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Political parties dip into taxpayers’ pockets to pay for campaign expenses, without needing to provide receipts. First Nations leaders who enjoy taxpayer largesse are reluctant to account for their financial dealings. The Liberals pledge billions in spending. The Greens promise to house all the homeless. Does anybody give a damn about taxpayers?
Take the money, and run
* No receipts? No problem: Taxpayers reimbursing parties for election expenses anyway. Federal political parties will be reimbursed tens of millions of dollars by taxpayers for their election expenses without having to provide receipts or supporting documents detailing their costs – a situation Elections Canada calls an “anomaly” that must be changed. Under current election laws, candidates have to provide receipts and invoices documenting their election expenses, with up to 60 per cent of it reimbursed by taxpayers. But federal political parties, which can each spend up to $54.5 million this election campaign, are not required to do so – even though taxpayers will reimburse the parties for up to half of their campaign expenses. Nice gig, if you can get it.
Open the books, or the cash drawer is closed
* Some First Nations face cash crunch over lack of disclosures. According to federal Aboriginal Affairs department, nearly one-third of First Nations bands had not as of Wednesday posted their financial information online as required by law. As a result the federal government will start withholding millions of dollars in salaries and other non-essential funding from nearly 200 bands. The information to be made public included how much money individual band leaders made during the year, no matter whether the income came from federal funding or the First Nation’s business interests.
Campaign gridlock, so far
* Canadian election 2015: Poll tracker. So far, the election remains a tight, three-way race between the Conservatives, NDP and Liberals. The NDP held the edge in the majority of polls through August, but most put all three leading parties within a slim margin. On Aug. 12, an Ipsos poll put NDP support at 33 per cent, the Tories at 31 per cent and the Liberals 28 per cent. As Ipsos put it in its release for the poll, the campaign is “gridlocked.”
Our green and Liberal land
* Justin Trudeau pledges $20 billion for green infrastructure over the next decade to stimulate economy. A greener country it will be. So decrees Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau in promising that his government would spend almost $20 billion over the next decade to green up Canada’s infrastructure and save the Canadian economy. “We will invest in things that will make your life better, like waste-water treatment plants and improved storm drain systems, and ensure resilient infrastructure that can withstand the more frequent extreme weather events coming our way,” Trudeau said.
Do as I say, not as I do, please
* First Nations leader says he has never voted federally – but wants others to. AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde has never cast a federal ballot — and may not in this election either — but he hopes other aboriginals will go to the polls to make their concerns known. He explains he wants to maintain an appearance of non-partisanship and to respect the teachings of First Nations elders, who argued treaty obligations must be honoured no matter which party is in power. Turnout among aboriginal voters has lagged behind that of the rest of the population since the vote was given to them in 1961.
Gimme shelter
* The Green platform. House all the homeless. Retrofit every Canadian home. Give every low-income person a guaranteed livable income. This is where the Green party would like to take Canada. But how much will it cost? And where will the money come from? The answers, it turned out, were in the trunk of leader Elizabeth May’s white Toyota Prius. Except nowhere in the party’s news release or accompanying backgrounder did it say how much this would cost or how the party would pay for it. Canadians, it seems, will have to wait until after Labour Day for those numbers.
Impartial politics
* NDP candidate Taman appeals to overturn prosecutor election ban. Ottawa-Vanier NDP candidate Emilie Taman, a one-time federal prosecutor, thinks it’s “unreasonable” of the Public Service Commission to refuse to let her run in the election. She’s asked the Federal Court for a judicial review to set aside the PSC decision, arguing the commission failed to balance her obligations to be a loyal and impartial public servant with her constitutional right to seek public office. It’s unclear whether the judge will have a decision before the election Oct. 19.
Pathological politics
* Peter Foster: The increasing pile of bizarre examples of Harper Derangement Syndrome. The real point of all this recession talk has nothing to do with the economy. It’s all about Stephen Harper being the focus of all the ill-will, insecurity and uncertainty of many Canadians. Not only is he being blamed for personally tanking the economy, but now he’s accused of muzzle folk singers! This, the columnist argues, it taking anti-Harper sentiments to psycho-pathological levels.
Skippy economics
* Randall Denley: Trudeau’s deficit plan shows a lack of discipline. Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s deficit spending plan tells us a great deal about the kind of prime minister he would be. No matter what party he represents, a prime minister needs to set priorities and make decisions. By endorsing years of deficits, Trudeau is doing neither, choosing instead to make endless promises and skip tough choices about how to pay for them. Trudeau says he is willing to run deficits of up to $10 billion for the next two years and some unspecified amount after that before miraculously balancing the books in the last year of his mandate. So what’s the other half of the deficit plan?
Master switch
* John Ivison: Harper’s aversion to government intervention in the economy is both political and personal. The debate over whether Canada is in a real, or merely technical, recession provided a master class in political leadership from Stephen Harper. If a true leader has the clarity to see the right thing, the confidence to admit publicly he was wrong and the courage to do the right thing, then a political leader is someone who changes course while maintaining he has been completely consistent all along. As the GDP numbers for the second quarter rolled in, confirming two quarters of negative growth, Harper brushed off talk of a recession and pronounced the Canadian economy is “back on track” because the growth numbers for June were positive.
