Iggy and Droolin Agree on tax Harmonization

[oldjones]

And for his HST, the voters 'punished' McG by electing Eric Hoskins, the Liberal candidate. The much-ballyhooed Conservative—Sue Anne Levy of the Sun—got the 30% or so of the vote that Harper has shown is standard diehard Con.

 

[train]

So what you are saying is that the voters of this riding agree with Flaherty, McSquint and Iggy then.

 

[oldjones]

So what you are saying is that the voters of this riding agree with Flaherty, McSquint and Iggy then.

As mine is the post preceding yours train, I assume I'm the 'you' in your question, and that by 'agreeing w. the three stooges you named' you meant: The voter's thought the HST was an OK-enough tax. That's a lot of assumptions, but otherwise your Q's too elliptical for me to A.

A: Yes.

 

[slowpoke]

It would be foolish to read very much into the St Paul's byelection. It is a Liberal riding. Period. The PC candidate may simply be unpopular so the vote could have nothing to do with HST. Byelections usually don't get the same turnout that normal elections do. Most importantly, the Liberal candidate, Hoskins, is one of the founders of War Child Canada and a truly exceptional person. When you check Hoskins' bio, you soon see why his opponents didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell against him.

http://www.warchild.ca/index.php/aboutus/eric

Dr. Eric William Hoskins, MD, MSc, DPHil, FRCPC, MSC, LLD, O.C.
Founder and Special Advisor

Dr. Eric Hoskins is a medical doctor, activist, and humanitarian who has dedicated his life to promoting human rights and to advance the cause of peace globally.

He has over two decades of experience working extensively with the United Nations, the Canadian government and non-governmental organizations in some of the world's most heavily affected conflict areas including Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Burundi and The Democratic Republic of Congo.

Over the course of his professional career and as President of War Child Canada, Hoskins has pioneered innovative ways to support overseas projects that have benefited thousands of waraffected children and their families in all regions of the world. He has also spearheaded innovative outreach programs that actively engage Canadian youth on international issues, fostering their awareness and involvement in these critical areas.

Hoskins has attracted the support of Canada’s leading musicians and the Canadian music industry who have generously donated their time and resources to raise awareness and funds for War Child Canada’s humanitarian assistance efforts.

An Officer of the Order of Canada and the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions from universities, the Canadian government, the Canadian media and the United Nations, Hoskins is a well-respected speaker, writer and expert on humanitarian issues and the impact of war on civilians.

At the age of 33, Hoskins became the youngest recipient of the United Nations Association in Canada’s Lester B. Pearson Peace Medal and was later awarded the Governor General’s Meritorious Service Cross for his work in war-torn communities around the world.

He has been awarded Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 Award by The Globe and Mail, has been profiled together with his wife, Dr. Samantha Nutt, by Time Magazine as one of Canada’s five leading activists and by CBC News Sunday as an outstanding Canadian leader.

He has written for Maclean’s magazine on war-related issues and is a regular expert guest on major broadcast networks including CTV and CBC (radio and television) concerning the impact of war on civilians.

A graduate of McMaster University’s Medical School, Hoskins earned a Rhodes scholarship and continued his studies at Oxford University where he completed a Doctorate in public health and epidemiology. He also holds graduate level degrees from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, The University of Aberdeen, and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Most recently, Hoskins received Honorary Doctorates from McMaster University, Brock University and Niagara University for his work promoting human rights, and his role in delivering humanitarian assistance to some of the world’s most vulnerable populations.

 

[Bearlythere]

Typical precise information on his plans I see

Is this guy ever going to develop a platform ?

He may have one, but as it was said, he doesn't want to expose it to scrutiny. Big mistake. If you have a clear sellable vision of where you want the country to go, and you really believe in it, you publish it early and you fight like hell for it. Mike Harris put out his revolution a YEAR before the election he actually won with it. THAT is having confidence and a good solid faith in your ideas. Iggy doesn't have that faith because most of his party is only united in the goal of getting power to get their heads in the trough.

