Skip to content
Archive of posts filed under the Ontario economy category.
« Older Entries

Token McGuinty throne speech post

Posted by Joanne on 9 March 2010, 8:15 pm

Let’s remember that Dalton McGuinty’s throne speech is just the rough framework of the plan.  All the meat is sure to follow., right?

And yes, I’m not the only one living in Wonderland. Dalton obviously is too.

I’m just biding my time – with gritted teeth. What can you do? The Mad Hatter is in charge.

*   *   *   *

Related:

Tim Hudak fires up PCs to take on ‘reckless’ Ontario Liberals – Globe:

Ontario needs the Progressive Conservatives to clean up after a “reckless failed” Liberal government, Opposition Leader Tim Hudak said Saturday as he fired up the Tory troops for the 2011 election.

Mr. Hudak unleashed a blistering attack on Premier Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals during his keynote address to about 1,000 delegates at the Conservatives’ annual general meeting in Ottawa, with the theme “Ontario can lead again.”

“Our economy may have fallen apart — but our lawns are perfectly pesticide free,” said Hudak. “Our factories may be closing — but Ontario is protected from the menace of the plastic grocery bag.”

*   *   *   *

Wednesday Update:

Advice for Tim Hudak: Beware the coasting trap – Adam Daifallah.

And from Alice in Wonderland to The Exorcist – Double-talk Dalton McGuinty – Christina Blizzard:

Premier Dalton McGuinty just pulled off the fastest head spin since Linda Blair grossed us all out in The Exorcist.

One minute the premier thought mining was a dying industry. The next, it’s alive and saving the economy.

In a news conference Feb. 11, McGuinty had this to say:
“In a highly competitive, knowledge-based global economy, we are not going (to) succeed in Ontario by pulling stuff out of the ground.

“Our natural resource sector is very important to us but we know that future growth will come on the basis of the development of our imaginations in innovative capacities.”

By Monday’s throne speech, McGuinty had put his imagination to good use — and changed his mind. His message was mining will save the northern economy.

“In 2008, northern Ontario became home to our first diamond mine.

“Your government will build on that success — particularly in the region known as the Ring of Fire.”

The speech went on to enthuse about the large chromite deposits found there. Chromite is key to the manufacture of stainless steel.

So, within four short weeks, “pulling stuff out of the ground” had gone from a dead-end business to our great stainless steel future…

*    *   *    *

Thursday Update

Green Energy Bubbles – Terence Corcoran:

…While investment analysts are telling their clients to get out of solar power firms and warning about the continuing risks in wind and bioenergy schemes, Ottawa and the provinces are on a mad populist stampede to throw billions of dollars at the green energy monster. The politicians don’t seem to be keeping up with the trends...

This is a must-read!

*   *   *   *

Friday Update

Time to privatize – Jack Mintz (FP):

…In its recent Throne Speech, the Ontario government announced it will seek to attract more international post-secondary students who pay exorbitant fees for the privilege of studying in over-crowded classrooms with students who only pay a fraction of their education costs. The province will also set up an online university with the best Ontario professors to teach people at home, maybe to make room for all those new international students.

These initiatives are not as good as they sound. If universities generate more teaching revenues with privatized-like programs, they will eventually shift their best teaching faculty to those programs to satisfy demands. I suppose the low-fee-paying students will get what they pay for but it does raise issues as to what governments are trying to achieve with post-secondary education — accessibility or quality…

Filed under Accountability, Dalton McGuinty, Ontario Politics, Ontario economy, Ontario government, Ours to Recover, Premier Hudak in 2011, Tim Hudak, Voter cynicism, Your tax-dollars.
19 Comments

But can we wish away Al Gore?

Posted by Joanne on 2 March 2010, 7:54 am

There is no shortage of point-by-point criticisms of Al Gore’s New York Times Op-ed, We Can’t Wish Away Climate Change.

My first thought after reading his steaming pile of rhetoric was why did he set himself up for the inevitable drudging?   Or does he actually believe that we’re that stupid?

And how is it that the alarmists can continue to hold him up as some kind of prophet and still keep a straight face while they warn us all of impending doom?

Anyway, here are some of the better fisks that I’ve come across. If you find more please let share them in comments. Thanks.

Al’s latest global-warming whopper – Alan Reynolds, New York Post

Al Gore’s weird, disconnected op-ed on climate change – Rick Moran, American Thinker

Al Gore Comes Out of Hiding and Gets a Fisking – Bluegrass Pundit

EXCLUSIVE: Inhofe Blasts Gore Over Climategate – Connie Hair, Human Events

But in response to Gore’s statement that “what is at stake is our ability to use the rule of law as an instrument of human redemption”,   Bill Kristol said it most succinctly:

“Redemption comes from God, not Gore.”

