Friday, November 02, 2007

Ontario Post-Election Blues

Various voices of discontent across the province:

Christina Blizzard - A stain on our ballot boxes. Christina highlights some voting issues that have bubbled to the surface. Some First Nations communities were without ballot boxes, and other horror stories...


The Sun also features a North Bay Nugget editorial criticizing Dalton's pick for Minister of Natural Resources - Can Cansfield do the job?:

The largest forests in Donna Cansfield's urban Toronto riding are two of the ritziest, most exclusive golf courses in the city, which makes her a poor choice to lead the province's Ministry of Natural Resources.

Brilliant choice, Dalton.



Sign of things to come - Court decision could mean huge windfall for First Nations. Prepare to shell out even though Hallowe'en is over.


3% Hydro Hike sought
. And would you like taxes with that?


Globe - Strike at Sarnia border crossing could create traffic chaos.

National Post - Ontario is bad for business:

...Unfortunately the road isn't equally smooth for everybody, and the reduction in the federal take will only tend to highlight the startling differences between provinces when it comes to corporate tax policy. And one is sticking out like a sore thumb more than ever -- Ontario, which now imposes the highest effective tax burden on corporations of any province and has done less than most to program for future reductions...

( . . . )

...As things stand, we take well over twice as much on every dollar of return on capital (36.6%) as does Sweden (17.5%).

The Conservative government in Ottawa is doing its best to change this, as did the prior Liberal government when the problem became too big to ignore, circa 2003. Ontario hasn't, by and large, although it is slowly phasing out its direct tax on capital (even as provinces like Saskatchewan and New Brunswick simply abandon theirs). Its government seems to prefer to engage in increasingly strident pleas for federal assistance, with its municipal offspring tugging at its hem and joining in the chorus. Meanwhile, it lags behind the other provinces in broad measures of capital reinvestment, and the headlines continue to bring troubling reminders...

Get ready for it Canada! Four more years of Dalton and his socialist union friends demanding your tax-dollars.

Bad news for Brampton - Daimnation!

Star - Diabetes a huge problem for Ontario's poor.


Ian Urquhart thinks McGuinty blew it - Mini-budget a wasted opportunity.


Connie Woodchuck tells us that the black-market for cigarettes shows no sign of going away - Why I cough up cash for black-market smokes:

...Because nobody in government wants to mess with the natives. Not at Caledonia. Not at Oka. And not at my little local reserve. And really, in my heart of hearts, I know this is simply not right.

We're all expected to obey the laws of the land -- but not when it comes to anything involving aboriginals. They might get mad.

Youth puffing black-market smokes
- Globe.

Newmarket, Aurora schools top list for contraband smokes: survey.


Hey, other than all that, things are just peachy!



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13 comments:

John M Reynolds said...

You seem to have missed 12,000 Chrysler jobs lost.

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Well, it's kind of embedded in one of the links, but it does deserve a line of its own. Anything else I missed?

Joanne (True Blue) said...

There. Damian covered the Chrysler story. I added a link.

Thanks, John.

Anonymous said...

The front page of today's Toronto Sun print edition said it all. They occasionally print the front page with an ad covering the right hand half of the page. Then page 2 has the full front page (but not in colour).

Today's front page: on the left is what you see on their site

On the right hand half is a half page ad for Kia Sonata!

There are no Kia's made here, or in North America as far as I know.

For every car we ship to Korea, 400 are shipped here. We need a real free trade deal with Korea. It seems the federal Liberals were calling for this in August, but it would seem our federal government is more interested in playing games.

Anonymous said...

Maybe the Fibs are believing their own nanny-state propaganda. Big mistake, you know that the dealers don't use the stuff themselves, right?

By refusing to take steps to create a business-friendly environment which leads to a better economy, more jobs, etc and then begging for help from the more competent Feds as well as their more prudent relatives, they are personifying the weak, dependent citizen for whom they design their half-baked 'programs'.

Funny, that. The four more years isn't funny but that is...

Anonymous said...

So let's dispense with the meaningless questions about what political party you support.

What kind of car do you drive, caveat? Where was it made?

Anonymous said...

Ontario doesn't need those evil corporations, we're a Union only province now!

Unions will take care of all the unemployed, no problem.

Möbius said...

What kind of car do you drive, caveat? Where was it made?

My last 4 cars were Chevy, Chevy, Ford, Honda.

My local GM dealer drove a Rolls Royce. Hmmm.....

Möbius said...

On the right hand half is a half page ad for Kia Sonata!

The Sonata is a Hyundai. Still Korean.

People are tending to buy cars that are value for the dollar.

Chrysler is building large cars in a high gas-price market. The Challenger, such a nice looking car, should do well when it's introduced.

Möbius said...

Oh Lord, we're in trouble now. Cherniak has discovered "Jam Scam"!

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Jam Scam - Hilarious! Some of the comments are brilliant. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Lib Supporter,

I started driving a bit late, at 38, because I'd always lived in mid- and downtown Toronto, so obviously didn't need a car.

My first car was a $500 1980 Chevy Malibu, piece of crap but it had that cool slant 6 engine.

Then, I had a Ford Probe, Mazda made in the US. My Dad gave it to me when he moved to CA. Expensive to fix, hard to get parts but a fun car to drive and I could carry a lot of stuff in it.

Currently, I'm driving a '95 Toyota Camry V6 wagon, which I believe was made in Ontario. The car is third-hand, I bought it in 2002 - family thing.

My dream car is a Corvette but I can't justify spending that much money on a car. I'm liking the Pontiac Solstice but want to wait to see how they hold up.

If the US automakers could design engines the way Toyota and Honda do, and if they could anticipate the market as well as the Japanese do and give people what they actually want, they'd sell a lot more cars.

Is there anything else you'd like to know? My life is an open book, buddy!

Unknown said...

Lib supporter is a typically uniformed, ignorant liberal. Free trade with Korea?! Do you honestly think there is pent up demand for a Ford Focus in Korea. All new investment in auto manufactuing in North America is in the southern states, with right to work laws, and low corporate taxes. The only exception is Toyota in Woodstock. Also non union. Dalton McGuinty's puppet masters (Buzz, teachers, OPSU) have sold their workers down the river for socialist ideology, a proven failure everywhere in the world.