Iggy was to the right of his party before he joined the political world. Anyone who has head his speeches and theories on the war against terrorism just after 9/11 would realize much of what he ACTUALLY believes would make him a Red Tory if not a Tory on some issues. The problem is, he doesn't think he is a Conservative, and dad was a Liberal, ergo he must be one. Now part of the party, he cant be coming out on the right of much, since he would alienate the people who would elect him. It is the same muddy thinking that has his platform tightly wrapped up. They wont put out the platform until they can tailor it into saying what they think enough guillable saps want to hear. This bit on the HST pains them because Libreals like any plan that puts more money in their hands but they know it is a politically unpopular decision.

I guess he hasn't learned much by watching Gordon Campbell. GC has been bold, up front and honest with his electorate with some really unpopular ideas and yet got re-elected. If you have a platform that leaves no doubt on your direction and you are honest in what you believe, you will gain traction. Iggy cant do this because he isn't sure who he is, and the only thing we voters see is a guy so desparate to be PM he will deny half of his inner belief system just to lead a party full of people like him who take their personal principles and NOT apply them to running the country.

 

[slowpoke]

He may have one, but as it was said, he doesn't want to expose it to scrutiny. Big mistake. If you have a clear sellable vision of where you want the country to go, and you really believe in it, you publish it early and you fight like hell for it. Mike Harris put out his revolution a YEAR before the election he actually won with it. THAT is having confidence and a good solid faith in your ideas. Iggy doesn't have that faith because most of his party is only united in the goal of getting power to get their heads in the trough.

Iggy was to the right of his party before he joined the political world. Anyone who has head his speeches and theories on the war against terrorism just after 9/11 would realize much of what he ACTUALLY believes would make him a Red Tory if not a Tory on some issues. The problem is, he doesn't think he is a Conservative, and dad was a Liberal, ergo he must be one. Now part of the party, he cant be coming out on the right of much, since he would alienate the people who would elect him. It is the same muddy thinking that has his platform tightly wrapped up. They wont put out the platform until they can tailor it into saying what they think enough guillable saps want to hear. This bit on the HST pains them because Libreals like any plan that puts more money in their hands but they know it is a politically unpopular decision.

I guess he hasn't learned much by watching Gordon Campbell. GC has been bold, up front and honest with his electorate with some really unpopular ideas and yet got re-elected. If you have a platform that leaves no doubt on your direction and you are honest in what you believe, you will gain traction. Iggy cant do this because he isn't sure who he is, and the only thing we voters see is a guy so desparate to be PM he will deny half of his inner belief system just to lead a party full of people like him who take their personal principles and NOT apply them to running the country.

You're comparing Gordon Campbell and Mike Harris to Iggy but that comparison fails to take into account the fact that Iggy is facing an entirely different sort of opponent under entirely different circumstances. If Gordon Campbell and Mike Harris had been opposing Harpo, it is entirely possible that they would have preferred to keep their platform under wraps - at least until an election was officially underway. Harpo is an attack ad specialist. Look at what he did to Dion shortly after the Liberal leadership convention chose him as their leader. There was no election underway yet Harper crucified him on TV.

Right now Harpo had tons of money in his war chest - way more than Iggy does. Right now, parliament is in session so there is no election campaign underway. Because no election is underway, Harpo can spend as much as he wants to discredit anything Iggy puts forward. Once an election is called, all the parties are subject to election campaign spending limits. But there are no spending limits between elections. So if Iggy lays his platform out for Harper right now and Jack the weasel props Harper up for another few months, Harper could spend MANY EXTRA $MILLIONS on attack ads between now and the start of the next election campaign. And every penny would be aimed at distorting Iggy's platform proposals. Even now, with virtually nothing to shoot at, Harpo is running those stale-dated coalition attack ads. Think of what he would do if Iggy unveiled a serious platform full of proposals that would be popular with Canadians. Harpo would be able to use his financial advantage on negative ads and screw it all up just like the GOP are screwing up Obama's health care proposals. You obviously haven't thought this through. If you had, I'm sure you wouldn't have posted the above.