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John McKay MP, Scarborough-Guildwood,
Friday, October 10, 2008
In the last election Jack Layton said to us “lend me
your vote.” What a disaster. Not only did we lose Kyoto
but Canada also lost universal childcare and a historic opportunity
to settle issues with Canada’s aboriginal peoples. The
result was that enough votes were lent to Mr. Layton that
Mr. Harper became the Prime Minister.
But the loses have piled on loses. Mr. Harper has not only
been an unmitigated disaster for the progressive voter he
has been a severe disappointment for the fiscally conservative
voter. The Income Trust fiasco wiped out $25 billion worth
of Canadians savings, destroyed a perfectly useful market
mechanism, and broke an election promise.
Then he broke faith with the people of Newfoundland and Labrador
over the Atlantic Accords. Premier Williams has never forgiven
him for that broken promise
(go to: http://anythingbutconservative.ca
).
Now we are witness to an economic meltdown the likes of which
many of us have never seen. Mr. Harper has destroyed the revenue
base of the government and therefore he is at or in deficit
already. Not only did he destroy the revenue base with his
ill advised GST cuts and boutique tax cuts he also became
the biggest spending PM in history by pandering to the Quebec
separatists to solve the so called “fiscal imbalance.”
(read gobs of money for Quebec)
But it gets worse. Removing the $3 billion contingency fund
is a little like draining the gas tank of your fire engine
just before you leave for a fire alarm. Not smart.
So voters on the left and right have ample reasons to come
back to the centre of Canadian politics. A vote for Jack Layton
is effectively a vote for Stephen Harper. Not only will the
left be deprived of some legitimate aspirations but the right
sees major disappointment in the pandering politics to special
interest groups at national expense. Now, as an added bonus,
we have a federal government deficit and an economy in free
fall.
Vote Stephan Dion before it’s too late.
John McKay MP, Scarborough-Guildwood,
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Constituent Letter to Hon. John McKay MP, October
6, 2008:
Greetings John ...
Over the past thirty five years I've performed many leadership
roles. On a number of occasions I've been Chairman of the
Board on a number of volunteer boards in the social not for
profit sector. I've spent almost twenty years working with
the indigenous peoples of the Philippines to help them address
sometimes horrific issues. Professionally I've been a project
manager for thirty five years, implementing often politically
sensitive projects that some people would have considered
impossible. This background has given me a deep insight into
what leadership is all about.
As a result I found it very interesting to see a variety of
fliers in my mailbox of late. Your flier told me about you
though that wasn't necessary for me, you've been representing
us a long time. You made it clear what you feel are your priorities
and you list what you've accomplished over the years. Basically
you've given me your record and allowed me to judge whether
you're worthy of another vote. You believe that leadership
needs to be earned and you've certainly earned it and my respect.
Then I found the conservative flier in my mailbox. Blazoned
on one side is a picture of Harper and the word "STRONG"
and the comment "We have clear priorities to move Canada
Forward". Well it's nice to know they have clear priorities
but to date they've failed to articulate them so I have only
their word for it. I find it odd though that if their priorities
are so good and strong, why aren't they being shared with
the rest of us mere mortals? Then there's another word "WEAK"
and a somewhat less flattering picture of Dion and a quote
from his leadership campaign that says "Do you think
it's easy to make priorities?". I find this interesting.
Of course you also have priorities that you believe are clear
and will move Canada forward but that flier is designed to
deliberately mislead us into thinking that you don't. Equally
to the point, Dion is right, it is incredibly hard to make
priorities in government, I know, I've spent twenty five years
in government too. It takes a hell of a strong leader to admit
that something is hard to do and then to go and do it. But
then that's something the conservatives don't seem to understand.
Today I found another conservative flier in my mailbox. I
note a quote from years ago when the liberals were considering
restoring the GST to where it was. I note that the flier forgot
to also mention that this isn't going to happen any more.
I note a quote that the Liberals will cancel the Tory day
care plan. But once again it neglected to mention that you
are going to replace it with something that is superior. It
notes that they will increase the price of everything through
a carbon tax. But it neglects to mention that if we are going
to bring the climate change issue under control, that's exactly
what's needed. International scientists have had nothing but
criticism for the conservative's pathetic attempts to appear
environmentally prudent and they've had nothing but praise
for the Liberal plan.
And on the other side it says "Can you afford to pay
more?"
Well, they're right on that score. I can't. Clearly the candidate
and Harper are not leaders, they do not explain where they
plan to take us and why that's the best solution. They don't
give us their platform early enough in the campaign so that
we can study it. Instead all they do is promulgate deliberately
misleading advertising that takes comments out of context
and implies a lie. It's clear to me that their idea of leadership
is to slam the opposition constantly so that no one will notice
how inept they are at leading. It's clear to me that their
concept of leadership is to do whatever it takes to hold on
to power, no matter whether it's unethical and downright dishonest.
They're not interested in the well being of the country, they're
only interested in holding on to power and gaining more power
at the expense of both the country, the electorate, and the
politicians in the other parties who are honestly trying to
make a positive difference.
What is also frightening and menacing as well, is that Harper
is adept at throwing out an inexpensive bone once in a while
to the electorate to placate it a bit but at no time have
any of those bones been of any strategic benefit to the country
in the longer term. They've simply been cheap treats to garner
ever more votes.
Alas, I am afraid that these unethical, reprehensible practices
and deceit might gain them enough votes again to win the government
though I sincerely hope it will not be a majority. My only
saving grace is that the electorate is not totally stupid,
eventually it will figure things out and at that point perhaps
Harper will be gone but alas, can we afford another four years
of Harper while the electorate tries to figure out how it's
been duped? I suspect not.
