Iggy LIES about his responsiblity for the HST

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff was caught lying to reporters this weekend in B.C., when he tried to imply that the Federal Liberals were not responsible for the looming HST.

From the Metro News Vancouver... "When asked, Ignatieff said the federal Liberals are not to blame for the looming harmonized sales tax."

Perhaps someone has forgotten about this...

The Government remains committed to working with provinces that still have RSTs to identify and evaluate potential areas where changes to the current framework for federal-provincial harmonization could facilitate provincial movement towards the creation of a fully modernized and efficient consumption tax system in Canada.

Where is that from, you may ask? Well, you see, it's from Page 262 of the 2009 Federal Budget... which Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff voted IN FAVOUR of on February 3, 2009. (You might recall that well publicized vote, it was the first major rebellion within the Liberal Party after he became Leader, where six of his Newfoundland MP's rebelled and voted against it)

So you can see quite clearly, Michael Ignatieff has either completely forgotten his own voting record, or he deliberately lied to reporters this weekend in BC in an effort to try and cover his own political hide.

Forgive me if I'm wrong Mr. Ignatieff, but I don't think that voters in B.C. are going to appreciate being lied to.

Liberals give Harper a HUGE opening with 10%ers

So, the Liberals want to ban 10%ers, eh? I say we amend the motion.

Here's their version:

That, in the opinion of this House, the government should show leadership in reducing government waste by rolling-back its own expenditures on massive amounts of partisan, taxpayer-paid government advertising, ministerial use of government aircraft, the hiring of external “consultants”, and the size of the Cabinet, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Privy Council Office, which together could represent a saving to taxpayers of more than a billion dollars; and to show its own leadership in this regard, the House directs its Board of Internal Economy to take all necessary steps to end immediately the wasteful practice of Members sending mass mailings, known as “ten-percenters”, into ridings other than their own, which could represent another saving to taxpayers of more than $10 million.

AND NOW OUR AMENDMENT:

In addition, this House is also of the opinion that a further savings of $27 million dollars can be immediately realized through the elimination of the per-vote taxpayer funded political subsidy received by all parties. Therefore, this House also directs its Board of Internal Economy to take all necessary steps to end immediately the wasteful and unnecessary subsidy.

h/t for the idea goes to Hat Rocks Cave.

Prorogue EXTENDED by Ignatieff for 29 MP's

In perhaps the most ironic political twist of the year, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff (despite his demands that MP's be allowed back in the House to "get back to work" during the prorogue) has ORDERED 29 of his Liberal MP's to SKIP WORK INSTEAD, and extend their prorogation by skipping out on any Budget related votes.

UPDATE: Wow, looks like Iffy himself is gonna be skipping out for a few days... remind me again why he wanted back into the House so badly?

Ironic, since he said back when he took over (literally) the Party from Stephane Dion, stating that the Liberals were "done sitting on our hands". (h/t to Alberta Advark for finding this video, see the 1:08 mark) Looks like he's taken a page from the "Not a Leader" playbook, and is ordering 29 of his MP's to sit on their hands by NOT showing up for work.

Even more interesting though, since he had quite the OPPOSITE opinions about "getting to work" on videos like this one here, where he tells reporters at the 0:40 mark, "What I like doing right now is opening the doors of Parliament, continuing to work even if other parties aren't, do our job one step at a time"


Or how about this one, where he says at the 1:59 mark, "and you're here to say, to everyone who has the good fortune to work up there, GET BACK TO WORK!"


Now that he's decided to EXTEND the Prorogue for 29 of his MP's, what's he got to say for himself now?

You might also find the anti-prorogue statments of some of those 29 MP's quite enlightening, now that they've done a 180 degree about face when it comes to "showing up for work", like they accused the Conservatives of not doing back in January.

Iffy channels Dion through RMR - "We're STILL backing down... and STILL loving it!"

Rick Mercer... his comedy is timeless. Either that, or the Liberals are just as pathetic under their new leader as they were their old one!

Seriously, listen to Rick's speech at the podium...


