Blue Like You

I think that part of Stephane Dion’s problem is that he still sees the world from an an academic point of view - If it works in theory, then it should work in real life, no matter what unexpected variable might be thrown into the mix.

This simplistic and rather naive perspective is likely what contributes to his aura of sincerity, but his downfall is that he steadfastly refuses to address the negatives or answer technical questions beyond a theoretical context.

Instead, most questions and criticisms of his carbon tax plan are brushed aside with either a rose-coloured description of how Canadians are intelligent and have ‘big hearts’ - as if that will somehow explain the holes in his platform. (Or else he tells reporters that he’s not talking numbers because they wouldn’t trust him anyway! ) He refuses to even consider the possibility that Canadians will not warm up to it:

…Asked whether his future as Liberal Leader would be imperilled by failing to sell such a complex plan, Mr. Dion denied the plan is complicated.

“I think Mr. Harper is underestimating the intelligence of Canadians, the big hearts of Canadians,” he said. He added that other Conservative Party leaders in the world, including Britain’s David Cameron, have suggested green taxes as a way to fight climate change.

Well, considering that even Dion himself admits that Saskatchewan and Alberta would have to endure the lion’s share of the pain, that would make those residents the most philanthropic citizens in the world if they were to comply. Basically he wants those two provinces to finance his vision for a greener, richer, fairer Canada. His green shaft policy would certainly appear to embody those three peel-ers . I can see why he is so excited to sell the plan.

But would it actually achieve those goals? Terence Corcoran explains how Dion’s policy is not based on solid economic principles, and that similar models in Europe have failed to produce the desired results for carbon emission reductions (Economics only thing shifting):

…He is steadfast in his target — carbon emissions at 20% below 1990 levels by 2020 –even though, as I told him, that would mean removing the equivalent of the entire Canadian transportation (including personal auto use) and the entire electric utility sectors in not much more than a decade.

To get there, Mr. Dion seems to have a clear overview and strategy — how he will negotiate harmonization of his $40-a-tonne carbon plan with British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell’s $30-a-tonne plan to create a $70 joint project; how he will approach a U. S. president to work out a continental cap-and-trade emissions network that Canadian firms could join; how the Green Shift will "be very good for Saskatchewan and Alberta" because the heavy tax loads on their energy producers will prompt them "to invest in Canada more."

Some of this is novel theory, more speculative and fanciful than hard economics. Taxes have never before been seen as a spur to more investment…

Moreover:

…Foreign experience with carbon taxes as economic policy is far from the unequivocal success Mr. Dion talks about. He seemed unaware of the record of job losses and uneven economic performance recorded in Europe in the wake of various environmental taxes and energy price moves. Within specific countries, including Sweden, which the Green Shift plan cites as a model, the role of green taxes is a mixed bag. Alleged boosts to new investment do not take place. And, most telling, the impact on carbon emissions has been limited.

The best and most sobering look at Europe’s green tax experiments is a paper by the Centre for European Policy Studies titled The Political Economy of Environmental Taxation in European Countries. After more than a decade of rampant green taxation and regulation, a sort of lab test for every policy fantasy known to economists and politicians, Europe essentially ended up proving the policies really didn’t work.

(Too much to quote here, but please read the whole article.)

So anyway, there goes 2 of Dion’s three peelers. As for the ‘fairer’ one, well that may be accomplished by a massive wealth transfer to the poor, but is that actually ‘fair’ to the western provinces? Something tells me the answer would be a resounding ‘non’.

Yes, of course we’d all seeing rising prices in everything we use daily, but in the west it would hurt the most. Of course, as one of SDA’s readers (Andrew) noted:

...If Dion becomes Prime Minister, watch Canada meet its Kyoto targets and achieve M. Dion’s reduction targets when Alberta and Saskatchewan leave and take their 40% of "Greenhouse emissions" with them. All of a sudden, the problem is solved.

But how would that leave us ‘richer’, Stephane?

