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Will Ignatieff Pull The Plug On Harper Monday?

Will Ignatieff vote no-confidence in Harper by Monday?

  • Total voters
    25
I was concerned about the deficit last year and thought it was a benefit to Dion's campaign, but it didn't matter that the Liberals had kept Canada out of deficit and the Conservatives were diving back into one.

A matter of fact, when I mentioned how the deficit was an issue, many people on here pounced on the fact that deficit spending was necessary to spend the recession out before it started - which I actually technically agree with - so not sure how much the deficit issue will help Iggy.
 
The PBO has said that Harper's tax cuts (and presumably his ridiculous tax credits like the hockey equipment tax credit) have cost the treasury $34 billion per year.
 
true but I heard the cut in tax revenue makes up around 15-18 billion dollars of the deficit.

So your saying if we did not cut taxes, we would be be in surplus but in a small deficit due to stimulus spending.
 
Yes, and a deficit from stimulus is perfectly reasonable in a time of recession. Unlike every other country in the G8, the Liberals practiced perfect Keynesian economics, paying off some of the debt during good times so that the government can go comfortably go into deficit to provide stimulus during bad times. Unfortunately, the Tories eliminated the surplus and even the contingency reserve with vote-buying spending as soon as they were elected, so that instead of a very manageable ~$15 billion deficit, in one year they've wiped out almost all the money we've put to paying off the debt over the last decade.
 
unimaginative2 said:
It is not the Liberals job to force Harper to adopt popular policies.
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It's the Opposition's job in a Minority to propose policy that can help the country. I for one happen to believe this is good for the country. Cynicism aside, this is how governments are supposed to work. It's kind of sad, that virtually every act by the government or the opposition today is seen through the political lens.


unimaginative2 said:
...It's blindingly obvious, by virtue of the fact that Harper keeps taking credit for Liberal initiatives, that the Liberals could provide a better government. They should bring him down.
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If they judge the time right they should. But I don't agree with holding the government hostage in perpetuity either. I didn't agree with that kind of crap with Martin was in power and I don't agree with it now. It's bad for the country to have that kind of leadership paralysis.

unimaginative2 said:
Nobody's ever going to give Ignatieff credit for whatever reform Harper brings out for EI just as nobody's going to give him credit for the stimulus spending.
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Remember the 'first NDP budget' under Martin? If the NDP can pull that off, I am sure the Liberals have sufficiently savvy publicists to spin EI reform as a Liberal initiative. I wouldn't worry too much about that.
 
I doubt Iggy was actually hoping for Harper to go crazy and call an election.


If Harper keeps his cool he could stay in power longer then we think. He really went crazy during the coalition crisis. Said a lot of things he regrets.
 
lordmandeep said:
I doubt Iggy was actually hoping for Harper to go crazy and call an election.
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I have no idea what he was hoping for, and that should be slightly alarming.

On Monday, he was using big words and tough talk, and then today, they basically agreed to nothing, which is much closer to Harper's stance.

That's pulling a Dion.
 
unimaginative2 said:
The PBO has said that Harper's tax cuts (and presumably his ridiculous tax credits like the hockey equipment tax credit) have cost the treasury $34 billion per year.
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Tax cuts where individuals saw minimal benefits or results.
 
It's a dumb tax credit. Much simpler to subsidize transit ridership.
 
These political people are jokes. How many elections have we have in five years, four?

This is humiliating for Canada.
 
Whatever the merits, you can't argue that it didn't save money for individuals.
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This is getting OT - Savings to individuals is one thing; equating this policy to being pro-transit is another. Besides, considering a tax saving per year of what, 200 bucks per year is hardly incentive enough for most people to switch modes. Beyond that, I wonder how many rush hour trips can that money provide if used to improve transit instead.

AoD
 
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Janbe said:
These political people are jokes. How many elections have we have in five years, four?

This is humiliating for Canada.
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Having an election is humiliating for Canada?? Are we not a democratic country? Elections are supposed to happen, and in our system of government, if the PM doesn't have confidence of the house, an election should happen. It's better than what the US had to go through under Bush. And everyone trying to claim that Liberals are just trying to pull a power grab, maybe you should consider that the last two elections were called because of either the Cons or the NDP.
 
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