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Tingkai
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To find the Northwest Passage
Aug 2001
time: 13:36
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quote:
Originally posted by notyoueither
Into this mix, you site one of the lowest tax jurisdictions in Canada, and suggest that everything would be hunky-dory if we started jacking tax rates while everyone else we compete against is lowering theirs.
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Quebec has a much lower corporate tax rate (8.9%)compared to Alberta (12.5% general).
Which economy is doing better?
Utah has a lower tax rate than California. Are all businesses leaving California?
Businesses always scream that the sky will fall if we raise the corporate tax rate. But we know it doesn't happen.
Where are some of the most expensive places to do business: New York, London, Hong Kong. All three are major international business cities.
Corporate tax rates have been cut in the past decade. Are we that better off. No.
The fact is that we can raise corporate taxes and still have a healthy economy.
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Wezil
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Ontario, Canada
Nov 1999
time: 02:06
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Did anyone else see this?
quote:
Sat, May 29, 2004
Clark, McLellan: They had it made
Greg Weston learns of a secret plot by the Tories and Liberals to rig key ridings in 2000 election
By Greg Weston
JUST WHEN it seemed federal politics couldn't get any sleazier, Sun Media has learned that a group of powerful Tory and Liberal backroom operatives secretly conspired to bolster the Grit national campaign and skew the results in a number of ridings in the last federal election. Two weeks before Jean Chretien called the country to the polls in October 2000, reliable sources say, a small group of top Tory officials cut a secret deal to help Chretien's ultimately successful national campaign for a third majority government.
In return, the Liberals agreed to throw the vote in the Calgary Centre riding of then Tory leader Joe Clark.
In what may have been a series of similar deals, sources say the Tories also agreed to "stand down" to help Liberal Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan hang on to her Edmonton seat, which she won by only 733 votes.
Sources refuse to divulge details of what, exactly, the Tories agreed to do for the Liberals. One would say only that the deal "without question, helped them (the Liberals) nationally.
'GOT WHAT THEY WANTED'
"They got what they wanted ... They were able to do some things right away (in the campaign) that they otherwise couldn't have done. The benefit to them was far beyond Calgary. The election was effectively over after the first week."
If a backroom pact got McLellan elected in 2000, she is in dire trouble this time around as Liberal popularity tanks in Alberta.
With the Liberals and Tories splitting much the same vote in 2000, all the national PC organization had to do to help McLellan was nothing.
A strong Conservative candidate supported by the national party could well have stripped away the 734 Liberal votes from McLellan that would have given the riding to the Canadian Alliance candidate, Betty Unger.
Instead, the Tories acclaimed Rory Koopermans to run, a then 25-year-old political neophyte with almost no money or organization.
'THAT'S JUST TERRIBLE'
Koopermans says he knew nothing of any backroom deal, and that he campaigned hard, even though he had "absolutely no chance" of winning and got barely 6% of the votes cast.
But he does admit he got no financial or organizational help from the national party, and not even an encouraging phone call from the Tory leadership.
"If that happened," Koopermans said of the deal, "that's just terrible. It's wrong."
A reliable source with direct knowledge of the arrangement affecting Clark's riding and the Liberal national campaign said "very, very few people knew of this -- like fewer than the fingers on my one hand."
The senior officials involved in the deal deliberately told neither Clark nor McLellan anything about it, ensuring the politicians could not be blamed if the story leaked into the media.
The source would not divulge specifics of the deal, only that it was "fairly straightforward and it was honoured on both sides."
Clark had entered the campaign with abysmal polling numbers pointing to an almost certain defeat.
Instead, the former Tory leader won by 4,304 votes after a bizarre campaign in which a group called "Liberals for Clark" suddenly popped up from nowhere to back him.
With a week to go in the campaign, an Ipsos-Reid poll showed former Liberal supporters were stampeding to Clark. Grit candidate Joanne Levy won only 17% of the vote on election day.
Levy vigorously denies she was part of any plot to throw the vote, and says she knew little of the mysterious group of "Liberals" who came to the Tory leader's rescue.
It is impossible to say how much all these backroom deals changed the outcome of the election. Perhaps McLellan, Clark and dozens of other candidates had their fates sealed by a backroom handshake two weeks before the election even started.
We will never know. |
Does explain a few things....
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Flinx
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Toronto, ON CANADA
Nov 2001
time: 00:36
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Why I consider the Sun article to be bullshit:
We are told: A reliable source with direct knowledge of the arrangement affecting Clark's riding and the Liberal national campaign said "very, very few people knew of this -- like fewer than the fingers on my one hand." Assuming no deformities or lost digits, that is fewer than 5 i.e. 4 or less. The senior officials involved in the deal deliberately told neither Clark nor McLellan anything about it, and Koopermans says he knew nothing of any backroom deal, so none of the candidates are included in the 4 or less people involved in the backroom conspiracy.