In any case I just wanted to say thank you for being a breath
of fresh air, for having integrity, for earning respect instead
of slamming others. Thank you for representing what politics
should really be like, a frank open honest discussion of the
issues and the strengths of the various platforms, a standard
of ethical behaviour, integrity and clear sound leadership.
My wife and I went to the advance poll on Saturday and you
earned yourself two votes. I hope that the majority of our
constituents also see sense and will cast their ballots in
your favour too.
Hang in there. No matter what happens, integrity will eventually
always win out. And you've got a lot of that.
Do have a super day and good luck.
...Claus
By John McKay MP, Scarborough-Guildwood,
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Conservative “Brochure” Masquerades as
a Platform
It’s clear that this is a “nothing” platform.
Having broken his own law to call a bogus election because
he needed a mandate one might reasonably ask: “a mandate
to do what?” The platform, such as it is, promises “more
of the same.” If it is more of the same “steady
as she goes,” why did he call an election to get a new
mandate?
Adding insult to injury Mr. Harper released his platform
the day after advance polls so that those citizens who voted
and those in the armed forces were voting blind. Given that
the platform is very “thin gruel” it probably
wouldn’t have made a difference to those voters but
it is really quite contemptuous to call an election against
his own law, seek a mandate which is just more of the same,
and release it after a significant portion of the voters have
already voted.
Mr. Dion described the platform as more like a brochure than
a serious document. He’s right - but then as we’ve
seen our Prime Minister is somewhat challenged to come up
with original thinking. Maybe Mr. Harper should ask his old
buddy John Howard (the former PM of Australia who Australians
had the good sense to retire for health and fatigue reasons
because they were sick and tired of him) to write him a proper
platform.
By John McKay MP, Scarborough-Guildwood,
Monday, October 6, 2008, 6:30pm
Hon. John McKay MP on Preston Manning’s In
Stormy Economic Seas, put Harper at the Helm of the Ship of
State
I have always been fond of Preston Manning, especially now
that he is out of partisan politics, but his piece In
Stormy Economic Seas, put Harper at the Helm of the Ship of
State (Globe and Mail - Monday, October 6, 2008) is deeply
flawed.
Mr. Harper has consistently ignored the best advice of Canada’s
leading economists. He squandered a $12 billion surplus on
the ill-advised GST cuts that economists universally said
would impact negatively on our productivity. This year, to
no ones great surprise, Canada recorded negative productivity
growth for the first time in 18 years.
Mr. Harper cancelled the $3 billion contingency fund which
all economists had recommended that he retain to cushion against
economic shock waves such as the one we are experiencing now.
Economists universally recommended against the political pandering
of boutique tax cuts and universally favoured broad based
tax relief. Mr. Harper has done the opposite.
Mr. Harper railed against Liberal spending yet in office he
has increased program spending and transfers at an unprecedented
rate. He can justly be described as the biggest spender in
federal government history ever.
When Mr. Dion proposed a 5 point plan to be implemented within
30 days of his becoming Prime Minister, Mr. Harper, who has
no plan, had the unmitigated gall to attack him for having
an approach which will get us out of this fiscal mess that
Mr. Harper created in the first place.
Mr. Dion’s Liberal Party is the party of Martin, Manley,
McLellan, Goodale, and McCallum plus many more on a team stacked
with depth. All of them have seen financial turmoil in the
past – The Mexican peso crisis, the Thai Bhat devaluation,
and the Mulroney $42 billion deficit. Mr. Martin along with
Gordon Brown, now the Prime Minister of Great Britain, created
the G20 so that the largest economies in the world could collectively
adjust to periodic financial crises. Who do you want calling
the shots? Those that have “been there done that,”
or the guys who made the mess in the first place?
Mr. Manning is correct – when you have a heart problem
you go to a cardiologist. However, even Mr. Manning wouldn’t
go to one facing a mountain of negligence lawsuits. Either
Mr. Harper slept through his classes or he has willfully ignored
good advice. Either way Mr. Harper has left Canada woefully
under prepared for the economic tsunami that is crashing about
us.
By John McKay MP, Scarborough-Guildwood,
Monday, October 6, 2008, 4:00pm
Hon. John McKay P.C., M.P. tribute to Bill Dempsey
At Bill’s memorial service I was triple booked and
couldn’t stay until the end. The one person that would
probably understand the best was Bill. He was always a politician
wanna-be. As I was thinking about Bill, I couldn’t help
but note that we are having a memorial service for him in
the middle of a federal election.
Were Bill alive I would have by now received my unsolicited
but always welcome four-page dissertation from Carberry, Manitoba
on the price of grain, railway tariffs and the Wheat Board.
I always read these missives with some puzzlement, as the
price of grain, railway tariffs and the Wheat Board are not
exactly hot topics in Scarborough! I have been knocking on
doors for three weeks now, and not once have the subject of
grain, railway tariffs, and the Wheat Board come up.
Bill was the very model of an engaged citizen. Most of us
think that we do our civic duty by getting out to vote. Not
Bill! No meeting was too small, no brochure was ever left
unread and no candidate was ever left unmolested or uninformed
by Bill persistently talking about his favorite project.
None was more dear to his heart than the waterfront trail.
I daresay that if Carberry, Manitoba had a waterfront and
Bill had lived there all his life, it too would by now have
a waterfront trail. Fifty years is a long time to wait for
a trail. Bill was always well informed, passionate and succinct
(Well, maybe not all that succinct). Bill was a patient man
– 50 years I a lot of patience.
The TDSB should make the life and times of Bill Dempsey required
reading on their curriculum. Bill was a quintessential example
of an engaged citizen who took his civic duties seriously.
Engaged, articulate, passionate, patient and intelligent.
A model to us all. An honourable man, a friend. I will miss
him.
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