About Last Night...

With his empire crumbling before him, Gordon Campbell went to the people of British Columbia last night in an attempt to regain some political points. It included a brief discussion on the Harmonized Sales Tax, a tax cut, and finally health care and education initiatives.

Talking to the people directly is quite an effective tool, and in reality Mr. Campbell probably should have done this way back there in July 2009 following the HST announcement to calm down fears of betrayal and or financial difficulties in the future. This address however did little to comfort concerns over the tax, but did articulate to the people how the BC Liberals came to the decision, even if all of it was a lie.

Then the big announcement arrived: a 15% tax cut on income taxes. The carrot is dangling before us. Will voters fall for this trap? This cut will reduce government revenue, and during a time of deficits and pledging of continued maintenance on current social services funding, once again the math is not adding up. Making a cut to the HST rate, would have made more sense both in economic and political terms. Less money would have been lost, and an 11% tax on products, while still capable of burning your retinas as you glance at your receipt, as it is something we see every day, would better sway voters. With that said, this is another misstep in the final days of the Campbell ministry.

This coupled along with the recent cabinet shuffle complete with flashy new ministries (that once again will do little to improve our standard of living) are presenting the new image that 24 months after the 2008 economic nuclear explosion, the government is now doing something about getting the economy back on track. Even some of Campbell's top henchmen have begun to spout off about the Premier, who could easily have a leadership review in mid November.

If you are an advocate for higher government debt, poorer social services and government inaction, then the times are good. For the rest of us who have common sense, its announcements like these that make you question the validity of Louis Armstrong's meaning behind his 1967 classic, "What a Wonderful World."

Canada '11: A Preview

An election you ask? Stephen Harper's second minority government won't last too much longer. Give it a few more months to live, and then it probably will be the governing caucus themselves that call it. If this were the case, this would be another minority government that lasted further than the average of two years.

Polls for 2010 on average have had the Conservatives at 34% (-4%), the Liberals at 29% (+3%), the Bloc holding steady at 10%, the NDP at 16% (-2%), and the Greens at 10% (+3%). These numbers would suggest a smaller caucus for Harper and company, something along the lines of the 2006 election results (read: 124 seats). However, the Angus Reid polls, which as they have proven, are the most accurate, maintain that support for each party has changed little. Should this be the case, not much would change in number of seats.

By-elections will also soon be called in Manitoba and Ontario. While they will most likely be held by the incumbent parties, it too is a small test of each party's support in said province, and the de jure start of the federal election. Still, there are areas of the country to watch. BC and Ontario both subject to the HST as supported by Harper and Ignatieff just might go orange, while the Atlantic provinces should return to the regular party fold. In other words, a few Conservative losses in the west and central Canada, with gains in the east.

Don't expect a lot of changes in an election, but do indeed expect an election in the spring of 2011. Like every election, it will ask the age old question: people of the world today, are you looking for a better way of life?

Heard it All Before

Greater Victoria is expanding rapidly. The population in all municipalities are rising, and with that comes an increased demand on transportation. Transportation is arguable one of the most significant factors harming our community. Just ask any local resident about the Crawl, and you will most certainly hear a loud groan and some inappropriate language. The problem is that there are few alternatives to simply jumping in the car, in order to get to work on time.

Today, it takes about 40 minutes for you to make it from the West Shore down to Victoria. That's just awful, and with the current population expected to increase, projections warn it will soon take an hour and 15 minutes for you to accomplish the same feat.

Some argue for rapid transit, while others are pushing for the train to be implemented. The answer to this problem is a combination of the two options currently being presented. What we need is the train to start up again (with the tracks improved that everyone on board won't fear for their lives), and rapid transit to surrounding neighbourhoods. If the option was available for us to get downtown in 10 minutes, my guess is people wouldn't be nearly as enthusiastic to wait an additional hour. The train does this. While rapid transit could move you quickly from the West Shore to downtown as well with services to reach other areas of town.

Unfortunately, there are many hurdles to face until this can be realized. The provincial government is not on board with increasing transportation funding, while a few municipal governments aren't syncing their green methods of transportation with areas that would benefit the most from increased ridership.