查看原文...
Take the money, and run
* No receipts? No problem: Taxpayers reimbursing parties for election expenses anyway. Federal political parties will be reimbursed tens of millions of dollars by taxpayers for their election expenses without having to provide receipts or supporting documents detailing their costs – a situation Elections Canada calls an “anomaly” that must be changed. Under current election laws, candidates have to provide receipts and invoices documenting their election expenses, with up to 60 per cent of it reimbursed by taxpayers. But federal political parties, which can each spend up to $54.5 million this election campaign, are not required to do so – even though taxpayers will reimburse the parties for up to half of their campaign expenses. Nice gig, if you can get it.
Open the books, or the cash drawer is closed
* Some First Nations face cash crunch over lack of disclosures. According to federal Aboriginal Affairs department, nearly one-third of First Nations bands had not as of Wednesday posted their financial information online as required by law. As a result the federal government will start withholding millions of dollars in salaries and other non-essential funding from nearly 200 bands. The information to be made public included how much money individual band leaders made during the year, no matter whether the income came from federal funding or the First Nation’s business interests.
Campaign gridlock, so far
* Canadian election 2015: Poll tracker. So far, the election remains a tight, three-way race between the Conservatives, NDP and Liberals. The NDP held the edge in the majority of polls through August, but most put all three leading parties within a slim margin. On Aug. 12, an Ipsos poll put NDP support at 33 per cent, the Tories at 31 per cent and the Liberals 28 per cent. As Ipsos put it in its release for the poll, the campaign is “gridlocked.”
Our green and Liberal land
* Justin Trudeau pledges $20 billion for green infrastructure over the next decade to stimulate economy. A greener country it will be. So decrees Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau in promising that his government would spend almost $20 billion over the next decade to green up Canada’s infrastructure and save the Canadian economy. “We will invest in things that will make your life better, like waste-water treatment plants and improved storm drain systems, and ensure resilient infrastructure that can withstand the more frequent extreme weather events coming our way,” Trudeau said.
Do as I say, not as I do, please
* First Nations leader says he has never voted federally – but wants others to. AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde has never cast a federal ballot — and may not in this election either — but he hopes other aboriginals will go to the polls to make their concerns known. He explains he wants to maintain an appearance of non-partisanship and to respect the teachings of First Nations elders, who argued treaty obligations must be honoured no matter which party is in power. Turnout among aboriginal voters has lagged behind that of the rest of the population since the vote was given to them in 1961.
Gimme shelter
* The Green platform. House all the homeless. Retrofit every Canadian home. Give every low-income person a guaranteed livable income. This is where the Green party would like to take Canada. But how much will it cost? And where will the money come from? The answers, it turned out, were in the trunk of leader Elizabeth May’s white Toyota Prius. Except nowhere in the party’s news release or accompanying backgrounder did it say how much this would cost or how the party would pay for it. Canadians, it seems, will have to wait until after Labour Day for those numbers.
Impartial politics
* NDP candidate Taman appeals to overturn prosecutor election ban. Ottawa-Vanier NDP candidate Emilie Taman, a one-time federal prosecutor, thinks it’s “unreasonable” of the Public Service Commission to refuse to let her run in the election. She’s asked the Federal Court for a judicial review to set aside the PSC decision, arguing the commission failed to balance her obligations to be a loyal and impartial public servant with her constitutional right to seek public office. It’s unclear whether the judge will have a decision before the election Oct. 19.
Pathological politics
* Peter Foster: The increasing pile of bizarre examples of Harper Derangement Syndrome. The real point of all this recession talk has nothing to do with the economy. It’s all about Stephen Harper being the focus of all the ill-will, insecurity and uncertainty of many Canadians. Not only is he being blamed for personally tanking the economy, but now he’s accused of muzzle folk singers! This, the columnist argues, it taking anti-Harper sentiments to psycho-pathological levels.
Skippy economics
* Randall Denley: Trudeau’s deficit plan shows a lack of discipline. Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s deficit spending plan tells us a great deal about the kind of prime minister he would be. No matter what party he represents, a prime minister needs to set priorities and make decisions. By endorsing years of deficits, Trudeau is doing neither, choosing instead to make endless promises and skip tough choices about how to pay for them. Trudeau says he is willing to run deficits of up to $10 billion for the next two years and some unspecified amount after that before miraculously balancing the books in the last year of his mandate. So what’s the other half of the deficit plan?
Master switch
* John Ivison: Harper’s aversion to government intervention in the economy is both political and personal. The debate over whether Canada is in a real, or merely technical, recession provided a master class in political leadership from Stephen Harper. If a true leader has the clarity to see the right thing, the confidence to admit publicly he was wrong and the courage to do the right thing, then a political leader is someone who changes course while maintaining he has been completely consistent all along. As the GDP numbers for the second quarter rolled in, confirming two quarters of negative growth, Harper brushed off talk of a recession and pronounced the Canadian economy is “back on track” because the growth numbers for June were positive.
查看原文...
