we said "OK, we are going to develop this resource, it is obviously commonly held, even though it is owned by Canada, but we are going to jointly manage it." So the Atlantic Accord in 1985 said Newfoundland and Labrador has the right to its royalties. It also stated that it had the right to be the principal beneficiary – a huge statement, but the way it’s been interpreted over the last 20 years is we get 14% ,the feds get 86%. Now you and I know that that doesn't make us principal beneficiary.
Note that the Supreme Court said so...is that the same one the Liberals appointed? Just asking :-)
So you see, other provinces have to deal with the Federal Government to get their oil revenue. Because Alberta at the time was smart (lucky?) enough to get their natural resources, I don;t think they need to be punished. Ask why some of the other provinces don't.
You are right that running a country is different than running a province. My reference was to the Conservative 'parties'. I acknowledged that it wasn't a good comparison in my post. I was simply making the note that most of the rest of Canada thinks that Alberta is just a bunch of rich people sitting around doing nothing, and that isn't true. The Harper government wants to give the provinces control of what they are entitled to control as per the constitution. I guess my point wasn't that clear.
As for the $40Billion in debt,GST, NAFTA, Meech Lake and corruption (ie. air bus)? Is that the same GST that the Liberals ran their whole 1993 campaign on...to scrap the GST? I notice it was still on my receipts these days. NAFTA? It has done more good than bad. The problem with NAFTA right now is that the US doesn't follow the rules. That isn't Canada's fault. Meech Lake? I wasn't for it. Corruption? Isn't that the same Bombardier that the Liberals gave a whole bunch of money last year to fight with that Brazilian plane company? Isn't that the same Bombardier that closed some Canadian plants, in Quebec, and moved the production down to Mexico? Seems all parties like to give money to Bombardier. As for corruption...I don't think the Liberals better talk about that right about now. They don't have much to defend there.
I don't know why you jumped on me about Quebec. I was saying that they are doing things right. You are right that Quebec didn't sign the 1981(?) constitution that PET put in place. But, they are still bound by the 1867 one and that is why they are leading the country in defending their rights. I do wish others would do that too. That is why Harper wants to give the provinces what they are entitled to...or what they have under their jurisdiction in the constitution.
Thanks for your comment. Please feel free to debate some more.
Dalban,
Yours or my opinion of Danny Williams is irrelevant. The point is that ALL the provinces of Canada would be better off if they could reap what they sow. Getting Newfoundland off the federal teat would be the best thing for Canada. I am sure that the easter provinces would benefit greatly if they were allowed to have the same deal that Alberta has with its natural resources. It would also benefit the rest of the provinces because they wouldn't have to send as much, or no transfer payments to the maritime provinces. Its a win-win as far as I can see.
As for transfer payments, Newfoundland is 3rd. Here are the per capita transfers of dollars for 2005-6:
PEI $1,996
New Brunswick $1,793
Newfoundland $1,668
Nova Scotia $1,432
Manitoba $1,432
Quebec $632
BC $139
Saskatchewan $83
If you actually read my post you would have seen that I didn't blame the Liberals for the GST. I blamed them for promising to scrap it and they didn't. Its funny that you blame the Conservatives for bringing it in and then go on to tell me how good it is. The GST was brought in to replace the 13% Manufacturers Tax. People forget that or don't know.
Read my post. I said "It has done more good than bad. The problem with NAFTA right now is that the US doesn't follow the rules. That isn't Canada's fault." That was in reference to the forest industry. Yes the forest industry is getting screwed, but it is because of the US, not Canada. Martin, I am sure has done a lot to try and rectify the situation. As for the many other industries in Canada, there has been more way positives than negatives. Because one area isn't working doesn't mean you abandon it completely. You try to resolve the issues and take action as needed.
How come your website is down?
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