New Brunswick Politics

Via CTV: Tories back away from income splitting: report

I can think of one fellow blogger who won’t be overly happy with this one. My friend Spinks has been a big advocate of income splitting in the past.

Quote From the CTV Story:


Don Drummond, chief economist for Toronto-Dominion Bank said he expects the Tories will try to deliver on broader income splitting in future budgets.
"It's not a matter of principle. It's a matter of cost," he said. "Its day will come, but it will have to come at a time when they have a larger amount of fiscal resources," he told The Globe.

In other words don’t hold your breath…..lol
Going to be difficult to keep cutting taxes, yet eventually have “more fiscal resources” IMO.
Of course, I guess it would be possible, if say, they were to make more cuts to social programs for instance..... Naw, they wouldn’t do that if they win a majority next time around......would they??

Posted by PoliticsNB at 9:54 PM | Permalink | |

Via CBC: Justin Trudeau will run in Papineau

I’ll come right out now and say I personally like this guy.

There, now that that is out of the way......

It’s inevitable, that Justin Trudeau will invoke comparison with his famous Father. Lord knows the Trudeau name is perhaps not an easy one to live up to or even with in some cases.

Some Canadians say that famous name with pride, and perhaps still a bit of a sense of awe. Others, derision, and yes, truth be told, in some cases hatred. Me, put me down for a bit of column A and a bit of column B, although, hatred would be far to strong in my case. But it’s not my mission to debate Pierre’s legacy here. I have a sneaking suspicion that Pierre Trudeau may make a postumous visit to Spinks' 101 List..... Just a hunch on my part. :-)

I'm honestly hoping Canadians, and more importantly in this case, the people of Papineau will be able to give Justin the chance to sink or swim on his own. If you must dislike, or deride him, at least let it be on his own ideas, and not simply because of the ideas of his famous father.

While it’s inevitable there will be some parallels in ideas between father and son, there will no doubt be some stark differences as well. Don’t forget, Justin has grown up in a country, as have many of us, where his father has had a huge part in shaping it’s current identity. He has the benefit of seeing the good, as well as picking out the bad. You know what they say about hindsight.

I personally look forward to seeing Justin in action. I have a suspicion this guy may be harboring some tools even Pierre didn’t possess.

All that aside, let s face it; this kid is a “Star Candidate” if ever there was one. Any party would jump at the chance given the current state of minority affairs to enlist Justin Trudeau.

Also, he’s not running for PM folks, so lets remember that. He’s vying to be an MP, representing a single riding......

Will it lead to more than that eventually?? Who Knows.

That’s one many of us will be watching.

Labels: election, federal, Justin Trudeau, MP, Papineau

Posted by PoliticsNB at 7:09 PM | Permalink | |

In case you didn't see it, CBC reporter Robert Jones did a two part story on the Provincial Liberals called "Broken Promises." I know my friend Spinks is no fan of Mr.Jones and in the past has accused him of having a Liberal bias. Seems like an odd choice for a story from someone with a supposed Liberal bias......lol

Anyway, make sure to check it out. As with all CBC media, it requires the dreaded Realplayer to watch.

Broken Promises By Robert Jones:

Part 1

Part 2

PNB

Labels: Broken Promises, CBC, Liberals, Robert Jones

Posted by PoliticsNB at 5:23 AM | Permalink | |

Via CBC: Moosehead enters Saskatchewan

Yeah I know, this one's not political, but just giving a Shout Out to a great local company that's doing so well. Yeah I admit it, i'm a Moosehead Guy. I believe in supporting the home team. :-)

Labels: Beer, Brewery, Canada, Moosehead, New Brunswick

Posted by PoliticsNB at 5:33 AM | Permalink | |

Via CBC: Liberals say no more extra funding for politicians

Should the party be topping up the Premier's salary? The Liberals say no.

I've actually had some strong feelings about this in the past when Premier Lord was vilified by some for the practice. You can read about it Here

I challenged Graham then to weigh in on this one back then, and it would appear he’s doing just that now.

I never thought I’d see the day when I agreed with something Stuart Jamieson had to say, but here it is! lol

Conservative MLA Bev Harrison says “Part of your job role is to lead a party. It's another facet of your job. So you should really be paid for that sort of service.”

I have to disagree. The Premier already receives a salary as MLA and Premier of the Province. Should the leader of the governing party be paid twice for the same job? I think not. Of course, it’s a good gig if you can swing it.