So to sum up Dion’s theory, he feels confident that intelligent, generous Canadians will support his plan.

Well, I guess you’ll have to put me under the dumb and selfish category, because I just don’t get it.

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Update: Post editorial - Liberals are still kicking the West.

And this is a MUST-READ : Lorne Gunter - Dion carbon tax would shaft the west again.

Three BT bloggers assess the reaction of various premiers to Dions’ green shaft:

Steve Janke - No votes? Screw you!

Reid - Green Shaft…

Raphael - How the ‘Green Shift’ is flying around the Premiers.

Mike Duffy is reporting on CTV that Christan Paradis has just rolled up for the swearing-in ceremony.

James Moore is expected.

Developing.

10:45 Update: Duff says Fortier may be moved.

CTV Website update.

11:13 Update: Fortier is being sworn in as Minister of International Trade.

11:16 Paradis is being sworn in as Minister for Public Works.

11:17 Moore is being sworn in for Minister of State for the Pacific Gateway, Olympics and Official Languages.

Kady O’Malley is live-blogging here.

CTV - Cabinet swap sees Emerson shifted, Moore promoted.

Now wait one gol darn minute here.

Didn’t the Liberals enable the Conservative Government’s immigration amendments to pass?

And now Iggy is being sent on a tour of Canada to try and woo back their supposed base by asking for new ideas?

New ideas for what? How to abstain from voting?

"We don’t like what the Conservatives have done on immigration but we want to come with a good plan to propose to Canadians and Michael and Maurizio have decided they will come with recommendations for the party."

The Star points out that the real problem was that somebody didn’t want an election:

…Liberals voiced their outrage but didn’t defeat the immigration change because it would have prompted an unwanted election in July. But their tacit agreement is seen as a further weakening – if not a betrayal – of the Liberal connection to immigrant communities…

And of course, Canadians apparently don’t want an election in the summer - or the fall, or the winter, or the spring…

Rick Mercer’s brilliant song still rings true:

"We’re not afraid to face the electorate. We’re just afraid to face them in the context of an election!"

Dion feels all this cross country touring will help the Liberals really learn how to be an effective opposition:

"Last year we were full of goodwill but we were still a party learning to be an opposition, while the NDP (had been doing) that for decades," he said.

So this is really a sort of an opposition summer school.

Good plan. Looks like they’ll be there for a long, long time.

As Don Martin so eloquently notes , Stephane Dion assisted the Conservatives in passing many substantive bills, and was also instrumental in helping this minority government attain the distinction of "having just beaten the record to become the longest minority reign since the election of 1921."

Dion’s amazing ability to decide when Canadians would not want an election has generated the following Harper accomplishments:

…Having backed away from repeated government invitations to trigger an election –the Throne Speech, budget, Afghan mission extension, crime bills, immigration amendments and even footdragging by the Senate– the Liberals have opted to spend the summer campaigning for a carbon tax instead of their own mandate.

In doing so, they’ve surrendered the best scenario for gaining ground to hopes that an economic downturn in the fall will backlash against the government, a rather morbid plan…

And if you want more highlights, check out Sandy’s list.

However, now that the pressure of having to decide whether or not to bring down the government is safely over for at least the summer, the Wizard of Ozttawa seems to have finally granted Stephane a pair. (Sorry, Garth. Was that offensive?)

Cocky Dion is now challenging Stephen Harper to a televised debate.

Now this is the kind of thing one usually does during an election campaign. However, since Stephane doesn’t seem to want Canadians apparently don’t want an election during any season, this seems rather strange. Who would watch? Who would care?

If Canadians don’t want an election, why would they waste their time indoors watching a debate?

Maybe the Wizard should have concentrated on refining Stephane’s brain instead. He seems to lack a certain je ne sais quoi. Of course in the original story, the Lion and the Straw Man learned that they already had what they were seeking all along.

What’s that old expression? (Sorry, Garth.)

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Somewhat Related Update: Star - Fixing the world by the numbers.