Now a comparison and contrast between Rick's speech and Iffy's comments yesterday...

Iffy - "This is not a budget that looks ahead to the challenges of our times – and it’s not a budget we can support."

Rick - "The new Conservative Budget is wrong for the economy. It is wrong for Canada. And that is why we as Liberals are left with no choice... BUT TO LET IT PASS!"

Iffy - "We will vote against it, but we’re not going to cause an election. Since Canadians don’t want an election and it’s not in the national interest, we’ll register our opposition responsibly."

Rick - "Hey, if we shoot down this Budget, there's an election... AND WE CAN'T WIN AN ELECTION. We're not even CLOSE to being able to WIN AN ELECTION. That's why we're backing down... AND LOVING IT!"

Man, every single line of the song is as relevant today as it was two years ago! Even the line that goes, "No one can understand our leader speak"!!! Seriously, does anyone understand a thing that comes out of Iffy's (aka - the Arrogant Minded Professor) mouth?

h/t to Wilson for bringing this video back from days gone by.

Is there a glimmer of hope dawning for 2010?

To all the "nervous nellies" who've been complaining that the Harper Tories aren't "conservative" enough for you... looks like a Happy New Year may be in store after all!

Flaherty's deficit plan: Take an axe and cut deep
'I've done it before,' in Harris-era Ontario
Published On Wed Dec 23 2009

OTTAWA–Faced with the largest federal deficit in history, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says he will start looking for programs to axe and government assets to sell off as soon as the economy recovers.

"It's necessary for restraint to happen" to rein in Ottawa's spending, Flaherty told the Toronto Star in a year-end interview.

"We get hundreds and hundreds of programs that just trundle along, growing at 3 or 4 per cent a year or more – ahead of the rate of inflation – and it takes some resolve to restrain that spending growth."

With a chuckle, he admitted that slashing government programs can prompt public outrage. "Every program has a group of people who believe strongly in that program," he said.

But "some programs should end," Flaherty insisted. "This assumption in government – that every time a program is created, the program should go on indefinitely – is mistaken. So some programs should just end because their usefulness has ended."

Note to commenters, I'm on the road for most of the next few days, so don't expect to see any comments published for a bit.

At today's Economic Update

Some wondered what today's "fun" post that I mentioned yesterday was going to be... I got to attend today's Economic Update in person, that's what.


The Prime Minister was at his best today, especially the Q&A session he did afterwards. He's always on top of his game when he does Q&A, even unscripted with the media... memo to the braintrust, let him do it more often! I really hope someone posts the footage of that, because it was great stuff, and the Prime Minister was much more of the easy-going and personable guy that very few Canadians ever get to see.


His speech was great, he conveyed a lot of good information about the stimulus package, information that the media hasn't been relaying to Canadians. (whether that's intentional or not, I don't know, but I do have my suspicions) One significant piece of good news is that housing starts, a key indicator of the economy, were up by 10,000 units last month. Several of our Budget initives are having an effect, as new home buyers are taking advantage of low interest rates and new programs to jump into the market.

One interesting thing in noted in watching CTV Newsnet's reporting of the event was that they deliberately cut off the Q&A session. CTV was talking to Craig Oliver, and the anchor made the comment, "I see the Prime Minister is doing a Q&A session, do we have time to go to that? ...no, okay, we don't have time.", and they moved on instead. Yea, RIGHT, you don't have time... a 24-hour news channel, and you don't have time to cover the PM? Uh-huh... I'm thinking it was a deliberate SNUB because he wasn't taking questions from reporters. For the record, the questions were direct and hard hitting, they weren't softballs.

First question: "What will happen to the stimulus money if an election is called?" Okay, that one was kinda a softball, but he leveled a very direct challenge to Michael Ignatieff, pointing out that because the Business of Supply has not been dealt with by the House, THE STIMULUS MONEY WILL BE FROZEN AND/OR GONE IF THE HOUSE FALLS. I'm betting Iggy and the Liberals DON'T want Canadians to know that minor little detail, eh? Make sure Canadians know that... if Iggy brings the House down, it's because they're only looking out for themselves, NOT Canadians.