In the words of Madonna, I am asking everyone, in the hopes to achieve this, "Don't just stand there, let's get to it. Strike a pose, there's nothing to it."

1st Anniversary

Well, it's now been a year since I began this blog. Yes, it was this time last year that I first ranted about the Harmonized Sales Tax. Back then this blog had a standard design, and not much going on besides the occasional update. Today, a contemporary design with orange and blue (to represent both the BC NDP and federal counterpart) text along with polls, labels, and even a video are where we are at for 2010.

Not much has changed in my life since this all began. I am now in my final year at high school, enjoying The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga, and tragically Lost is over. I am still on my provincial constituency association's executive committee, and since June I have followed suit with my federal riding. While I now have plans for the future, I am not ready to reveal my intentions. Still, in time all will make sense, and perhaps if you watch closely, and read between the lines you'll pick up what my central theme is.

This marks my 63rd post, and unlike how I felt in 2009 with my first, the future is not scary any more. I've fought enough battles to know that in the end, everything works out. I hope you have enjoyed this first year, but always remember that the best is yet to come.

A Tough Day

Mr. Bob Simpson, a member of the BC NDP caucus since 2005 representing the constituents of Cariboo North has been removed due to comments made about Carole James' leadership and a planned leadership review organized through his constituency's executive committee.

As the conservatives come out of the woodwork and once again talk about Carole's supposed lack of leadership skills (along with a hint of sexism), I believe she took the appropriate action. A member criticizing one's leadership is clearly not in the same boat as the others. If Carole did nothing she would have been called weak, but because she acted the way she did, she was labelled egotistical. It's a battle that cannot be won.

With this came claims that membership and donations are down among the party. While I can't speak on behalf of the party, I can safely say that regardless of your affiliation, donations and memberships always go down between elections, and considering that the next election isn't until 2013, this sounds to be the case for all parties.

A leader takes firm action. A leader stands with a united team. Carole James is a strong leader.

Not Your Political Party

There are plenty of fringe parties out there. Your Political Party is just one of them, and like most fringe parties, they fail to address the largest issues that affect the masses. Instead, they take a small, often insignificant issue, and attempt to solve it, often with little to no success. There's is democratic reform, so let's take a look at the party's platform points.

YPP believes that government budgets are secretive, and should be made public to the last dollar. Not to shy away from fiscal incompetence, the YPP just like the PC Party of New Brunswick is pledging reduced taxes, and improved social services. The party is also pledging to conduct non-binding referendums on websites, and free votes in the Legislature.

While I'm not a fan of the BC Liberals budgets either, they are about as public as they can get. They openly admitted that education and health care funding is staying at the same level this year as it was back in 2009. That sounds pretty public to me. But they have a plan, to raise the debt. At least that's what would happen if we increased social services funding (in fairness, we should, but we need to raise taxes for businesses) while cutting taxes. Bringing in less money, while spending more of it and I would seriously question if we would still be in the black ink. In order to keep the public on their side, non-legally binding referendums would be held on websites. These would be a waste of time considering the results could easily be distorted online, and also discarded by the government. Finally, the party advocates for free votes in the Legislature on every bill.

This would easily be there strongest point for election. Like communism and prohibition it looks really good on paper, but fails horribly when put into practice. While I can't speak on behalf of everyone, I believe it's safe to say that a vast majority of the Canadian population detests minority governments. They have little control, and every day in the House of Commons is the day Parliament could end, and another election being held. Free votes ensure that we are entrenched in a pseudo minority government until the day we die. Canada needs effective, strong government, not nail biting votes every weekday. Also, when electing an MLA usually the constituent's needs are represented through the party. In other words, John Horgan is looking out for the people of Juan de Fuca as a New Democrat. Most Juan de Fucans oppose the HST, and he is opposed to it, thus he is representing the needs of the people. Finally, no law can extend into party caucuses to avoid votes falling along party lines, it just can't happen. Sorry to burst your bubble!

YPP has many more points beyond this, but the others have already been achieved through previous governments, and what points they do have do little to state how they would address the growing issues of the economy, health care, education, and the environment. There points aren't flawed, but rather unnecessary during a time of environmental destruction, economic despair, growing government debt and health care waiting lists. Besides, they only bother to elect one candidate per election cycle anyway...