Tuesday, January 31, 2006, 07:38 PM - Taxes
The Liberal plan of income tax cuts benefited low and middle income earners more. However, increases could be too easily hidden with our complex returns. The element of trust with handling the taxpayer dollars has been lost.
The Conservative lowering of the GST, while very welcome, benefits those that have more disposable income.... the upper income earners. If a person spends $1,000 on “luxuries” each month or $100 on “luxuries”, the amount of tax saved is proportionate. The one with more to spend saves $10.00, while the one with less disposable cash saves only $1.00.
I welcome any tax cuts, however, taxation linked to outflow rather than income ensures that those that can least afford taxes, are taxed less. Obviously a good thing!
There are other inequities and absurdities in the tax regime. For example, corporations do not actually pay income tax; they pass it on to consumers as a cost of doing business. If we were to rescind the corporate income tax, and instead apply a consumer's tax (with exemptions for the necessities of life: food, clothing, housing, utilities, prescription medicines), we could raise the same revenue, but corporations would flock to Canada to do business in a tax-free environment.
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Friday, January 27, 2006, 02:08 PM - Economy
Finally we see recognition by the business community of what we all knew was the truth.
"Corporations are finding that, contrary to their promises, globalization is actually driving down the standard of living of Canadian workers," Jim Stanford, economist with the Canadian Auto Workers said.
Our Free Trade Agreements do not include protection of: workers; environment; health standards; and food safety.
If we were to follow the CHP policies. Corporations would find themselves unable to use labour for which they pay pennies an hour, thus driving down our wages, lowering our standard of living and increasing pressure on corporations to relocate to areas with oppressive labour conditions.
This is just one of the benefits we would see with CHP policies in place.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
In general, all nations should strive for international exchange of goods and resources, and elimination of tariff duties insofar economic stability and national security are not threatened.
A Tariff Review Board should monitor major economic factors (e.g. foreign government subsidies, oppressive labour conditions, unfair competition, and environmental mismanagement) which contribute to the low price of those foreign commodities competing with Canadian-made products.
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Friday, January 27, 2006, 01:04 AM - Economy
1. BASIC HUMAN NEEDS
We affirm that Canadian residents should not lack essential food, shelter, and clothing, but 'to be our brothers' keeper' does not establish an indiscriminate and universal claim on public charity for those able but unwilling to work. Welfare services should be provided by government only after the prior spheres of responsibility have been exhausted, namely the individual's self-initiative, other members of the family, and voluntary social agencies. Municipal, provincial, and federal authorities should cooperate in formulating effective programs in meeting basic human needs.
2. FAMILY STABILITY
We believe that the prevention of hardship (rather than its alleviation after it has arisen) is the key to reducing welfarism, and that the stability of the family is basic in this regard. We believe that government assistance should be given to humanitarian and church-based programs which minister to the hurting, strive for reconciliation in marriage through counseling, support those involved in crisis pregnancies, and seek to help an individual overcome those factors (physical and spiritual) which inhibit self-reliance. We favor assistance for the deserving poor through programs which encourage individuals to be self-reliant.
3. SELF RELIANCE
Government should strive to eliminate the universality of welfare, restricting it to those in genuine need. No one who is able, but refuses to work has a just claim to be supported by others. Those able-bodied individuals who apply for state welfare, and otherwise are not bound by having to care for dependents, should be obliged to take part-time or seasonal employment, or other public service if such is available in the community or can be secured by social welfare agencies.
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Tuesday, January 24, 2006, 03:30 AM - Miscellaneous
Congratulations to Peter VanLoan on his election as MP for York Simcoe.
Thank you to all of those who voted for me and especially to my campaign team. It was a job very well done!
Vicki
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Saturday, January 21, 2006, 06:52 PM - Environment
Bradford All Candidates Meeting
I'd like to thank the Bradford Times for their detailed report on the All Candidates Meeting. It was very well done.
I would just like to point out one error in their summary. "Gunn lost points with her denial of global warming;"
One could hardly deny global warming. As a child I remember there was talk of our planet moving towards another ice age. Since, we've had the gradual melting of the polar icecaps.