Second question: "You said during the election, 'No Deficits', then we went into deficit. Can you explain to me why?" The PM nail this tough one, discussing some of the decisions made by the G20 as a collective, and elaborating on why we can manage this. The Prime Minister also expounded further, and was very clear about the differences between ideology of our Government and the Opposition parties... ALL OF THEM, without exception, want to increase spending on a permanent basis, which dispite their best assurances to the contrary WILL involve tax increases. We, however, recognize that the best approach for the Canadian economy in the long run is targeted and short term stimulus that will END in the near future, allowing Canada to return to a surplus fiscal situation. He also pointed out that it was because Canada had been paying off our debt during the good years that we're in the most enviable economic position of all the G7 countries.

All in all, it was a great event, and if the media simply reports what happened there, the feedback will be positive. Of course, if they're only offering up portions and then spinning it, well, that's another story.

To that end, I encourage the media to offer up the footage of the PM's Q&A session on their websites, so Canadians can see what the PM is really like, and that he's not the wooden pre-concieved image that they choose to feed Canadians.

CFRB's Bill Carroll points out Liberal hypocrisy

Had to smile when Bill Carroll from Toronto's CFRB 1010 pointed out how hypocritical the Ontario Liberals are this morning. It all comes down to the Ontario Budget, and the "economic projections" upon which they base their numbers.

For weeks now, the Federal Liberals, which is made up predominantly of Ontario Liberals here in Ontario*, have been taking the Harper Government to task for the "economic projections" upon which the most recent Budget was based. And the Liberals have been saying the projections are "too rosy", as Finance Critic John MacCallum indicated on Bill Carroll's show just yesterday.

Now look at the Ontario Budget. What were their numbers based on? Yup, you guessed it... the exact same projections as the Harper Government's Budget.

Once again, on three, say it with me... HYPOGRITS!!! Looks like numbers that are good enough for a Liberal to use AREN'T good enough for a Conservative, in their eyes. On the one hand, the Federal Liberals, and all their hacks over at the Liblogs, critize the Harper Government's projections. Meanwhile, they approve of and defend using the very same figures here in Ontario.

Let's see if any of them have the decency to stand up and level the same critism at the McGuinty government as they have been at the Harper Government... but I'm not holding my breath, of course.

Let me put it to you another way... and Libloggers who are honest about this issue gets a link from this post, and will get props from me for their ethical stance.


* NOTE: Actually I think the Ontario Liberal Party makes up what, like 50% of their entire Federal membership? We don't call it the Liberal Party of Toronto for nothing...

ELECTION ALERT: Liberals threaten to topple Government

According to the Globe & Mail, Ignatieff may demand changes to the Budget that could topple the Government.

As this is already a fairly "liberal" budget, I hope (obviously depending on what the requests are) that Mr. Harper tells Iggy, "No... we're not prepared to go any further into debt... you either take it or leave it."

Of course, they could always then try to go through with their coup d’état with the Bloc and the NDP.

The Count won't commit on size of the deficit

Humm, Ignatieff won't commit to a number... Mr. Dithers II? Not a Leader the Second?

Don't know why, but I couldn't get this image out of my mind of what Ignatieff's response to the size of the deficit might be on Budget Day...

"Ten billion dollars! Ahh, ahh, ahh..."

"Twenty billion dollars! Ahh, ahh, ahh..."

"THIRTY billion dollars! Ahh, ahh, ahh..."

I think you get the picture...

Reports of Liberals in disarray... all part of the plan?

My goodness, was this all part of the gambit?

Liberal MPs were locked in meetings Thursday night, struggling to determine what to do in the lead-up to a vote on the package on Monday that could topple the government. Their options are to fight another election mere weeks after the last one with a lame duck leader, or join forces with the New Democratic Party in an attempt to form a coalition government.

However, sources say that NDP Leader Jack Layton would not participate in a coalition government with Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion as prime minister. Similarly, the Liberal caucus does not want to fight an election with Mr. Dion at the helm.

