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By The Ranting Canadian, on March 24, 2013, at 4:54 am
Here are some unintentionally hilarious excerpts from an old interview with Jim Flaherty, Canada’s worst finance minister. The article was published by the pro-Conservative (and plagiarism-tolerant) Globe and Mail.
It was the height of Trudeaumania, and the Flaherty clan was right in the middle of it. But over the following decade, as the hockey-mad undergrad transformed into a Bay Street lawyer, he became disenchanted with Pierre Trudeau. “I thought it was really quite irresponsible, these deficits and debt and the inflation that followed,” he says.
So, like his boss Stephen Harper, Flaherty was a Liberal before becoming an anti-Canadian extremist.
. . . → Read More: The Ranting Canadian: Here are some unintentionally hilarious excerpts from an old interview with Jim Flaherty,…
By The Ranting Canadian, on March 24, 2013, at 12:18 am
Jim Flaherty, the most incompetent finance minister in Canadian history, released his pathetic 2013 budget on March 21 and almost immediately snuck off to Hong Kong, en route to Thailand. He only stopped in Vancouver along the way – to give a scripted speech to an exclusive audience of Conservative-friendly corporate insiders. He won’t be back in parliament until at least the middle of April.
Very suspicious.
Flaherty understood that his piece-of-crap budget of cooked-up dollar figures and phony economic projections was indefensible, so he did what any coward would do: run away. That was no surprise. What is
. . . → Read More: The Ranting Canadian: Jim Flaherty, the most incompetent finance minister in Canadian…
By Guest Blog, on March 21, 2013, at 11:14 pm By: Pembina Institute | Press Release: OTTAWA — Clare Demerse, federal policy director at the Pembina Institute, made the following comments today following the release of the 2013 federal budget: “Jim Flaherty delivered his eighth budget at a time when the federal government’s track record on the environment and climate change is under heightened scrutiny, and [...]
The post Federal Budget 2013 missed opportunity to invest in clean energy, says Pembina Institute appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
By Guest Blog, on March 21, 2013, at 7:26 pm By: Canadian Auto Workers Union | Press Release: Billions in new federal supports for Canadian industry is a partial, but important, step forward in assisting the country’s embattled manufacturing sector, said CAW President Ken Lewenza, in response to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s budget released today. In his budget, Minister Flaherty outlined the federal [...]
The post Federal Budget 2013: CAW demands full national manufacturing strategy for Canada appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
By Guest Blog, on March 20, 2013, at 5:46 pm By: Canadian Auto Workers Union | Press Release TORONTO – The CAW is calling on federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to focus on job creation, not more spending cutbacks in his 2013 budget, to be unveiled tomorrow. “Canada’s public debt is small, relative to past history and to the debt problems faced in other [...]
The post Federal Budget 2013 Must Focus on Job Creation, Not Cutbacks, CAW Says appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
By Simon, on March 15, 2013, at 3:28 am The other day I wrote about how Stephen Harper's slide in the polls was beginning to resemble a one-way ride on an asteroid.Not just a mere tumble through space, but a clear and definite negative trend.And I pointed out that this blazing trajectory couldn't come at a worst time for the Cons.So what better time to remind them that pulling out of that death dive is going to be REALLY difficult. Read more »
By Greg Fingas, on March 8, 2013, at 8:25 am Assorted content to end your week.
- Public Interest Alberta takes a closer look at that province’s rhetoric about taxes, and finds that in fact most Albertans pay more income tax than they would under the more fair and progressive systems applied in other province: “Albertans who believe the myth that we pay the lowest taxes in Canada will be surprised to see that they are paying more income tax than if they lived in BC or Ontario. At the same time, people in Alberta with very high incomes are paying tens of thousands less in income tax than in
. . . → Read More: Accidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
By Guest Blog, on February 25, 2013, at 10:45 am Budget is an opportunity to start building a fairer, greener, more prosperous Canada By New Democrats (Press Release) |Feb. 21, 2013: OTTAWA – With our economy continuing to underperform and structural imbalances worsening, NDP Finance Critic Peggy Nash (Parkdale – High Park) is calling on the Conservative government to change course and take action to better READ MORE
By Greg Fingas, on February 1, 2013, at 8:21 pm Miscellaneous material to end your week.