Somehow, I have a feeling though that this could just be the first move to bump salaries in the capitol yet again.

Posted by PoliticsNB at 4:48 AM | Permalink | |

Well, if you haven’t seen or heard yet, former New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord is heading for greener pastures in Montreal.

For myself and others like David Campbell this one really is no big surprise. It’s been the rumor flying around.

I notice Scott over at The Sorry Centrist has some interesting thoughts regarding Mr. Lord’s move perhaps even coupled with a little angst?

I respect Mr. Lord’s decision to take this job and head off to Montreal, as it’s a free country and he’s certainly free to go and do as he pleases. I must say though, that a part of me can’t help but be a bit disappointed. The story does say he will commute to Montreal, but rumors are all ready flying that in a year or so he’ll be gone for good. After the attention is gone perhaps?

God knows I have not always been a member of Mr. Lords cheering section while he was premier, however, I never doubted his personal commitment made to New Brunswick. I remember the many speeches where Mr. Lord spoke of the opportunities available here, and how it was up to New Brunswickers to work together to continue to create new opportunities. Heck even at his resignation, Mr. Lord and his handlers assured everyone that no matter what Mr. Lord Chose to do it would continue to be in serving this province.(Or something to that effect) Working for a Montreal Law firm doesn’t really do much for NB IMO.

So sure, he’s free to do as he wishes. But it sure makes many of his words he spoke on the subject during his tenure ring kinda hollow doesn’t it??

But all that said, I guess I can be big enough to wish him well.

Good Luck Bernard.

PNB

Posted by PoliticsNB at 8:44 PM | Permalink | |

Via CBC: Delays on psychiatric assessments anger judge

I thought this one was intresting. No secret of course what the problem is. No beds in the Restigouche Centre. So the question becomes what will the Liberals do?

Posted by PoliticsNB at 7:29 PM | Permalink | |

Via CBC: Liberals will not be fulfilling Conservative pre-kindergarten promise

The Libs have canned this program that was announced by the previous government. Good idea? Bad? Do you care?

I'm wondering what you teach a child to prepare them for kindergarten? Anybody know?

Posted by PoliticsNB at 7:23 PM | Permalink | |

Via CBC:N.B. government won't repay $12 million to bars: Minister

Can anyone out there explain to me how in the world it’s possible or legal to change the Liquor Control Act to retroactively turn the “illegal” user fee into a legitimate tax, so that it circumvents the SC ruling? I mean why wasn’t this made a “legitimate” tax to begin with?? I'm amazed that the government can get away with this.

I’d be very surprised if someone doesn’t challenge the legitimacy of this move also……

Any lawyers out there?? Is this really legal? Can the government really go back and make this a tax to be paid retroactively?? What else can they “retroactively” change??

Wow……

So the Minister is less concerned about what is fair and just, and more concerned about keeping the money collected……..legal or not………

Wow……

Update: I noticed Gene over @ To Be Announced has similar thoughts

Posted by PoliticsNB at 8:31 PM | Permalink | |

{Via CBC:} Fix N.B. election dates: Officer

This is one the Lord PC's kicked around in the past. I personally like the idea of fixed election dates. Sure would take the guess work out of things.....

The Liberals should seriously take a look at this one. My guess is this one would be a popular idea with the electorate. It makes so much more sense.

Of course, it does potentially create a slight problem for the governing party. Namely, not being able to call a snap election when sitting high in the polls. Indeed it could very well mean heading to the polls when a party is in a tail spin.

Labels: chief electoral officer, fixed election dates, New Brunswick

Posted by PoliticsNB at 4:35 PM | Permalink | |

I took a few minutes and read the Speech from the Throne, and as usual I find nothing much exciting here. Sure it's a nice feel good document produced by the Governing party, but in itself means very little.

Personally I’m much more interested in the Budget that will be introduced come March 13th. That's when we get some real details, and not just some nice phrases about what the governments' plans are.

Anyway, here's the link for the speech for anyone that wants to take a look.

Speech from the Throne 2007

By the way I didn't see anything in this document about a study on Ritalin.......I would imagine that won't sit well with Charles

PNB

Posted by PoliticsNB at 9:07 PM | Permalink | |

**VIA CBC**

So Garth is going to cross the floor and join the Liberal Party according to reports. That’s fine. He is free to choose what party he wants to be a member of, as are we all. I hope though he’ll be resigning to run in a by-election, since it was his contention that David Emerson should have done just that when he chose to wander across the floor.

