Right Or Wrong Harris Did What He Promised Voters....

....but those who voted for change are still still blaming him rather than admit they make a huge mistake in electing Dullton.

Where's welfare reform? Three months ago, Premier Dalton McGuinty acknowledged that our welfare rules "stomp" people into the ground, hurting them and Ontario's economy. He was right.

The Real Villiam Is The Premier And Health Minister(s)

In defence of eHealth's CEO

I Said It Before - The Fish Stinks At The Head

eHealth scandal reaches Premier's inner circle

VINCE TALOTTA/TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO

Sarah Kramer received a bonus of $114,000 five months after starting her job as eHealth CEO.

by Tanya Talaga, Robert Benzie, Rob Ferguson

52 min. ago

Key members of Dalton McGuinty's inner circle are surfacing in the eHealth Ontario spending scandal, documents obtained by the Star show.

McGuinty defends chairman

Coyle: John Tory sowed seeds

Chairman next on hot seat

I Agree But Let's Increase % Cdn. Content

Don't abandon streetcar deal

May 24, 2009
There has been no shortage of big money announcements supporting Toronto public transit in recent weeks. Indeed, it seems almost churlish to complain that Queen's Park and Ottawa haven't done enough when billions of dollars ...

Tories Have "Attack Ads" Liberals Shield Those Breaking The Law

Loyal Tamil backers could march over to NDP, Liberals fear
As protesters rallied at Queen's Park, the Tamils' plight dominated the weekly Liberal caucus meeting, with MPPs urging Premier Dalton McGuinty to support a politically loyal community.

They Also Promised 4000 New Nurses

Ontario to provide $100-million to keep top scientists from departing for U.S.

They Don't Have Enough On Their Plate??

Like a deer in the headlights
By LORRIE GOLDSTEIN
I can hardly wait until the Canadian, Ontario and U.S. governments have seats on the boards of Chrysler and, in all probability, GM, in return for investing billions of taxpayers' dollars in the financially troubled companies.

Let's Not Forget McGinty's Broken Promises On Autism,,,,

Support Bill C360, a PMB for Autism Services
While I fully support the Private Members Bill introduced recently on April 3rd, 2009 by NDP MP Glenn Thibeault (Sudbury), I do so on a non-partisan basis. I say that because I have read comments at a number of autism-oriented websites that simply use the opportunity to criticize the Harper Conservative government. And, that serves no [...]
Crux of the Matter

Another Stat-Apply The Law Of The Land

Another night of gunfire

By CHRIS DOUCETTE, SUN MEDIA

A man was injured by gunfire last night in the same west-end neighbourhood where two other men have already been killed this week.

Explains How He Got Elected

New bag fee will be taxed
By SUE-ANN LEVY, TORONTO SUN
Come June 1, it appears Toronto consumers will be forced to pay not just a 5 cents fee on the plastic shopping bags they use to transport their purchases -- but taxes on that fee, too

That is the word from both the province and the federal government, according to documents obtained by the Toronto Sun.
Both the province and the feds consider plastic bags that must be purchased as "taxable goods." As such, they will be subject to the Ontario Retail Sales Tax (RST) if the total transaction in question is more than 21 cents and the GST, which will be calculated based on the total amount of taxable goods purchased.
So much for declarations from the King of Climate Change -- Mayor David Miller -- that no new taxes are associated with his latest crusade to reduce the number of coffee cups, plastic shopping bags and take-out food containers that go into landfill.
Mind you, I never for a moment bought his contentions that the 5 cents fee to be imposed in a little over a month on all Toronto retailers who provide plastic bags for their merchandise -- your favourite grocery, drug and convenience stores, news stands, fashion outlets, big-box and electronics stores -- was not a tax.
Socialist Silly Hall may not be collecting the tax. But the fee has been foisted on retailers and consumers -- during very tough times -- and the large grocery stores stand to cash in to the tune of as much as $44 million extra per year because of it.
I'm told retailers are gearing up for June 1, whether they like it or not.
Karin Campbell, manager of corporate affairs for Walmart Canada, said 11 stores in the GTA will begin charging a nickel per plastic bag as of June 1.
But they're not making the change chain-wide because their customers are facing tough economic times.
"We don't think this is the right time to be charging money for bags," she said. "Our focus is on raising awareness of the benefits of using reusable bags."
Campbell noted their 97 cents reusable bag is the equivalent of three shopping bags.
Gary Sands, v-p of the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers (representing such outlets as Longo's, Highland Farms and Pusateri's) said while most of his members are getting ready for the June implementation of the plastic bag tax, he's not sure convenience stores and fast-food outlets are prepared.
"It is our belief not everybody is aware of this," he said, noting that the requirement to add GST and PST to the bag is a "recipe for chaos" for small convenience stores and groceterias.
Meanwhile on a more upbeat note, members of the $50,000 Hot Drink Cup Task Force say that following a three-hour meeting early last week, they're feeling more positive an option may be found other than banning the current paper coffee and tea cups that use plastic lids.
Stephanie Jones, v-p Ontario of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association, said it was the "first time" the city was "definitively" looking at alternatives to the tax-and-ban approach introduced last November (the former being a plan to order industry players to give clients supplying a refillable mug a 20 cents rebate on their purchase.)
Nick Javor, senior v-p of corporate affairs at Tim Hortons, said they saw some "positive attitudes" towards looking at the challenges of sorting the cup and lid and how the recycled materials can be processed for a proper end-use market.
OPTION FOR CONSUMERS
"Our position hasn't changed ... that our cup is recyclable," he said, noting if consumers are given an option to sort the lid from the cup, they will.
"It was the first time that the time and effort put in (by the Task Force) may result in a workable solution," Jones added.
Even Coun. Glenn De Baeremaeker, who has been consistently married to reinventing a coffee cup that has both paper cup and lid and can be accepted into the blue bin, seems to be open to alternatives.
"All options are on the table," he said. "I want to work in close cooperation with everybody to come up with what is the very best solution."