- Lawrence Martin questions the media’s obsession with fabricating stories out of imagined motivations and insignificant shifts in poll numbers: In the year before an election, the media’s heavy focus on tiny political twists and turns is understandable. Here in Canada, a federal campaign is likely a long way off, the Conservatives’ numbers are stable and so are those of the NDP. But it doesn’t prevent the rash of pollster and media speculation about who is up and who is down and who might be headed in either direction.
A headline the other day
. . . → Read More: Accidental Deliberations: Friday Evening Links
By Simon, on January 30, 2013, at 12:56 am As you know Jimbo Flaherty, the Con man now posing as a Finance Minister, really hates Kevin Page, the Parliamentary Budget Officer. And for all the right reasons.For proving him wrong over and over again, and making him look like he doesn't know what he's doing.Read more »
By Simon, on January 18, 2013, at 12:37 am Nothing Tom Mulcair has ever said scares Stephen Harper more than his claim that the Dutch Disease is killing jobs all over Canada. Especially in vote-rich Ontario where the next election will be decided.Because if the people in that province ever realize how much Harper's Alberta First economic policies are hurting them and the future of their kids, the Cons will be out of power sooner than you can say howdy cowboy.So the Cons and the right-wing conspiracy are always trying to claim that the Dutch Disease is just a myth, and here they go again.Read more »
By Greg Fingas, on January 17, 2013, at 10:19 am This and that for your Thursday reading.
- Murray Dobbin writes about the significance of Idle No More as a shift away from the presumption that First Nations’ interests are represented solely by elected officials: There are some fascinating similarities between the Idle No More phenomenon and the Occupy movement. Both reflect a political dualism: they are focused on the lack of democracy, justice and equality for ordinary people and they are implicitly (and with Idle No More explicitly) telling conventional movement organizations that are supposed to speak for them that they have failed. And it should come as no
. . . → Read More: Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
By The Ranting Canadian, on January 12, 2013, at 1:53 pm
According to The Canadian Press: “Statistics Canada says the country’s trade deficit with the world ballooned to $2 billion in November from $552 million in October as merchandise imports rose 2.7 per cent and exports fell 0.9 per cent.”
But, but … the Harper Conservatives keep telling us (despite all evidence to the contrary) that globalization/free trade opens markets to Canadian businesses, grows the Canadian economy and creates opportunities for “hard-working Canadian families” … yadda yadda yadda.
The Cons wouldn’t lie to us, would they? Of course they would. That’s what they do. It’s in their
. . . → Read More: The Ranting Canadian: According to The Canadian Press: “Statistics Canada says…
By David Climenhaga, on January 10, 2013, at 1:19 am Finance Minister Jim Flaherty before application of his Smashbox and Cover Girl. Below: Mr. Flaherty after his makeup makeover. Warning: Any resemblance to J. Edgar Hoover is certainly purely coincidental. Below that: FBI icon J. Edgar Hoover and the real Mr. Flaherty. Jim Flaherty portrait by Edmonton artist William Prettie.
Who would have thought that when Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said he was going to powder his nose … he was! (Ba-Bam!)
OK. That’s already enough. Get the drummer off the stage right now! You get the idea.
But seriously … and I mean that, people, seriously … beyond
. . . → Read More: Alberta Diary: The cheek of Jim Flaherty … expensing his Maybelline while preaching austerity!
By bigcitylib, on December 29, 2012, at 1:34 pm When I worked as a civil servant I bought my own makeup.
By calgarygrit, on December 22, 2012, at 5:14 pm Every December, I like to name a “Person of the Year” – the individual who left their mark on Canadian politics over the past year. The only rules are that the PM is too obvious a choice, and that lame picks (“You!”) are strictly verboten. The Person of the Year doesn’t need to be someone who used the force for the powers of good, or someone I like – just someone who made a difference. Below is a list of recent choices:
2011: Jack Layton 2010: Rob Ford and Naheed Nenshi2009: Jim Flaherty2008: Stephane Dion2007:
. . . → Read More: Calgary Grit: 2012 Woman of the Year
By Greg Fingas, on December 20, 2012, at 8:35 am This and that for your Thursday reading.
- Thomas Walkom discusses the meaning of the Ontario Libs’ attempt to take collective bargaining rights away from teachers in the context of the wider labour movement: The union movement is one of the last remnants of the great postwar pact between labour, capital and government.
