So What is an "Old Stock" Canadian?

In the recent Globe and Mail Leaders debate on the economy Stephen Harper blurted out, "We do not offer [refugees] a better health-care plan than the ordinary Canadian can receive, and I think that’s something both new and existing and old stock Canadians agree with.” The use of 'old stock Canadians' has created quite a stir and posed questions about whether the remark was racist or elitist. Plot twist: I don't care because he's not!

Harper's real questionable remark was a later use of 'ordinary Canadians,' in reference to other parties raising taxes (Liberals will raise personal tax for the 1% and NDP for the largest corporations). He said that the other two leaders wanted to raise taxes for ordinary Canadians. Really? Well...Yeah. I guess if all Canadians are ordinary Canadians then you can spin it like that. Let's look at a few sample homes of Harper's ordinary Canadians.

The reality is that those who would be taxed are the rich and the richest. It is inexcusable and irresponsible for a Prime Minister to skew his rhetoric to mislead Canadians about taxation and the actual facts (a word he likes to use often to cite limited information). The truth is that neither the Liberals or the NDP plan to tax 'ordinary Canadians' and the NDP promises not to. Harper also made the bizarre claim that the NDP's plan included tax hikes for all employers and workers. But to say this one would have to think of CPP and EI (pension and employment insurance) as tax. Mr. Harper, these are not taxes, they are benefits. A safety net for all Canadians. Especially the ordinary ones.

Register to vote on October 19th here: http://www.elections.ca/home.aspx

Motivation and Kevin O'Leary's Self Fulfilling Prophecy

I still remember when the NDP was in power in BC. I remember the 'fast ferry" fiasco. But I also know how our Liberal government has made some doozies themselves. The aftermath of privatizing hospital staff and the treatment of teachers and education in our schools are examples of gross mismanagement. The BC Rail scandal is probably the biggest scandal the province has seen and it came under the BC Liberals.

This week Alberta elected a new government. After 44 years with the Progressive Conservatives in power the people of Alberta elected a New Democratic Party majority. Many opinions have been given on the subject, but perhaps none as crassly put as Kevin O'Leary. Here are a few quips from an interview he gave the day after the election:

Bad things can happen to good people and it has in Alberta
This is bad for Alberta and everybody knows it
Alberta has fallen into a socialist bog. I don’t know what else to call it. I don’t know how this could happen.
There will be a 40-50% drop in capital going there while there is uncertainty in the business model. Because we don’t know what the government will do.
I wouldn’t invest any money in Alberta now and no big capital expenditures will move forward until we understand whats going to happen. A socialist government causes distress in capital evaluations.
I think i’m dealing in reality.
When you get a new government they learn by making mistakes. When you get an NDP government you get disaster.
NDP is the ‘dark force’ itself.
Unions are ‘sheer evil’.
If we had a federal NDP many people would have to leave the country.That is a nightmare I can guarantee won’t happen

I don't know how he can guarantee there won't be a federal NDP mandate when he doesn't understand how Alberta flip flopped so hard, seemingly overnight. What I think he can guarantee is that selfish, powerful, rich businessmen like himself will not invest in Alberta and the capital investment will fall dramatically. This is not the result of an NDP government, but the manipulation of the economy by the wealthy to motivate the poor by squeezing them out. The economy won't suffer because the government adjusts taxes to alleviate financial stress on the middle class and the poor. It will suffer because the rich refuse to work within a system that seeks to restore equity. O'Leary won't invest in Alberta and predicts a reduction of investment capital. This is the self fulfilling prophesy of Kevin O'Leary.