We are told that: With the Liberals and Tories splitting much the same vote in 2000, all the national PC organization had to do to help McLellan was nothing. This is quite true. We are also told that the PCs actually did do nothing in Edmonton West: [Koopermans] admit[s] he got no financial or organizational help from the national party, and not even an encouraging phone call from the Tory leadership. The Sun article implies that this proves the PCs involvement in the backroom conspiracy. However, in the absence of the alleged deal would the PCs have done anything differently? In 1997 they received 2919 votes or 7.1%. There was no reason to think they could do any better in 2000, and Koopermans admitted that he had "absolutely no chance" of winning; he received 3009 votes or 6.1%. Why would the PCs who were still in debt from the 1993 election, and were having trouble fundraising nationally, put any money or effort into this riding? In Edmonton West, just like in over 250 other ridings across Canada where the PCs had no chance in hell of winning, the PCs did nothing.
Over in Calgary Centre, Joe Clark is trailing badly in the polls when a group called "Liberals for Clark" suddenly popped up from nowhere to back him. Even the Liberal candidate says she knew little of the mysterious group of "Liberals" who came to the Tory leader's rescue the Sun points out; note that it is the Sun who call the group mysterious not Ms. Levy. The Sun also calls the campaign in Calgary Centre bizarre and implies that Joe Clark won because of some fix arranged by the 4 or less people involved in the backroom conspiracy. The 1997 results were - Reform: 19,936/40.1%, Liberal: 16,231/32.6%, PC: 9,230/18.6%, NDP: 3,011/1.8%. The 2000 results were - PC: 26,358/46.0%, Alliance: 22 054/38.5%, Liberal: 5,630/9.8%, NDP: 1,604/2.8%. The Sun article is saying that the group of 4 or less people involved in the backroom conspiracy, secretly cause the formation of "Liberals for Clark" which then manipulated over 10,000 Liberals to unwittingly vote for Joe Clark. The Sun would like us to believe that had it not been for the clandestine actions of this group of 4 or less people, and their series of similar deals the outcome of the election would have been very different.
Greg Weston and the Sun have let off a cheap smoke bomb and are running down the street yelling fire.
Please, if you are going to spin a tale, at least make it slightly believable.
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cinch
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Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Jul 2002
time: 22:36
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quote:
Originally posted by notyoueither
You have to remember that the people to beat in those ridings were CA candidates. |
Aye, that's the key, ain't it?
So... have to say, this 'scandal', if it even happened, doesn't bother me too much.
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cinch
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Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Jul 2002
time: 22:36
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Old Squinty Layton panders for Franco-Votes:
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NDP's Layton would repeal federal Clarity Act
CTV.ca News Staff
NDP leader Jack Layton reopened the unity debate Friday by promising to repeal the federal Clarity Act and recognize a declaration of Quebec independence if sovereigntists win a referendum.
"I believe it has not been helpful in the promotion of Canadian unity." he told supporters in New Mantane, Quebec. "It was like bringing the constitution here without Quebec's support."
Quebec never signed the Constitution deal in 1982. Two subsequent rounds of constitutional reform -- Meech Lake in 1987-1990 and Charlottetown in 1991-92 -- both failed.
In 1995, the separatists came within 50,000 votes of winning a sovereignty referendum on a question that many saw as confusing.
The NDP party is hoping the olive branch will boost the NDP's popularity in Quebec. The last time the NDP won a byelection in the province was 1990. In the 2000 federal election, the NDP captured only 1.8 per cent of the vote.
The Clarity Act stipulates that any future Quebec sovereignty referendum must be based on a clear question, and that a vote for sovereignty requires a clear majority. It also gives Ottawa a decisive say on whether both conditions are met.
The NDP's stance is a change. When the Clarity Act was passed in 2000, the NDP stood behind the law. NDP House Leader Bill Blaikie praised it as one of former prime minister Jean Chretien's main legislative achievements.
Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe said the NDP's position needs some clarification, and accused Layton of playing with left-leaning separatists in the province. "They have to get it straight," Duceppe told CTV News. "They say one thing in Quebec, and another in Toronto."
To rebuke the idea that Layton was courting the separatist vote, Layton said all NDP candidates signed a declaration supporting the party platform, including the recognition of Quebec as a nation within Canada.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNe...b=SpecialEvent7
**********************************
Yeah, I sure don't agree with this.
My vote is leaning ever more towards McLellan (not that I was ever that close to voting for... whoever the NDP candidate is in my riding).
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cinch
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Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Jul 2002
time: 22:36
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quote:
Originally posted by cinch
To rebuke the idea that Layton was courting the separatist vote, Layton said all NDP candidates signed a declaration supporting the party platform, including the recognition of Quebec as a nation within Canada.
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What Layton needs to realise is this: one can recognise Quebec's position as a nation within confederation while still believing in the idea that a referendum must present a clear and precise question to the voters.
Says I.
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29-05-2004 11:14
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