* * * *

Related

More inconvenient news for the global warming alarmists:

UN’s climate link to hurricanes in doubt – Times Online

Cyclone climate link rejected – The Australian

El Nino killed Costa Rican toad, not global warming – Oneindia

British scientist in climate row admits ‘awful’ emails – Sydney Morning Herald

‘The Acceleration of Disbelief,’ Starring ‘Floor Mat’ Al Gore - Big Journalism (this is a must-read)

So is this one: Climategate: ‘a lot of common data’ – Phil Jones exposes AGW dominoes to Commons committee – Gerald Warner, Telegraph:

...And oh, yes – one further interesting fact emerged from yesterday’s Select Committee grilling. Professor Edward Acton, the Vice-Chancellor of the “University” of East Anglia, now thinks more money should be devoted to researching the Mediaeval Warm Period. So apparently it exists after all.

Who knew?

*   *   *   *

Local ‘Green Energy’ issues:

Wind farm faces opposition – Guelph Mercury article via Windaction

Ontario power risk – Parker Gallant, Full Comment

*   *   *   *

*   *   *   *

Wednesday Update

Welcome Jack’s Newswatch readers!  And please check out Crux of the Matter – Trust Conservative gov’t timetable to refute AGW.

Peter Foster: Climate snow jobs – FP Comment

Wind power the worst kind of mirage – Henk Tennekes, FP

*   *   *   *

Friday – Saturday Update

Waiting to hear ‘we’re sorry’ – John Robson, Ottawa Citizen

Blowing away taxpayers – Michael Trebilcock, Financial Post

Filed under AGW, Al Gore, Arrogance, Big Environment, Big Green, Carbon Shaft, Climategate, Copenhagen, Dalton McGuinty, Follow the money, Global Warming, Ontario economy, Propaganda, Science/tech, UN, Wind farms, Your tax-dollars, climate change, economy, environment, environmentalists, scandals.
45 Comments

It could be worse

Posted by Joanne on 13 February 2010, 8:27 am

So now we find out via Terence Corcoran that it’s the GST that Ed Clark and his buddies want to see hiked – CEOs unite for GST hike.

We also know that the Federal Liberals have been ruminating on this for some time now.  It’s part of their ‘adult’ conversation.

Meanwhile, Dalton McGuinty is worrying about how to sell the upcoming HST. I think I have a slogan for him:

HST – At least Liberals aren’t the Government in Ottawa too.

Filed under Banks, Canadian Government, Canadian economy, Dalton McGuinty, Iffy, Lemmings love taxes, Liberal Party of Donolo, Liberal Party of Toronto, Ontario economy, Ontario government, Your tax-dollars.
54 Comments

Smart meters and other dumb ideas

Posted by Joanne on 18 January 2010, 8:10 am

In Dalton McGuinty’s world, the path out of an economic recession seems to be a plan to raise taxes, raise utility costs, discourage investment, kill jobs, and drive down consumer demand due to lack of disposable income.  Seems rather counter-intuitive to me.

One of these ‘brilliant’ ideas is the smart meter, which we were hoodwinked into believing would help us lower electrical costs. There is no choice here. We are being forced to use them, yet Lorrie Goldstein points out the inconvenient truth in his recent column Why power pricing is off the grid:  [H/T Richco]

…Reporters describe a “gaffe” in politics as what happens when someone in government accidentally tells the truth.

That appeared to happen recently when an aide to interim Energy Minister Gerry Phillips, responding to a report by Sun Media’s Jonathan Jenkins that most Toronto Hydro customers are seeing their electricity bills increase following the installation of smart meters, noted: “The smart meters are more about creating awareness of energy use, rather than helping people to save money.”

Bingo! After years of double talk by McGuinty and Co. about saving money by doing our laundry at 3 a.m., somebody finally told the truth…

This is only one of several initiatives that seems not only disingenuous in how it’s being sold to the public, but strangely timed as well. Lorrie calls McGuinty’s policies ‘insane and misleading’. The insane part refers to how all this is likely to cause even greater hardship as Ontario struggles out of the recession:

…Insane because no government in its right mind would do what McGuinty is doing in the middle of a deep recession, which is to send electricity prices skyrocketing.