The Liberal Party's constitution gives Mr. Dion the authority to decide what his parliamentary caucus will do. Pressure was growing on Mr. Dion Thursday night to be open to coalition talks, with threats of a party coup if he resisted.

In fact, Liberal MPs and party strategists in their meetings Thursday night found themselves confronting a deeper turmoil.

The party almost certainly would refuse to go into another election under Mr. Dion, with the likely result that the mantle of interim leadership would fall on Michael Ignatieff, who has the most support from the parliamentary caucus and influential backroom Liberals.

But that would upset supporters of MPs Bob Rae and Dominic LeBlanc, who are campaigning for the Liberal leadership and who were outraged Thursday when key Ignatieff organizer Steven MacKinnon used the proposed Harper legislation to send out an e-mail fundraising appeal for Mr. Ignatieff under the heading “Save Canada's Democracy – Stephen Harper is trying to undermine Canada's fair and open political system. Take action now!”

The Liberals held an emergency caucus Thursday and Mr. Layton Thursday morning cancelled a trip to British Columbia as talk grew of defeating the government.

Okay, let's summariaze for everyone...

- Libs & NDP talking about governing together
- Libs say Bloc won't be part of any new government, but require their support to govern
- NDP says they won't work with Libs if Dion is PM
- Libs now talking of pre-empting their leadership race, which will only further split the Party
- Rae supporters already attacking Iggy's camp for fundraising e-mail sent out in the midst of crisis

I see four possible outcomes to all of this...

1) We get defeated, and we go to the polls
2) We get defeated, and the Liberal/NDP take over
3) The Liberals blink, and allow it to pass with severe reservation
4) Mr. Harper makes his next move checkmating the Opposition... he commits to putting together a package by the first or second week of January. All of a sudden, the main plank of the Opposition's argument falls appart. As such, they won't risk a public backlash for toppling the Government, and we get our public party subsidy cut.

I'm thinking it's going to be door #4... did I mention I really like this Harper guy?

Flaherty to announce axing of $1.95 per vote subsidy to political parties

Talk about one big honking poison pill for the Opposition Liberals... how on earth would they go to the electorate over that one? "We're taking the Government down and forcing an election because they want to take away our money."

This is the sort of democratic reform we really need in this country. Let the political parties stand or fall on the merits of their policies, not based on votes from people who simply vote for the party they've always blindly voted for. (and I say that as someone who's voted for three different federal parties, including the Liberals)

UPDATE: Rumours have been swirling that the NDP might just support this measure... and according to a quote in the Globe & Mail, the rumours just might be true...

"NDP Jack Layton said his party will co-operate with the belt-tightening, but added Canadians want more.

“We know that for every billion spent [on infrastructure] you create 11,000 jobs and that's what other countries are doing,” he pointed out.

From all the other reports I've read, there's been hardly ANY negative quotes from anyone in the NDP on this move... not at CBC, CTV, Globe & Mail, National Post... with just one fairly neutral quote from the NDP President in the Toronto Star.

I find that rather interesting, don't you? If we have the NDP's support, perhaps won through other consessions to be made now or early next year in a stimulus package, this could be yet another stroke of brilliance from the Harper Team.

UPDATE II: Just for fun, you might want to wander on over to the Liblogs and watch them writhing on the ground, foaming at the mouth over this one.

Another election trigger?

Honestly? I'm expecting this to pass... which of course, would invoke Murphy's Laws, which means that it will fail, and the House will fall. (Boy this gets more and more confusing... of course, we're talking about the Liberals, so who knows what's going to happen... according to the article, they don't even know yet.)

The government has attached an immigration bill to the Budget implementation motion... not to force an election, but to ensure it gets passed expidetiously. As an immigrant, I can see the sense in this legislation... it's directly related to how my family got into this country, as the Government was actively looking to bring in people with my dad's skillset at the time. (thanks Mr. Trudeau... I guess)

Anyway, it's gonna pass, I don't see what all the fuss is about. I've resigned myself to an October 2009 vote, and a de facto majority until then. It just means that we have to go through all this hooping and hollering by the Liberals every single time before our stuff gets passed, that's all. If you ask me, it's a small price to pay in the interest of cleaning up the mess they left us in.