However, my answer was regarding Kyoto. I pointed out that the language of Kyoto was: "hypothesized"; there were "uncertainties in key factors"; "Suggests"; and "thought". (They have not proven that the implementation of Kyoto would resolve the global warming problem. It’s a case of putting all of our eggs in one basket. But if the theory is wrong.... we have wasted too much time when we could have been working on other achievable environmental concerns.)
I pointed out that the estimated cost, in the US, is $30,000 per family and the cost of an estimated two million jobs. We could look at comparable cost in Canada.
Jim Hansen, the scientist with NASA who announced a fearful scenario of global warming, has since decreased the threat to an increase of .7C over the next 50 years.
I concluded with, "There are important environmental matters that we can have a positive effect on... air, water and land. Let's focus on these areas and do something based on science that is fact rather than theory." (The reasons for global warming remain theory!)
Research and development and moving ahead on the use of biofuels would decrease the greenhouse emissions while also making us less dependent on fossil fuels out of the middle east. This has a positive effect and is based in something that is achievable.
We need to promote renewable energy sources - hydro, wind, solar, geothermal and ocean energy. This has a positive effect and is achievable.
We have moved backward from where we were, to where we are, in decreasing greenhouse gases. Let’s start moving forward with environmental controls that are achievable.
Once again I would like to thank the Bradford Times for their presence at the ACM.
Vicki
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Friday, January 20, 2006, 09:49 PM - Environment
October 27, 2004 -
Kyoto Blues and Browns
Russia's decision to ratify the Kyoto Accord has exposed Canada's foolish haste in signing on to this dumb treaty.
There's nothing wrong with the intentions behind Kyoto: responsible stewardship says the nations of the world must work together to clean up the environment; but the treaty itself, and especially the kooky terms we allowed ourselves to be snookered into, make it imperative that Canada try to re-negotiate this dud.
With Russia aboard, the treaty moves automatically into implementation for the signatories, which include Canada.
But Russia's collapsing industrial base means that its atrocious pollution record is already below the 1990 target level. That means that without doing anything to clean up its act, Russia has "pollution credits" to sell on the international market.
Canada, on the other hand, has no mechanism for reaching the utopian goals we've agreed to. So what can we do? The only way we can come into compliance is to buy pollution credits from nations like Russia.
The result? We'll ship a few billion dollars from the Canadian economy into the Russian economy -- without either nation having done a thing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Brilliant!
Meanwhile, we've knee-capped ourselves in terms of competition with our major trading partner, the United States, and the emerging gorillas of international trade, China and India -- none of those three nations (the biggest polluters of all) has any Kyoto obligations.
The rising price of oil will probably protect Alberta from the grotesque manipulations Canada will have to engage in to become Kyoto-compliant. Other provinces -- especially Ontario -- will probably suffer more than Alberta. The hoped-for recovery of Atlantic Canada and BC will be threatened. But the mandarins at Ottawa will continue to pat themselves on the back for being "good global citizens", and bask in Maurice Strong's warm congratulations from Hanna's New Age Ranch in the USA, or from their palatial home in New York or Bermuda or wherever.
Meanwhile, the global environment will continue to worsen, while Canada's ability to clean up its act will actually be curtailed by a shrinking economy.
Vladimir Putin will get Europe's support for Russia's admission to the WTO, China will continue to undercut the North American economy with goods sometimes made with slave labour, and the Great Brown Cloud from Southeast Asia will continue to pollute the air we breathe.
In summary: true environmental stewardship, undertaken by people who understand that we are responsible to manage Creation as trustees for our children, would provide an incentive for corporations and governments to practice excellence in greenhouse gas reduction; true environmental stewards would understand that the Kyoto Accord, while wrong in application, has worthwhile goals; and true environmental stewards will undertake creative thinking in pursuit of those ideals, rather than enabling nations to manipulate their way through the loopholes of non-compliance.
Ron Gray, Leader CHP
On Jan 23 vote CHP, Vote Vicki Gunn
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