How? By (a) hiking prices 8% on July 1 under his Harmonized Sales Tax (b) pushing Ontario into a regional cap-and-trade market in carbon dioxide emissions with a handful of other provinces and U.S. states (c) yelling at Stephen Harper to get ahead of Barack Obama in creating a North American cap-and-trade market and (d) forcing us to subsidize expensive and (as yet) unreliable renewable energy under his new Green Energy Act.

All four of these initiatives amount to the same thing — putting new consumption taxes on electricity and sending prices through the roof in a province reeling from a multi-year, job-killing recession, which has gutted its manufacturing sector.

Worse, because electricity is used to create so many goods and services in an industrialized economy, these will in many ways be new taxes on everything….

Aside from the economic issues, privacy concerns have been raised as well regarding the smart meters.

So here we have Dalton McGuinty forcing intrusive, expensive initiatives on us that will raise our cost of living, delay the economic recovery and increase our dependence on other provinces. McGuinty has a majority and can therefore do anything he likes.  He uses our money to make his problems go away.

And yet they call Stephen Harper the dictator.

Filed under Accountability, Auto Industry, Big Environment, Big Green, Dalton McGuinty, Energy, Flicking politicians, Follow the money, Goldstein, HST, Just trust Dalton, Liberal arrogance, Nanny State, Ontario economy, Ours to Recover, Premier Hudak in 2011, Stephen Harper, Your tax-dollars, democracy.
34 Comments

While you were busy hating Harper…

Posted by Joanne on 6 January 2010, 4:43 pm

Dalton McGuinty’s been busy pulling some fast ones.

And Kelly McParland is trying to wake us up – – Sleepland Ontario. Why buy a government anywhere else?.

Or should voters only be roused from their ‘apathy’ when it involves a Conservative government?

*   *   *   *

Thursday Update:

Kelly McParland: The high cost of Dalton McGuinty native terror:

…$64 million? Not including the original payment to the developers, and whatever the government eventually paid to Chatwell and Brown.

Well done, Dalton McGuinty. A responsible use of taxpayers’ money, no question at all.

Would you like some HST with that?

Filed under Caledonia, Dalton McGuinty, HST, Liberal arrogance, Ontario economy, Ontario government, Ours to Recover, grassroots power.
21 Comments

A little levity in the face of HST pain

Posted by Joanne on 9 December 2009, 9:39 pm

If you can’t beat ‘em, laugh yourself silly.

(H/T Darryl Wolk)

*   *   *   *

Thursday Update (Related Links):

Why Dalton is NOT to blame for the HST – Kerry Forrest

Somewhat related: Queen’s Park audit hurts Liberals – Record

Filed under Dalton McGuinty, HST, Ontario economy, Ontario government, Ours to Recover, Premier Hudak in 2011.
7 Comments

Don’t ask me – I’m just the Premier

Posted by Joanne on 6 December 2009, 9:00 pm

Dalton McGuinty tries to assuage our worries about the HST in an interview with two Ottawa Citizen reporters (H/T Always Right):

Pilieci: These 600,000 jobs you keep referring to, let’s take that number at face value: Where are those jobs going to come from? What parts of the economy? How is the HST going to stimulate that growth?

[McGuinty]:

Well, you have to ask detailed questions of Jack Mintz. But, what I do know of the study is that it was peer reviewed by four economists. If people object to the study, if they feel that this is somehow unreliable, then they need to produce their study and they need to have it peer reviewed by their colleagues. I know there are a lot of conversations around breakfast tables and the water cooler, but I think it’s important to inform our opinion so we know what we are talking about.

Yeah, Dalton doesn’t know but apparently Jack Mintz has the info.

And what about this ‘peer reviewed‘ stuff?   Sounds familiar.  Where have we heard that before?

Filed under Dalton McGuinty, HST, Lemmings love taxes, Ontario economy, Ours to Recover.
5 Comments

Furious George runs for mayor

Posted by Joanne on 9 November 2009, 9:30 am

Please take one for for the team, Toronto.

We don’t want him back.

*   *   *   *

Update:

‘Furious George’ Smitherman was the premier’s enforcer - Jim Coyle

…That Furious George was, as the Star’s Robert Benzie has reported, “gang-tackled” by his cabinet colleagues on the concessions he was making to Samsung was remarkable.