Greg Weston : Dion goes for whiz and shift - Sun. (Honestly, I didn’t steal your idea, Mr. Weston!)

Lorrie Goldstein: It’s about votes, not Mother Earth - Sun.

Randall Denley - Carbon caps vs. intensity targets: discuss. (Ottawa Citizen)

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Monday Update: Matt from ASTTR has a shifty new widget for you.

And from comments - The Librano$ are BAAaack!

Nik Nanos - Dions’ risky move:

Polling shows that Canadians are concerned about the environment but that when a price tag is attached, voters become more skittish.

ChuckerCanuk: The Dion Debating Society.

Stelmach slams Dion’s green plan - Canoe.

Sandy and Matt have uncovered a copyright issue with the Green Shift! Heading National Newswatch at the moment!! Also at Jack’s Newswatch. Well done!

H/T to National Newswatch for this one - Bernier has no memory of leaving documents: (Globe )

"He doesn’t remember forgetting them, that’s the question," one source said. "He doesn’t know if he forgot them or if it’s her who would have taken them. That’s why he doesn’t want to say anything and he’s waiting for the review to do its work."

This is something that I’ve been wondering about for some time. What if Couillard actually took the documents from his briefcase? Or could it have been a plan carried out by Couillard with the aide of some Liberal-supporting, disenchanted bureaucrats within Foreign Affairs?

The motive of the Bernier-haters is clear. But what about Mme Couillard? What would have been her motive other than possible revenge if she felt the relationship was threatened?

Meanwhile the focus is intensifying around the ‘lobbyist’ actions of Julie Couillard herself (Gazette ):

Opposition MPs are calling for the federal government’s lobbyist watchdog to launch an investigation into whether Julie Couillard violated government regulations by trying to influence government officials without registering as a lobbyist.

Liberal Bob Rae and Bloc Québécois MP Pierre Paquette both said they think Canada’s Registrar of Lobbyists should look into whether Couillard broke the rules when she reportedly tried to first influence Bernard Côté, a senior advisor to Public Works Minister Michael Fortier, and then-Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier to help Quebec-based Kevlar Group get the contract for a new federal office building in Quebec City.

"I don’t know if she did, but I believe that it merits questions and an inquiry," said Rae.

Liberal Ujjal Dosanjh said the new facts coming to light in the case mean the foreign affairs department inquiry simply isn’t good enough to get to the bottom of the affair.

"This thing has spread to all the various departments. I mean, how can a Mickey Mouse foreign affairs review deal with a government-wide inquiry when experts tell us that they’re not equipped to even inquire into themselves."

For once I agree with the opposition here. How can Foreign Affairs possibly investigate itself with any credibility?

And more attention has to be paid to Kevlar’s role in all of this (Star ):

…Later that year, Kevlar co-president Philippe Morin introduced her to Maxime Bernier, the Tory MP for Beauce who was then the industry minister…

What an interesting coincidence!

One thing for sure, if any politician sees Julie Couillard walking down the street, best to take off in the opposite direction as quickly as possible.

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Related: Don Martin - No longer prurient curiosity.

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Monday Update : Couillard affair points to need for review of security clearances by L. Ian Macdonald.

Wednesday Update: RCMP may probe Couillard affair - Post .

Friday Update: Bernier to talk! - Globe.

Don Martin’s comment piece in today’s National Post has been bugging me all day (Harper looks to woo soccer moms) and I couldn’t figure out why. Then the answer start bubbling up through my consciousness. - His sexist attitude is showing again.

Remember when he was telling Helena Guergis how she should be acting under certain circumstances and when she was allowed to show emotion, and so on? Well, now he’s trying to tell us that Harper’s concern for human health and consumer safety is an attempt to “crack the estrogen voting code”!!!

Never mind that there may actually be the odd male out there who cares about his baby’s health or if that apple juice he’s giving his toddler really comes from Canada even though it’s labeled as “Product of Canada “.