Define Harmony

Harmony can be defined as unity in feeling or views. Whenever there is an atmosphere of mutual understanding and conformation of opinions, it gives rise to a harmonious environment. Does anyone in their right mind feel that "No New Taxes McGinty" has a dictionary?

Lack of harmony on taxes
For the most part, free market think tanks and conservative advocacy groups are allies in the war against big government.But typically, they part ways when it comes to one issue: consumption taxes.Think tanks, and for that matter most economists, tend to support consumption taxes as more efficient and more business friendly.Advocacy groups, on the other hand, see them as nothing but a tax grab.We see this difference of opinion playing out right now in Ontario, where the Liberal government is in the process of "harmonizing" the PST and the GST.The think tanky C.D. Howe Institute thinks it's a great idea, whereas the advocacy-oriented Canadian Taxpayers Federation says it's a disaster.I remember a similar split happening back in 1989 when the Mulroney government was implementing the Goods and Services Tax.At the time I was working for the National Citizens Coalition and one day we held a meeting to determine our stance.Somebody at the meeting noted that the Fraser Institute had come out in favour of the GST for all sorts of valid reasons, so perhaps the NCC should too.At which point, our political consultant snorted: "The NCC can never, ever come out in favour of a tax. Your supporters would revolt!"So we bashed the GST like crazy -- which upset some economists but made our supporters very happy.
Posted by Gerry Nicholls

Cool It! What is $647 Million

Stand Up If You Voted For Change

Critics roast McGuinty government over $647M boondoggleThe Ontario government is under fire from opposition critics who say it squandered $647 million in the creation of an aborted electronic health records agency.