That pact provided Canadians with things they still value, from medicare to public pension plans. Good wages in union shops kept pay high, even in workplaces that weren’t organized. Unions agitated for and won better health and safety laws that covered all.
True, union rules made it
. . . → Read More: Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
By david, on December 20, 2012, at 1:21 am Alberta Finance Minister Doug Horner gets ready to make a sacrifice to placate the mighty and angry Deficit God. Alberta politicians, not to mention the Legislative complex, may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: The real Mr. Horner.
Oh my God! The world is coming to an end!
I’m not talking about the Mayan calendar, either, which says the jig is up tomorrow, which is going to be a big disappointment to those of us who were looking forward to a nice weekend followed by a little time off for the holiday.
But this time, it’s way worse than
. . . → Read More: Alberta Diary: The Alberta Apocalypto: The world as you know it is about to end! Again…
By Nancy Leblanc, on December 16, 2012, at 4:08 pm This is causing a bit of a stir in some circles today in light of the Globe piece yesterday: “The Carney affair with the Liberal Party: It will all end in tears.” I’m not sure exactly who would be the ones ending up in tears here so I leave it to others to determine that.
But I do recall some tears that were shed on Carney’s departure. They were those of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, pictured here in an emotional gaze toward the Bank of Canada Governor. If there were any questions about Mark Carney’s judgment in speaking about
. . . → Read More: Impolitical: The Carney brouhaha
By Greg Fingas, on December 16, 2012, at 12:09 pm This and that for your Sunday reading.
- Bill Curry reports on Jim Flaherty’s arbitrary choice to declare that Canadians can’t have any more CPP retirement security than the most callous provincial government in the country is willing to grant them. And Martin Regg Cohn rightly responds that our reaction should be to pressure Flaherty to instead look out for the interests of retirees present and future: The real scandal is that, after two years of delay, concrete reforms are finally within reach. Yet Flaherty seems determined to sabotage the process.
A 30-page discussion paper obtained by the Star lays
. . . → Read More: Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
By Lorne, on December 16, 2012, at 10:02 am Although I’m sure that I frequently fall victim to it, I am deeply offended by lazy thinking, our seemingly endless capacity to fall back on ideological bromides as a substitute for careful and reasoned consideration of an issue. Instances of such defective cogitation abound, and are especially noticeable in online commentary, where, for example, those of a left-wing or progressive perspective will regularly denounce their ideological opposites as ‘fascists’, while those on the right frequently take great delight in dismissing progressive notions as the work of ‘leftards’ or other such idiomatically imaginative labels.
The challenge in overcoming these reflexive reactions
. . . → Read More: Politics and its Discontents: The Taint of Ideology
By Simon, on December 16, 2012, at 4:41 am You might think that Jim Flaherty would be satisfied with ramming through his latest Trojan Horse budget.His ghastly swollen beast stuffed to the gills with toxic waste.But no. Now he's going after seniors and the Canada Pension Plan. Read more »
By Greg Fingas, on November 8, 2012, at 8:43 am No, we shouldn’t be surprised that Jim Flaherty is lending the weight of Canada’s federal government to a concerted effort to attack U.S. social programs. But for those who may have missed it, the supposed “fiscal cliff” being used as an excuse to push… . . . → Read More: Accidental Deliberations: On lemmings
By Shawn Whitney, on November 2, 2012, at 10:38 am Remember how the Tories are the party you want to vote for in tough economic times because they’re great managers and willing to make the tough decisions? Remember all that stuff?
Yeah, well, the Tories are poking holes in the Canadian economy faster than the rest of us can bail.
Two figures tell the tale. The first relates to the government’s quiet austerity. At a time when, if anything, the
By Greg Fingas, on October 23, 2012, at 9:51 am This and that for your Tuesday reading.
- Heather Scoffield reports on the Canadian Index of Wellbeing’s stunning finding that Canadian quality of life declined by a quarter between 2008 and 2010, while the Vancouver Sun and Lindor Reynolds comment on the collapse in well-being far beyond the economic damage of the recent recession. And Jane Gleeson-White puts the need for such measures of well-being into a global context: GDP is a partial and misleading measure of national wealth and wellbeing. The problem is that it does not measure key goods in our economy, those unpriced but priceless services carried
. . . → Read More: Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
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