2019 an election year/Federal

[Merry]

Nobody disliked Stephen Harper more than I did, and I was very glad to see the back of him.

But that said, he's no longer PM and hasn't been for several years. He's not even in politics anymore.

This thread is about THIS election, and THIS Government's record, so why on earth do some folks keep trying to resurrect the ghost of Stephen Harper?

It's not Harper's performance that's should be judged in this upcoming election, but Justin Trudeau's. And as my opinion of Trudeau's record is a great big fail, I will be casting my future vote accordingly.

Although I agree with hobbyguy that there are some of the current Government's ministers who appear quite competent, as long as Trudeau is at the helm I can't, in all good conscience, give the Liberal Party my vote. Therefore I will be voting Conservative, because while Scheer may not be a perfect choice, IMO he is the best choice available to represent our country, both at home and abroad.

[jimmy4321]

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[hobbyguy]

Totally agree. Complete waste of money never to be seen again.

So why hasn't it been scrapped under the Egghead gov't of present?

FYI - because the boneheads in the previous Conservative disabled the old system before properly testing the new one. They even laid off the staff. This was part of Harper chainsawing the budget in a vain attempt to demonstrate some sort o f credibility to the big lie that CONservatives are fiscally responsible. Harper and crew also chose to center the system around Miramichi as compensation for scrapping the long gun registry (which had been administered there). Problem with that politically motivated idea is that payroll is a fairly complex and specialized field. The Conservatives then did not properly train the employees, and the whole thing went gong show.

The original software contract was $5.7 million - but ballooned to $185 million - and then it went all sideways and now we are looking at $2.2 billion before it is properly fixed.

You can't have no system. It LOOKS more expensive to parallel systems, and fully test, but in the long run it is far cheaper.

This is not an uncommon problem, I have seen it in private companies - but not to this extent.

One thing I learned the hard way in managing operations in private business: never trust a software vendor to deliver on time or anywhere near budget. I have to question what bright spark thought that a $5.7 million cost was even going to be remotely close...

[floppi]

This thread might be about the 2019 election but the reason JT and Liberals got in was because the damage Harper and the Conservatives did to the Canadian people while they were in power. Right now I don't see any difference in Harper's conservatives and Scheer's. Although I'm not even sure what Scheer and the Conservatives stand for as their policy seems to center around criticizing JT's policies. So I'm assuming Scheer is a Harper mini-me and therefore will get the same bs we got from Harper's government. So I will definitely be voting for JT and the Liberals come November.

[hobbyguy]

I laugh at CONservative partisans trying to say that they could win any election based on their chainsaw to the budget nonsense.

The biggest laugh is stuff and nonsense that CONservative partisans are trying to peddle about equalization. https://www.thestar.com/edmonton/2018/06/24/is-alberta-really-getting-shafted-on-equalization-payments-we-talked-to-an-expert.html

"The last time the fiscal federalism system was reworked was under then-prime minister Stephen Harper, while Kenney served in cabinet. As part of that reshuffling, Alberta was granted an extra $1 billion in annual healthcare funding.

“I understand the politics of slagging the federal government and other provinces when it comes to equalization. It has a long, storied history in Alberta,” Wesley said.

“When Alberta says they want to re-examine and reopen discussions about equalization, don’t be surprised when the have-less provinces say, ‘Yeah, let’s reopen the discussions about why you receive the extra billion dollars in healthcare funding.’”

That said, there is no disputing Albertans send more money to Ottawa than our provincial government gets back in federal transfers, programs and services."

Yup, the system we are using to fulfill the constitutional equalization requirement was set up by that uber liberal spendthrift Stephen Harper. Yessirree, we can just ax $13 billion in allowances to Quebec to help balance the budget and yessirree it is a Liberal "spendthrift thingy" - NOT!

IF the CONservative partisans that tout such nonsense understood the constitution of Canada they would know that equalization has been part of the Canadian constitution since 1867.

IF the equalization deal is so bad, why did the CONservatives not go for a constitutional change during the bungle decade??? Or why didn't they negotiate a "better" deal during the bungle decade?? We are operating the equalization under the deal that Stephen Harper and the CONservatives set up!

So who is at fault for this CONservative partisan perceived bad deal (it isn't really - but never mind the facts)?? It is the CONservative party!!

So now CONservative partisan fact free zone operatives: what are you going to do? What will little Andy actually do??

As usual with these things, the CONservative party is all huff and no puff!

[The Green Barbarian]

This thread might be about the 2019 election but the reason JT and Liberals got in was because the damage Harper and the Conservatives did to the Canadian people while they were in power.

Blah blah blah. Even four years later, the lies and propaganda from the Liberals keep flowing. Even if JT can pull off another win (blech) I predict in 2022 the brain-washed sheep will still be going on about Harper. It just never ends with this continual flow of BS.

Take responsibility for the ineptness and stupidity of the bumbling Liberals and Hair n Sox. It's been a total disgrace, that's had nothing to do with the previous government. Did Liberal PM William Lyon McKenzie King blame Richard Bennett, the previous Conservative PM, for his rabid anti-Semitism? No! He blamed Quebec! Take a lesson from McKenzie King!