Goose Step Might Be More Appropriate

Things Have Changed But Not Attitudes

McGuinty, Miller move in lockstep


April 02, 2009 Royson James
Even the best of friends sometimes have disagreements that lead to an exchange of cross words, if not blows. But they don't let it stand in the way of a good friendship, much less business.
Such is the case with Premier Dalton McGuinty and Mayor David Miller, the Bill Davis-Paul Godfrey of the current political scene.
Earlier this week, Miller issued a tersely worded news release condemning McGuinty's decision to remove all politicians, including the Toronto mayor, from Metrolinx, the transit board the province set up to deliver on a massive remake and expansion of transit in the Toronto-Hamilton region.
Yesterday it was all smiles and handshakes and an abundance of praise from Miller. McGuinty announced $4.6 billion for the Eglinton LRT, $1.2 billion for the Finch West LRT, and $1.4 billion for the Scarborough RT – plus $1.4 billion for dedicated bus lanes in York Region and a Hamilton transit study.
"There couldn't be a more significant announcement for a 21st century city," Miller gushed. "I'm proud of the premier."
From the day in 2002 McGuinty told the Star if he became premier he planned to become a friend of Toronto – because he wanted the province's economic engine firing on all cylinders – McGuinty has sought out the path of least resistance for the city.
Miller, in search of the anti-Harris to counter the damaging years of the Conservative regime that preceded McGuinty, has found a willing partner in McGuinty. Whereas Mike Harris treated Toronto as dog doo-doo on his loafers, under McGuinty the province and the city walk in lockstep.
Yesterday was the latest exhibit in mutual respect and friendship. Miller and McGuinty sat together in a Vaughan bus garage, where the province was announcing it was about to deliver on transit.
McGuinty announced the delivery of $9 billion, part of the $11.5 billion he had earlier pledged.
Of that amount – all of it provincial money that does not need to be matched by the federal or municipal governments – $7.2 billion is for the Toronto Transit Commission and its Transit City projects.
If the announcement was designed to soothe Miller's boiling temper after the Metrolinx mini-tempest, it worked.
"The premier and I have a disagreement on that, but we agree on the importance of transit," Miller said yesterday, deflecting the question. "This is delivery of the money on a commitment the premier made to fund transit," Miller explained. "We have the money; there's no stopping us now."
Rarely has a mayor of Toronto been more profuse in praise of a premier. Then again, rarely has an Ontario premier given as much assistance and reached out in genuine friendship more frequently.
Just about every year since coming to power, McGuinty has sent millions of dollars – including $200 million in one shot three years back – to help Toronto balance its budget.
The premier has promised to upload – too slowly, some say – the cost of social services from the backs of municipalities. He gave the city the governance powers it sought, including new powers for the mayor, a four-year term, special status in negotiating its own agreements without going through the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and a host of other indulgences, great and small.
In return, Miller has refrained from criticizing the Liberals at Queen's Park, leaving the harsh words for Stephen Harper and the Conservatives in Ottawa.
This is not lost on Conservative voters, who gnash their teeth at the mayor. They'd be better served to find an urban-friendly leader.
Email: rjames@thestar.ca

You Voted For Change

Ontario now on the dole
By ANTONELLA ARTUSO AND JONATHAN JENKINS, QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU
Ontario is now a province of haves and have-not.

Big bucks in civil service
By CHRISTINA BLIZZARD
Quickly, now. Name an organization that seemingly with no care for its future financial well-being has paid lavish salaries to its executives.

Day After Next Provincial Election

NO NEW TAXES NO NEW TAXES NO NEW TAXES

Watch out for sneaky tax hikes in budget
Blizzard: It's make or break time for Dalton McGuinty's government. Thursday's budget will be a defining document for the premier and Finance Minister Dwight Duncan. Some things we already know: Tax revenues are down. Corporate revenue.. MORE...

Let's Not Give McGoofy Credit For This Move.....

....Comrade Miller Got Elected Twice by making promises that were predicated on Ottawa and Queens Park support.

Smart first step in poverty fight
Mar. 21, 2009
When Premier Dalton McGuinty announced that his government would reduce child poverty by 25 per cent, he included a gigantic escape hatch, saying it could only be done with Ottawa's help and a growing economy. Wisely, ...

Flappin' In The Wind

Made-in-China Ontario flags an 'insult'
Queen's Park is in the grips of a flag flap after it was discovered that the venerable Ontario Ensign is being made in China.

Warmington: For crying out loud, even the Chinese consulate in Toronto doesn't order its flags from China!

Look At How Well This Has/Is Working For McGinty And The Left Wing

David Frum: Why Obama is AWOL on the market meltdown

Posted: November 22, 2008, 8:00 AM by Kelly McParland

"The worse Bush looks in 2008, the longer Obama can blame him for the problems of 2009, 2010 and 2011"

Thursday was a terrible day in the financial markets. Hit by dire unemployment numbers, equities tumbled, and investors raced for the safety of U.S. government bonds. The interest rate on short-term Treasuries has dwindled to 0.02%; the interest on low-grade corporate bonds has soared to 20%.

In the shocked and bloodied aftermath, everybody seemed to be saying the same thing.
Paul Krugman, the liberal economic columnist for The New York Times, opined on Friday morning about a “disturbing parallel between 2008 and 1932” — namely, “the emergence of a power vacuum at the height of the crisis. The interregnum of 1932-1933, the long stretch between the election and the actual transfer of power, was disastrous for the U.S. economy, at least in part because the outgoing administration had no credibility, the incoming administration had no authority and the ideological chasm between the two sides was too great to allow concerted action. And the same thing is happening now.”

Click here to read more...

What Is Dullton Waiting For......

.....for another Walkerton. For those of you who voted for change remember eventually you will have to stop blaming Mike for the failures of McGinty.

Public health vacancies 8 min. ago

Few government jobs seem more important than protecting the public's health, so it is especially troubling to find top positions in this area going unfilled. A new report last week showed that 13 of Ontario's 36 public health units ...

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