But here’s the best one:

…But the overarching point of all this is that all three initiatives cater to soccer mom and Tim Hortons sensibilities — voters who don’t fret over young offender legislation, mandatory sentences or 99% of all those Conservative ideological priorities …

Get that, ladies? You don’t need to worry your purdy little heads about crime, and complicated stuff like that. Let the menfolk deal with it.

Perhaps it’s time for the Post to send old Don off for some sensitivity training …

Garth Turner is starting to sound a tad ticked off.

But an MP calling a female reporter a ‘weaselette’ ?

…I watched on television as weaselette Jane Taber told a breathless Mike Duffy all about the actual slides I used in my PowerPoint presentation to national caucus on May 14th, the reaction of female colleagues to my “tasteless” display and the whupping I took from Dion himself…

Bad form, Garth.

To be honest, Jane Taber is not one of my favourite reporters/television hosts, but Garth Turner is a Liberal Member of Parliament, and as such he represents the Liberal party. To call Jane a "weaselette" is quite distasteful. Well, even if he had called Craig Oliver a weasel, I’d be offended. Name-calling should be regulated to kindergarten and the House of Commons. Actually, that might be offensive to five-year-olds, so I take that back.

I think Garth owes Jane an apology. Can you imagine the ruckus that would occur if a Conservative MP had said such a thing? It’s beyond me why most of the MSM still seem to support the Liberals.

Oh well, maybe I’m over-reacting. At least he didn’t call her a political whore .

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Update : More at Catnip in the Mash . (That is such a cool name!)

And Steve Janke had a post on this a few days ago - Jane Taber’s weasel report on Garth Turner .

I’m having some difficulty deciphering Chantal Hébert’s column this morning - Canada’s Natural Opposition Party.

…Part of the reason for this self-defeating state of affairs may be that the Prime Minister and his coterie of advisers hail from the protest side of the conservative movement.

It is the first time in modern Canadian history that the right wing of the Conservative party produced a prime minister. Whatever institutional memory of government the party may have rests with its progressive wing. But while not all so-called Red Tories have opted to stay out of the tent, in Harper’s peculiar world, they are often as suspect as the Liberals.

Is she trying to say that the Conservative party’s fortunes in Government are adversely affected by a stronger ex-Alliance control at the expense of the Red Tories? If so, I can’t agree.

Granted, the former Progressive Conservative caucus members may have more experience in Government, but I don’t agree that they are being shut out of the limelight. Names like Peter MacKay and Jim Prentice come to mind.

And as for the notion that the Tories are spinning their wheels and seem more comfortable in opposition, I offer Sandy’s impressive list of the Harper Government’s accomplishments as evidence to the contrary.

Chantel, I’ll be patiently waiting for a list of accomplishments by the ‘Natural Governing Party’ . Let me get it started for you.

• Same-sex marriage.
• Canadian Charter of Rights and Entitlements .
• Lowering carbon emissions (Didn’t get it done).

Carry on…

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Update : Jack’s Newswatch - Daily Blogger .

Just a few final (I hope) thoughts on the latest soap-on-the-hill. The NDP’s Paul Dewar has it right :

"I’m more concerned about (Bernier’s) ability to do the job because of his credentials as Foreign Affairs minister than I am in his pillow talk."

I have to admit that I’m less than impressed with Bernier, but do we really want to start investigating every Cabinet Minister’s significant others in titillating detail (past and present)? I really don’t think we want to go there.

However, we do need a competent Minister of Foreign Affairs, and I think Paul Dewar has every right to present any legitimate concerns in a respectful manner.

There is a very fine line between the public and personal lives of politicians. How we determine that boundary is exactly what defines us as Canadians.

David Akin has some very interesting tidbits to divulge about the Liberal’s ‘Sky is the Limit’ Fundraiser in February.. (H/T National Newswatch )

This information is strictly for the politically-obsessed , but I’ll tell you one thing. I’ll never again be caught sipping a Sleeman’s while reading a Margaret Atwood novel.