So I'm assuming Scheer is a Harper mini-me

Keep doing that. It's perfect!

[hobbyguy]

So here's your challenge GB - what $25 billion in programs are you going to cut?

Easy. Welfare to the able-bodied. Boom!!

Transfer payments to provinces like Quebec that should be self-sufficient. Boom!

Support (not all, just a few hundred million) for the CBC - Boom!!!

Any funding for Aboriginal reserves that refuse to be held accountable - Boom!

Any and all subsidies to the wind and solar industries - Boom!

Any funding whatsoever to anyone studying the man-made climate change myth. - Boom!

I'd also raise the GST back to 7%. But that's just me.

And no, don't pick about for your favorite right wing stuff.

You don't know me well enough to know what my "favorites" are and I don't respect you enough to rely on your definition of what constitutes "right wing stuff". This just sounds like an insanely stupid comment to me.

Give us a list that adds up to $25 billion and no less.

Easy. I can keep going too.

Then see if you can gt Scheer to run on that instead of smoke and mirrors nonsense.

The bunch of boobs he is running against are the ultimate definition of "smoke and mirrors nonsense" so he shouldn't have much of a problem.

Good luck! Scheer would get about 7% of the vote if he did that. So we will get the total nonsense about "fiscal conservatism" and "summit fer nuttin" CONservative fluffery and rubbish.

No, you will get this - CUT SPENDING YOU IDIOTIC DRUNKEN SAILOR LIBERAL BOOBS!! That's it.

Ummm...

1. Raising the GST back to 7%? Yup, some bonehead CONservative (Harper) cut it to buy votes, and not one single CONservative pol will ever have the courage to reverse Harper's egregious error. Interestingly, that 2% increase you want would in fact wipe out a major chunk of the deficit. The problem with such changes that lower taxes is that they get baked into the economy, and become very difficult to reverse, especially as the CONservatives pander to the ATW crowd. I would point out that raising taxes at the same time as we are embarked on normalizing interest rates could very easily tip the economy into recession, so timing is critical. I would suggest that at this time, increasing the GST is a non starter, and it certainly would lead the CONservatives to about 40 seats as the ATWs desert to the PPC.

2. Welfare is NOT paid out by the federal government. Welfare and its rules are determined by the provinces and territories and come out of their budgets. So that "boom" is a bust.

3. Equalization is enshrined in the constitution (and has been since confederation). The current equalization formula is that which Stephen Harper and the CONservatives set up, and it will be continued through to 2024... and perhaps beyond. So that "boom" is a bust.

4. The duties of the government toward FNs is part of our constitution. And so it should be. It is not, and should not be, subject to political whim. So that "boom" is a bust.

5. Ending wind and solar subsidies. Yup, I will go along with that - put the money into safe nuclear instead. Unfortunately, that's only about $400 million per year including R&D incentives. (The lion's share of wind and solar subsidies are a provincial matter) A small dent in the deficit, not a "boom".

6. CBC. Well, I personally don't agree with that idea, but I know it plays well on the far right. So ok, we'll grant you cutting funding to the CBC. BUT, will the CONservatives make shutting down the CBC as party platform plank? It would be extremely unpopular - especially in rural smaller community parts of the country where the CBC is the primary source for local news etc. and provides a lot of jobs. But anyways, assuming little Andy and the CONservatives have the guts to make it a plank for the election (they won't, not even Harper had the arrogance to shut down the CBC), that's about 380 million per year - less the hit for EI etc. that it would cause.

7. Funding for climate science is pretty small potatoes. Maybe what? $40-50 million per year.

So you are up $830 million in cuts, or the non starter GST increase.

Still a loooong way from solving the deficit unless you can convince Andrew that a tax increase wins him the election.

Not so easy is it?

[Vacancyrate]

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[GrooveTunes]

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[The Green Barbarian]

Ummm...

1. Raising the GST back to 7%? Yup, some bonehead CONservative (Harper) cut it to buy votes,

Cutting out the blather that I'm not going to bother to read, I will agree that it was a bonehead move to cut the GST, just like it was a bonehead move by Chretien to say that he was going to cut the GST completely, and just like JT regarding electoral reform, totally backed away from his promise like a coward after being elected. Mulroney put in the GST, which was a good move in my view, and it should have stayed at 7%. That's $15 billion more in government revenue that we don't have now on an annual basis. I am actually surprised that the Liberals haven't raised it again. Maybe next term, if Canadians are dumb enough to give these weiners another majority.

But just raising the GST isn't enough. That $15 billion wouldn't go to the debt or deficit, Morneau and his gang would instead just continue to blow it out the door on lunacy. Giving drunken sailors more money to spend doesn't cure them of their bad habits.

2. Welfare is NOT paid out by the federal government. Welfare and its rules are determined by the provinces and territories and come out of their budgets. So that "boom" is a bust.

But if welfare spending was reduced, that would mean provincials governments would need fewer transfer payments. Especially Quebec, the welfare capital. But you knew that. So stick your bust up your boom.

3. Equalization is enshrined in the constitution (and has been since confederation). The current equalization formula is that which Stephen Harper and the CONservatives set up, and it will be continued through to 2024... and perhaps beyond. So that "boom" is a bust.