Liberals setting themselves up to fall?

This is interesting... the Liberals snuck through a private members bill yesterday which has serious implications for the Budget, which makes RESP's a tax shelter just like RRSP's. Problem is, the resulting loss of tax revenue may put the Government into a deficit next year. (and the Liberals are trying to say that they won't go into deficit if returned to power... hey guys, thanks for proving us right!)

The Globe reports that the Tories may add an amendment to a future Ways and Means motion in order to kill the bill, forcing the Liberals to either allow it to be killed, or force an election... which, we all know, nobody (read, "No Liberal") wants right now.

(Again, comments closed due to my absence)

RMR Liberals Video - ALMOST 16,000 HITS!

Rick Mercer is a genius alright... that's what almost everyone that has seen this clip has been saying, here online, and all the people I've show it to here at work! When I checked yesterday, it had around 5,000 hits... this morning, it's just a few shy of 16,000! Talk about a viral video!

Of course, perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Warren posted it on his website late last night... (and some people say he's a nobody in the blogosphere... whatever. Bottom line is, when Warren posts something, traffic goes up)

Anyway, he has a VERY interesting comments about the video... something the Liberals need to pay heed to...

"when they start laughing at you, it's all over. Fini."
OUCH! Despite what you may think of the guy, he's been right about a whole lot in the realm of Canadian politics over the last few years... 19 times out of 20. If he says it's OVER, FINI, for Team Dion, then there's sure to a whole lot of worrying over in the OLO.

So, on that note, here it is again! (I can't get enough of this thing!!!)




UPDATE: CalgaryGrit and Red Tory 2.0 posted it too.


UPDATE II: It just topped 17,500.

Rick Mercer Liberal Budget Announcement

As promised, here it is... one of the funniest segments I've EVER seen on Rick Mercer.

"Liberals - We're Adaptable"

Dion Blinks - Liberals will support Budget

This just in... Dion WILL support the Budget.

I do find it interesting that Dion has put the word out before the Finance Minister has even finished his speech... one might think he was desperate to wave that little white flag.

Now we just have to wait and see what they do for their ammendment... who knows, maybe they're going to toss us a poision pill of their own.

Interesting how they spin this poll

CanWest Global released the results of an Ipsos Reid poll with the following headline... "Liberals narrowing gap with Tories: poll". But taking a look at the analysis in the article, one very interesting point comes to light. They say the Tories are "down three percentage points, to 39%".

Excuse me? DOWN to 39%? If losing three points brings them DOWN to 39%, that means that two weeks ago when the last poll was done, they were UP at forty-two freaking percent... do you recall seeing the news headlines saying that the Tories were in solid MAJORITY TERRITORY?

Neither do I... interesting, that.

Also, this so-called "Liberals narrowing the gap", consisted of them going up one measly percentage point... UP to 29%, back to where they've been barely treading with their heads above water for some eight months now.

CanWest also reported that there is growing opposition to our Crime bills. Hey, with numbers like we've seen above, even if we're down three points, I'd be just fine going to the hustings with those numbers... since you know Dion's going to start tanking as soon as any election begins.

Other reports say that the Libs are looking to bring the House down in Feburary, before the next budget... I hope Mr. Flaherty burns some of the midnight oil, and gets the next budget out ahead of schedule. It would be easy to spin it that we're doing so early in order to help with the much needed infrastructure and assistance to the manufacturing sector we've all been hearing about lately.

"Harper foils another Liberal plot to take over the World"

Great editorial in today's National Post, with a funny pic too...

Steven and the Brain: Harper foils another Liberal plot to take over the World
Kelly McParland - Politics Editor, National Post
October 31, 2007

Judging by the tenor of the latest bulletins from the nation’s capital, Stéphane Dion struggles awake every morning with just one issue on his mind:

Should I defeat the Tories today?

Would it be better to wait and defeat them tomorrow?

