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Archive of entries posted on 8th November 2008

Big Three Bailouts?

Posted by Joanne on 8 November 2008, 10:13 pm

Should Canada follow the U.S. lead regarding auto-sector aid?

As with most online articles these days, the interesting parts are the comments. For example, this Wheels.ca site has some readers who are really cutting to the chase:

GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT BAIL OUT GM

It is not the Governments responsibility to bail out the private sector. For far too long GM has built gas guzzling unreliable vehicles in comparison to the Japanese car makers. The Unions haven’t helped out either with their high salary demands that forced the manufacturer to cave in to avoid a strike. Unions are too greedy and demand wages way out of line with other private sectors. These workers for the most part do not have University degrees but expect to be paid like lawyers. Sorry but they got themselves in this situation along with the greedy unions and only the strong will survive this current economy.

Of course, those working in the industry obviously would prefer any help they can get.

Surprisingly, CBC’s Don Pitts seems to favour the free-market approach in "The Trouble with bailouts". Quite a good article, actually.

And why haven’t unions been asked for concessions? Or has the situation gone way beyond this stage?

There’s a good comment at Conservative Minded that addresses the union issue:

What annoys me about the canadian big-3 CAW workers is that during the bad-times they whine about tax-payer bail-outs as some kind of entitlement, but once the Big-3 start to show a profit we her the CAW whine about wanting a raise and better pension and benefits as if the profits are THEIR money and not the private shareholders dividend cheques…

Well, time for my readers to chime in here. I know there are several of you who work in the auto industry, so what do you think?

And what about the others?

Is the auto industry worth trying to save or are we just throwing good money after bad?

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Monday Update: Daimnation! The case against a bailout.

PM hints at auto bailout – Wheels.

Tuesday Update: MDL and the auto industry analysis.

Filed under Canadian Politics, Canadian economy, U.S. politics.
33 Comments

Is it time to dethrone Milliken?

Posted by Joanne on 8 November 2008, 10:04 am

The Globe’s Gloria Galloway and Bill Curry report that Peter Milliken’s job as Speaker may not be a shoo-in this time around.

There is lots of interest and the main contenders seem to be the following:

Conservatives – Merv Tweed and Andrew Scheer

Liberals – Peter Milliken (of course) and now Marcel Proux, whom Judy Sgro is endorsing:

"I think the House has been not managed well when it comes to discipline and allowing too many questions, frankly, that were out of order and not keeping the behaviour to the pattern that I would like to see," she said.

"I think that part of the disrespect that’s happening in the House is the fact that the Speaker is not keeping control, and I don’t see the other two [Conservatives] that have put their names in [as] capable of doing it either."

Well, this is an important job, and really speaks to the tone and fairness of Parliament. The Speaker must be objective in his decisions and maintain at least the civility of a Kindergarten class.

Frankly, I’m not familiar with the three listed contenders, but Kady O’Malley has found two more names to throw into the mix: Conservative Barry Devolin and (surprise!) NDP Joe Comartin.

Of Comartin, Kady says the following:

Full disclosure: ITQ will be rooting against him all the way to the final ballot for the very simple reason that the House needs more opposition MPs like Joe Comartin, not less. (Sorry, Joe. We mean it in the best way possible.)

Well, I agree with Kady that Joe Comartin is a very valuable resource in Parliament, but wouldn’t the NDP candidate be the best possible outcome here? His legal background is a real plus, and he is well-respected among his colleagues on the Hill. He also does not belong to either of the top two parties and therefore would be less susceptible to bias.

One thing for sure, and this of course is my own opinion: Peter Milliken has had a long enough time in the Speaker’s chair (dare I use the word ‘complacent’?).

Let’s have a fresh start and get some civility back in the House of Commons.

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Update: On the other hand, what if Comartin’s bid for the Speaker’s chair is part of the secret NDP conspiracy theory to take down the Conservative government and form a Coalition?

Or am I spending way too much time thinking about politics?

Filed under Canadian Politics, Federal politics, Too many Fools on the Hill.
28 Comments