That word of this leaked out spoke volumes about the declining regard in which he was held…

Somewhat related - McGuinty blows smoke on wind – Lorrie Goldstein

(H/T)

Good Riddance, Smitherman. You can have him, Toronto. – Wind Concerns Ontario

And straight out of Bizarro World: Warren Kinsella votes Tory (Globe)

*   *   *   *

Sunday Update:

Lobbyist played dual role – Sun:

The Toronto Centre Liberal riding association raised nearly $430,000 for George Smitherman in 2008 — the same year its president, Jason Grier, lobbied ministries Smitherman led for a long list of corporate and government clients.

The vice-president of Canadian communications consultancy firm Hill and Knowlton has been the volunteer head of the riding association since March 11, 2008 — where he oversaw a successful fundraising campaign that has made it by far the richest in the party — dwarfing even Premier Dalton McGuinty’s riding…

Filed under Dalton McGuinty, Energy, Goldstein, Ontario Politics, Ontario economy, Toronto, Wind farms, environment, health, scandals.
27 Comments

What does that say about Iffy?

Posted by Joanne on 31 October 2009, 7:35 pm

Michael Ignatieff on Dalton McGuinty’s full-day kindergarten scheme:

“When I see a Dalton McGuinty get up in the teeth of a recession, in the teeth of a deficit, and commit to full-day kindergarten, I am proud to be a Liberal,” he told the crowd.

Be afraid, Canada. Be very afraid.

*   *   *   *

Update: More from Sandy – Why McGuinty all-day Kindergarten is flawed.

Sunday Update: Ailing Liberals keep looking for a miracle cure – Angelo Persichilli

We can’t afford all-day JK/SK – John Snobelen

Filed under Canadian economy, Dalton McGuinty, Iffy, Michael Ignatieff, Ontario economy, Unions, Your tax-dollars, education.
127 Comments

Sticking it to seniors and the poor

Posted by Joanne on 23 October 2009, 7:31 am

This news item deserves a lot of attention by advocacy groups for seniors and the poor – Cuts may hit seniors, welfare recipients.

It seems that the McSlippery government had secretly hired consultants to try to find some savings in the public drug plan, according to a Sun Media report. That would directly impact those who can least afford it:

Pinned under a $25-billion deficit, the Dalton McGuinty government has secretly hired cost-cutting consultants to go over the public drug plan for seniors and welfare recipients, Sun Media has learned.

The contract with McKinsey and Co. was so under wraps that health ministry officials initially denied its existence, and then when pressed refused to release the consultants’ recommendations or the cost of the contract to the Sun.

Health Minister Deb Matthews later overruled her staff and allowed the contract’s $750,000 price tag to be revealed…

So they are paying consultants to try to fix their massive deficit at the expense of the poor and the elderly.  How low can the McGuinty government go?

All this after the eHealth scandal and other mismanagement.  It’s enough to make you sick, but you can’t afford it.

Meanwhile, frills like all-day Kindergarten get the green light.

When will Ontario voters finally wake up?

And even if the electorate finally does end up throwing the bums out, how much more irrevocable damage can Dalton McGuinty and his henchmen inflict before judgment day?

*   *   *   *

Saturday Update:

‘Dalton Days’? McGuinty weighs deficit-busting options – Star

Expect provincial spending cuts to make matters worse - Thomas Walkom (Star):

…The real lesson of the Rae-Harris period is that governments should not fret overly about deficits until employment is cooking again.

But this may not be the lesson Duncan has drawn. He and Premier Dalton McGuinty are more likely to follow the more orthodox approach suggested by TD Bank chief economist Don Drummond. (Duncan referred approvingly to him several times on Thursday.)

Drummond, as he told me in an email, argues that Ontario should, in inflation-adjusted terms, reduce spending per capita and, in particular, institute unspecified health reforms aimed at saving money. Such arguments will probably carry weight with McGuinty…

Unspecified health reforms?? What?

Like cutting off access to certain drugs needed by seniors and the poor?

Act now to fight Ontario’s deficit – Record Editorial:

…The only option left to this government, then, is to control its costs. Yet, while Duncan talks vaguely about belt-tightening, he offers no specifics while confirming that, yes, this government will follow through with another new and big-spending plan — all-day junior and senior kindergarten. Clearly, this government’s default mode is signing more taxpayer funded cheques…

*   *   *   *

Sunday Update: Six months of dithering won’t slay Ontario’s deficit – Randall Denley

*   *   *   *

Tuesday Update:
A special kind of incompetence – Tim Hudak (Post)

Filed under Dalton Days, Dalton McGuinty, Health care, Incompetence, Ontario economy, Ours to Recover, Tim Hudak, scandals.
25 Comments
« Older Entries