If I defeat them next week, would it be better than defeating them a month from now?

If I don’t defeat them now, when can I defeat them?

Maybe I should defeat them in the spring. Would that be more beneficial than defeating them in the fall? How about defeating them at Christmas — that worked pretty good for Harper, even though everyone said voters wouldn’t stand for a Christmas election.

Which is pretty demeaning when you think about it. It suggests that, like Pinky and the Brain, the two mildly deranged mice in the Steven Spielberg cartoon of the same name, the leader of Canada’s biggest opposition party spends every day the same way he spent the last: Trying to take over the World.

Mr. Dion probably has other things on his mind — convincing Quebecers he isn’t some federal version of Darth Vader, for instance — but you’d never know it. Learned reports on his activities have for months now focused on pretty much one question: Can he beat the Tories? Should he try it now, or later?

Thus Jim Flaherty’s mini-budget Tuesday is judged as a resounding defeat for the Liberal boss. Mr. Flaherty was barely off the TV screens after revealing his plans to — of all people — a roomful of journalists, when Mr. Dion was trotted out and forced to confess he would instruct his troops to support the government, just as they supported them a week ago on the Throne Speech, and will likely support them on the crime package. Sorry Pinky, World Domination will have to wait another day.

Mr. Flaherty, it turns out, was just too wily for the struggling Mr. Dion. The sack load of tasty tax treats he distributed in the National Press Theatre are designed to be consumed not just today, but at regular intervals over the next few months, right up until the spring when — wham! — Mr. Flaherty can bring down another budget containing even more giveaways. The GST cut kicks in on Jan 1. (a mean trick, it seems, on Christmas shoppers); the reduced tax band is backdated to last January, so everyone who gets a tax refund will get a bigger one than they expected. The corporate tax cut is bigger than the Liberals proposed cut, forcing them to try and outbid the Tories if they still hope to use that as a policy weapon.

While assuming that Mr. Dion thinks of nothing other than engineering a timely election, informed thinking has similarly taken for granted that Mr. Harper manoeuvres relentlessly to box Mr. Dion into making his move at the wrong time. The Prime Minister, we’re told, wants a majority. He thinks he can get one from the bumbling Mr. Dion. He can’t call the election himself, so he needs to trick the Liberal boss into doing it for him.

Except that Mr. Harper’s actions don’t seem to accord with that scenario. Tuesday’s mini-budget was written to be bullet-proof: even two crazed mice trapped in a cage at Acme Labs wouldn’t be dumb enough to defeat it, though apparently Jack Layton would. Far from dangling the prospect of an election, it does all a government could do to prevent that from happening. So — barring a catastrophe — the government lives through the winter until spring, when it unveils more tax cuts, ensuring it lives through the summer until fall. At which point we’re just a year from the fixed date for the next election anyway. Would the opposition really want to trigger a vote — annoying Canadians and costing hundreds of millions of dollars — when a new minority would face another campaign within 12 months?

Maybe so. Mr. Harper has shown his tactical skills are nothing to be sniffed at. Maybe he figures the best way to trigger an election is to appear not to want one. Or maybe he actually means what he says, and intends to govern through to October 2009. If you had the prospect of two years in power with Stéphane Dion as your opponent, would you be eager to bring it to an end, risking a new minority and a new, more adept, Liberal leader?

Kelly McParland is Politics Editor of the National Post

Photo Illustration: Jeremy Barker/National Post; REUTERS/Chris Wattie; Warner Brothers

Nova Scotia signs on to new Equalization Formula

Now that's leadership... on both Mr. Harper's and Mr. MacDonald's part.

PRIME MINISTER HARPER AND NOVA SCOTIA PREMIER MACDONALD RESOLVE DISPUTES OVER ATLANTIC ACCORD

October 10, 2007
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald today announced that they have resolved Nova Scotia’s concerns related to interpretation of the Atlantic Accord. In accordance with the principles of the 2007 federal budget, Nova Scotia will be able to opt into the new equalization arrangement without risking any of the benefits it would have received from the 2005 Accord.

