CBC Could Be Toast

[CHIMO]

Harper vows to end corporate handouts

But the savings from Harper's scheme wouldn't be going into the pockets of average Canadians. Instead, he would give it back to business in the form of lower corporate taxes.

The centrepiece of Harper's plan, outlined in a speech to the Toronto Board of Trade, is an audit by the auditor general to determine which payouts deliver value for money.

"We will use the savings generated from these reductions in subsidies to reduce taxes for all businesses."

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1086170624819&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154

Further our courts will now be run by politicians!!!
But he said he believes the Supreme Court of Canada would back off if a Parliament led by him spoke its mind on the issue.

[KoKo]

1. Why is this Bush Media Crap now going on in Canada. Did you elect

a Bush Clone, or what?

[Spazito]

2. No, but we have a bush wanna-be running....

he won't win though.

[Wonk]

3. There's an election coming up on June 28

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=azJoaWuIMSuo&refer=canada

June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Canada's governing Liberal Party and the opposition Conservative Party are running so close in a new election poll that either may form a minority government after the June 28 vote, the Toronto Sun reported.

The poll of 3,100 voters, conducted for the newspaper by Leger Marketing, found the Liberals with 35 percent support, the Conservatives with 30 percent and the New Democratic Party with 17 percent. The Bloc Quebecois, which champions Quebec separatism, had 12 percent support.

Fewer voters said they trust Prime Minister Paul Martin, who's seeking to lead the Liberals to their fourth straight majority government. That proportion fell to 27 percent from 39 percent two months ago, the Sun said. Conservative leader Stephen Harper inspired the most confidence in 16 percent of respondents, unchanged from the last Leger poll.

Martin may be able to make up his losses: 49 percent of voters polled said they may change their voting intentions, the paper reported. Pollster Jean-Marc Leger told the Sun that the close race means either of the two front-running parties may form a government.

more...

[Kazak]

15. Sounds oddly familiar...

:shrug:

[CHIMO]

5. Well We

Have one of their embassies here!
And we have the National Post.

[Lisa]

4. anybody else notice how quickly the media shifted?

They started out saying "Liberal majority", and as of yesterday, certain news organs have been touting a Conservative win. With Brian Mulroney claiming this is just like 1984. (Well, it IS like "1984", just not in the way Brian says!)

Somehow, I just don't think the electorate are that volatile! Something's afoot.

[Spazito]

6. I think the media want a race and there is genuine anger...

within the voting public at the Liberals, both Ontario and federal but I think the public is not really watching closely yet. When the debates start, I think we will see some big shifts. Harper is "peaking" only in a superficial sense. His personal popularity polls haven't moved. He has been at 16% for a long time.

[Minstrel Boy]

7. Harper will not be PM. Not going to happen.

Liberal support is soft and there is a backlash (notably against unpopular Liberal governments in the three most popular provinces), but a lot of that anger, where it can make a difference, is turning into NDP support, not Conservative.

For instance, look at Ontario, and the nightly tracking of CPAC-SES, comparing April 25 to May 30: http://www.sesresearch.com/election/Regional%20May%2030.pdf

PARTY/Apr25/May30
Lib : 51% / 39%
Con : 27% / 32%
NDP : 16% / 25%
Grn : 7% / 3%

The NDP are up nearly 10 points in a month in Ontario. Polling shows a virtual three-way tie in BC. Given the NDP vote is the most efficient - more concentrated, less diffuse - this can mean, and has meant in the recent past, more seats than the Conservatives, even with a lower popular vote.

Some far right corporate media assets - hello, CanWest! yo, SunMedia! - want you to think the story is Harper's contending. Well no, he's not. The Conservatives will be zero for 75 in Quebec. They will not form the government. The real story is the NDP's surge.

[CHIMO]

8. To The

Point in the post. Do you think that the Conservative definition of corporate bums includes the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation?
If so then why is it flying over the head of everyone?

[Minstrel Boy]

10. I don't know if it meets their definition, but given the chance they'd

undoubtedly either starve the CBC to death or privatize it. The old Reformers have been salivating at the thought forever.

As to why it's flying over heads, perhaps in part because it's a sensitive thing, during an election, for the media to report on the outcome's potential impact upon the institutions of media. It would then appear to become its own lobbyist.

[CHIMO]

11. It Is

A corporation and Harper defined it as a cost benefit analysis. Obviously the Fraser Institute is not going to think that there is much benefit. If the NDP realize that this is a possibility then I would think it is to their benefit to flush this out.

[Minstrel Boy]

13. I agree, the NDP ought to flush them out on this.

Especially since Harper shamelessly appropriated David Lewis's term "corporate welfare bums." (Though he thinks it was Stephen Lewis who first said it.)

It's right-wing, populist demagoguery, stealing the language of the left to mask their real agenda. Harper has to be called on it.

[KamaAina]

9. Could the Liberals have to form a coalition with the NDP, then?

The Bush* leaguers couldn't be too pleased with the thought of out-and-out socialists sharing power directly opposite Buffalo, Detroit, Bellingham, etc.

In the words of the immortal Nelson Muntz, HA-HA!

[Minstrel Boy]

12. It's one possibility.

It's been done before. But I think it would be Martin's choice of last resort.

If the Liberals fall just short of a majority, they could try to govern alone for a while, playing the opposition parties to their left and right against each other. Probably wouldn't last long. Then there's the Bloc, which could win 50 or so seats. Though the Bloc could stand to further the cause of Quebec independence by siding with the Conservatives. (Because there are many Conservatives who would be quite happy with a Quebec-free Canada, too.) I wouldn't even discount the chance of Martin making some accomodation with the Conservatives.

Exciting election. But the worst possible outcome, a Conservative majority government, is still an absolute impossibility.

[Spazito]

14. I am fairly confident it will be a Liberal minority government...

because Canadians are angry at the Liberals but they are not blind, they know what Harper stands for so it will be a sharp smack to the Liberals by giving them only a minority. We will be back at the polls within a year, two at the most I have no doubt.