Blue Like You

Archive for March 23rd, 2007

National Newswatch reports that several Liberal MP’s including Gerard Kennedy are serving notice of libel against the National Post, Jonathan Kay and “John Doe”.

Can a journalist be forced to reveal his source?

More at Canadian Blue Lemons.

Jack’s Newswatch - The Handwriting is on the Wall.

And an older link to the Navdeep Bains story, which is all intertwined (TDH).

Also, in the March 26 issue of Western Standard, there is a very interesting article titled “Stephane Dion’s Turnaround on Terror”, by Kevin Steel. He refers to Jonathan Kay’s National Post op-ed “citing unnamed sources who claimed deals that played out at the Liberal convention were cut months in advance, and included support from Sikh, Tamil and Muslim organizations, in exchange for a promise to water down the ATA”. The Liberals of course, denied all this.

But this is compelling:

“In a email to the Western Standard, Kay writes that he stands by his unnamed source, who he claims is a person very high up in the Liberal party.” (pg.26)

First we had the Federal budget which veered decidedly towards centre if not slightly left. Then Greg Sorbara brought down the Ontario ‘tax and spend’ budget that moved even further left.

Terence Corcoran of the National Post now looks towards the Toronto budget set to be announced on Monday as the ‘taxathon’ continues. Unfortunately this front page Comment piece is under subscriber lock, but here are a few tidbits:

“… and a rockin’ event it (the budget announcement) will be as Mayor David Miller tries to hold himself in check before he hits the dance floor with the new “fiscal tools” he just got from the province. Let’s see: New tax on drinking, maybe, or a tax on roads or parking lots…

Three levels of government rolling in cash and not a meaningful tax cut in sight, and not one spending program cut that anybody’s announced or noticed…

…The only thing Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbara could say about taxes is that there would be no increases. Even that’s not quite true.

The budget’s call for a $10.25 Ontario minimum wage by 2010 is essentially a plan for a tax increase on low-wage incomes. The new wage will get distributed to people who get the $10.25- an-hour jobs at the expense of people who don’t get jobs at $9 an hour. And that will mean more welfare programs.

“…Much is made of a balanced Ontario budget, as if that were an achievement that took effort in the face of rising tax revenue gains of almost 8% per year. The real effort came in finding the spending opportunities tomatch the ballooning revenues….”

So many more pithy comments. You really need to run out & buy a Post this morning.

Meanwhile, the Sun’s Sue-Ann Levy tells us that His Blondeness almost threw a temper tantrum when he realized that the provincial government was not going to upload more of his social spending programs. Levy states:

He even had the audacity to imply that this might impact on the 3% tax hike (in other words, increase it) built into the 2007 operating budget. “Our budget next week will be extremely difficult,” he said.

…Meanwhile, the mayor arrogantly refuses to put the city’s house in order, to contract out services, to look at creative ways of doing business or to rein in his overpriced union pals. Quite the contrary. The Millerites keep spending as if money is pouring from the heavens…

Back on the provincial front, Lorrie Goldstein asks, why should we believe Dalton anyway?

Even the Red Star does not seem totally enthralled with the Ontario budget.

My guess is that if you are a single, middle class or higher Toronto resident with no kids, you are not a happy camper today.