This is just nonsensical blather. Tell the provinces the cupboard is dry, and that they have to cut spending too. This isn't rocket science. So no, this "boom" is a BOOM

4. The duties of the government toward FNs is part of our constitution. And so it should be. It is not, and should not be, subject to political whim. So that "boom" is a bust.

Either you didn't bother to read what I wrote, or you don't possess the faculties to understand what I wrote. I am not saying anything about not funding FN's. It is idiotic to even suggest I would say that. Go back and read it again. Your response was a BUST.

5. Ending wind and solar subsidies. Yup, I will go along with that - put the money into safe nuclear instead. Unfortunately, that's only about $400 million per year including R&D incentives. (The lion's share of wind and solar subsidies are a provincial matter) A small dent in the deficit, not a "boom".

Who knows what the subsidies are. You sure don't. You just pulled that number right out of your Liberal-loving rectum. BOOM

6. CBC. Well, I personally don't agree with that idea,

Blah blah blah

7. Funding for climate science is pretty small potatoes. Maybe what? $40-50 million per year.

No idea. They've been "unmuzzled" now for how long? And still no big news from this gang. Once again it appears that you are just pulling numbers out of your bum.

So you are up $830 million in cuts, or the non starter GST increase.

I am at $830 million? Really? That's the number your rectum has spit out eh?

Still a loooong way from solving the deficit unless you can convince Andrew that a tax increase wins him the election.

Not so easy is it?

This is just such a silly statement, and easily one of the dumber conversations we've ever had, based on one of the dumbest precedents I've ever seen presented. If you honestly are trying to state your case that the Liberals have no choice but to spend to the levels they are without cutting anything, in a supposed BOOMING economy (thank you for that Stephen Harper) then there is never going to be any hope of our government ever being back at level of spending commensurate with their revenue intake, and we will be in perpetual free-fall as a country, on our way to being the next Venezuela. That's just poppy-cock and apologist crap by blinded partisan sheep.

without access to all of the information (are we muzzled???) we have no ability to say what should and shouldn't be cut. But if Tommy Douglas were in charge right now, you can bet that there would be massive cuts. He never ran a deficit, and he was a socialist. He'd be considered right of Jason Kenny in this day and age. There is always room for cuts. Always. Where should they be? Well that just requires some guts. And we all know, the gutless wonders we have running the country right now are never going to do it. Drunken sailor spending until we can kick them out.

[floppi]

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[Omnitheo]

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[jimmy4321]

Bernier won't touch abortion and gender stuff, Scheer better start one upping him lol

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2019/01/1 ... a-homepage

[Pete Podoski]

Scott Brison resigns

The Canadian Press - Jan 10, 2019


Scott Brison is resigning from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet after deciding he won't run for re-election this fall. After 22 years representing the Nova Scotia riding of Kings-Hants, Brison says he's ready for a change and looking forward to spending more time with his four-year-old twins.


https://www.castanet.net/news/Canada/24 ... on-resigns

Ah, so now it's coming out why Brison is abruptly removing himself from Trudeau's re-election bid.

Brison is set to be involved in an ugly court battle which will shed light on the Liberals' malfeasance.

And in August, right at the start of the election campaign.

Coincidence that he's bailing out, even after he confirmed just recently to Trudeau that he would be staying? Methinks not.

The Norman case casts a long shadow over Scott Brison's retirement

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau canvassed his team last summer asking who was sticking around to fight the upcoming election, according to multiple Liberal sources. At the time, Brison's name was on that list of those who were staying.

Since then, however, there's been a steady drip of politically toxic allegations emerging from the case against Norman, the former vice chief of the defence staff charged with one count of breach of trust and accused by the Crown of leaking cabinet secrets.

His defence team has sought to drag Brison in because he was instrumental in the leak-prone cabinet meeting at the heart of the case. Norman is accused of leaking to the media the Liberal government's decision at that meeting to put a plan to lease a supply ship for the navy on hold.

Norman's lawyers alleged he tried to torpedo that $668 million leasing contract with the Davie shipyard in Levis, Que. on behalf of rival Irving Shipbuilding in his home province of Nova Scotia.

Those rumours persisted throughout the fall up to the five-day hearing in mid-December where Norman's lawyers argued with the Crown and federal lawyers about the disclosure of documents, including Brison's emails related to the shipbuilding deal.

The federal government is in process of handing over thousands of pages of documents. A judge will determine if they are relevant to the case.

On Dec. 14, it was revealed that Brison and former defence minister Peter MacKay were on the Crown's list of potential witnesses for the trial, slated to begin in August — just as Canadian are getting ready to go to the polls.

The timing could be a coincidence — but just days later, Brison broke the news to his boss.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/brison ... -1.4974115

Trudeau smirking as he lies. The uhhs and ummms turned up to 10. Terrible.

http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1423705155523/

[Catsumi]

^^^^

Apparently the Titanic meme is in perfect lockstep with this story. Haha

Just add a few million bucks more in legal fees to the existing 668 million contract.

Waste more of taxpayer money. Political football with a hefty price tag attached.