“Canada’s New Government has established a new national equalization formula that applies equally to all provinces while also committing to fully honour the Accords with Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador by ensuring that they would not lose benefits already agreed to,” Prime Minister Harper said.

The Prime Minister made it clear that Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador will be able to opt in to either the 2005 equalization formula or the new equalization formula but not a combination of both. Their benefits under the Atlantic Accords will be protected no matter which equalization formula they choose.

“Today’s announcement ensures that Nova Scotia continues to be the primary beneficiary of our off shore resources,” explained Premier MacDonald.

Prime Minister Harper and Premier MacDonald also announced that they have agreed on a process to determine the value of the “Crown Share” under the original 1986 Atlantic Accord. A joint, three-member panel will examine the longstanding dispute over the value of the payments and method of calculating them and report to both governments by March 15, 2008.

“These are not easy issues,” the Prime Minister observed. “The Atlantic Accord is a highly technical agreement over which people of good faith can have differing interpretations.”

Prime Minister Harper concluded by thanking Premier MacDonald and his officials for their contributions to the resolution of the disputes. He also acknowledged the helpful advice provided by Nova Scotia Member of Parliament Gerald Keddy and the Honourable Peter MacKay, federal Minister for Nova Scotia.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Prime Minister’s Office - Communications

Dion opposed Atlantic Accord

Okay, maybe I'm behind and this was reported already, but I was away for a week.

This is a shameless plug of official Party talking points... so sue me!

Dion Opposed the Atlantic Accord

Today Liberal leader Stéphane Dion pretends to care about the Atlantic Accord. However, Dion’s record was clear – he fought tooth and nail AGAINST Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador receiving any benefits at all from their offshore resources. How does Dion explain his record?:

The facts:

- Stéphane Dion and the Liberals have always denied that the fiscal imbalance even exists

- Dion voted AGAINST the implementation of the Atlantic Accord on November 15, 2004

- The federal government says it no longer wants to talk about Nova Scotia's so-called "campaign for fairness". Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion met with Premier John Hamm yesterday, and told reporters the campaign is over. Dion says it's only fair that as provinces take in more money on their own, they receive less in equalization transfers. (BN, May 15, 2002)

- Premier John Hamm's Campaign for Fairness on offshore royalties was flawed from the start, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion said Tuesday. "I suggested to stop arguing about the past," Dion said after meeting with Hamm for more than an hour. "It's a mistake to link (the offshore) to equalization payments, because then other provinces want to be part of it." (The Daily News (Truro), May 15, 2002)

- Federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion says Ottawa has had enough of Nova Scotia's campaign for fairness. The province wants to keep equalization payments, even as it takes in new revenues from offshore development. Dion told reporters yesterday that wouldn't be fair to other provinces. (BN, May 15, 2002)

- Federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion says he's fed up arguing about Premier John Hamm's ``campaign for fairness,'' (Halifax Daily News, May 15, 2002)

- Dion said he doesn't like the name of Hamm's campaign, or its insistence that Nova Scotia got a raw deal in the past. (Halifax Daily News, May 15, 2002)

- Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion, who stated the federal Liberals see no need to amend the equalization formula to accommodate the Atlantic premiers' wish to keep all their oil and gas booty (Report Magazine, August 20, 2001, quoting Globe and Mail op-ed by Dion)

- “Look, we have received two requests from some premiers. Premier Hamm has requested to not take into account his offshore revenue in the equalization payment formula. We have explained why it would be unfair for the provinces.” (CBC Radio, The House, August 4, 2001)

- Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion said last week that ``goes against the whole idea of equalization'' and could cause resentment among the ``have'' provinces, such as Alberta, that pay into the fund. (Edmonton Journal, April 18, 2001)

- Federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion argued recently that it would be unfair to allow provinces such as Nova Scotia and Newfoundland to hang on to both equalization payments and their oil and gas revenues if that gives them fiscal capacities surpassing those of British Columbia or Ontario (Ottawa Citizen, July 19, 2001)

Anybody able to get ahold of some of those published articles? ;-)