I won’t bet money on it though……somehow I don’t think it’s going to happen……

What's that flying out the window you ask??

That is whatever shred of credibility Garth had left flying out the window if he doesn't step down and run in a by-election......

How about it Garth??

Update 1:
Thanks to Scott over @ The Sorry Centrist
for pointing out my last post on the subject when the rumor was he was heading to the Green Party. My take hasn't changed.

Garth And The Greens

Update 2:
After listening to Garth's press conference with Dion all I can say is ....yeah right. Garth had the chance to come out smelling like a rose. I bet if he had resigned, and run as a Liberal he would have won, and gained a ton of credibility as being someone who meant what he said. His attempt at achieving the same thing by "challenging" the PM to force the others to run in by-election was a very weak one indeed. Garth signed his death warrant in Canadian Politics.........at least if there's any justice at all he did.
Very Disappointing.

Labels: federal, garth turner, liberal

Posted by PoliticsNB at 2:37 PM | Permalink | |

Globe & Mail

This one comes via Spinks in the comments section from somebody named flynn.

$10,000 per year average instead of $500,000 seems to be a bit better..........

I've said before I was in favor of this project itself, but not happy with the council selling the farm.......I guess this proves it.......

**Update: The Globe & Mail Story is now subscription only.

The intresting part i'm refering to is this:

"The consortium has signed an agreement with Lévis city council to pay an average of $10-million a year in property taxes over 50 years, making Rabaska one of the highest-tax-paying industrial facilities in the province.

Rabaska promised to offset the loss of any property value for all 135 homeowners within a 1.5-kilometre radius of the terminal. And the company said it would pay the cost of any home-insurance premium increase caused by the terminal.

In addition, Rabaska vowed to invest $300,000 in the city's public transportation system and $475,000 for a new park and recreational area, and to plant as many as 15,000 trees around the facility to attenuate its visual impact."

Labels: LNG, Pipeline, Saint John, taxes

Posted by PoliticsNB at 2:58 PM | Permalink | |

{Via CBC: Plenty of support for bilingualism: poll }

81 per cent of those surveyed support the idea that Canada is a bilingual country.

91 per cent, said the prime minister should be able to speak both English and French.

Posted by PoliticsNB at 11:36 PM | Permalink | |

So first off the by-election in Moncton for Bernard Lord's seat.

This one is very different from the last By-election in Saint John Harbour. The Graham government has a full term ahead and Moncton would have to be nuts to vote any other way but Liberal IMO. If we want to dredge up the Saint John (Yes Charles Saint JOHN) v.s Moncton rivalry………Moncton needs more representation at the table……..and I’d bet Shawn & Company will pull up another chair to be fair……..

Perhaps one of my New Brunswick Blogging compadres can come up with a reason at this point to vote conservative…….lol

I'm dying to hear it…….

Cause I can’t think of a single one………

PNB

Posted by PoliticsNB at 11:16 PM | Permalink | |

So let’s see:

Since I’ve been “away”:

Scott also took a break.....good to see him back.

Spinks Has been doing well with his regular blog, and IMO may have a national hit on his hands with 101 people who are screwing up Canada Make sure to pop over and throw in your two cents.

And My Friend Charles Leblanc is still blogging away non stop. (That at least hasn’t changed…lol) So yeah Charles, you were right man........I couldn't stay away! :-)

Anyway, yeah I’ve decided to make a “come back” although, I’ve never really been gone……just not blogging. That will change as of tomorrow.

I had originally intended to make a massive overhaul before returning, but decided to just jump in again, and make the changes over the next few weeks.

I feel like I again have some things that I want to say. To be honest, I had really just tired of talking politics, and the merry go round of it all. But some of the goings on recently by the Provincial and Federal Governments has got me raring to go again.

As I said back in Dec. there will be some changes…….number 1 one the list is updating the links. New Ones have emerged, and old ones have gone. In particular, I was sorry to see Harrap pack it in.....then again, i've learned never to say never. ;) Hopefully he'll return at some point.

One of those changes is from harma/hagrid believe it or not. There have been days, and there will be in the future when my time for blogging is very limited. So, on those days, I’ll be simply linking to MSM stories and letting people rip into them and comment. To take it one step further, I also don’t have a ton of time every day to peruse every media outlet for every story they run…….so here’s where you come in. If you see a story you think should be discussed that I miss, email me the link @ Politicsnb@hotmail.com and I’ll add it ASAP. I’ll ask people to be realistic though. There’s no sense posting 25 stories a day and expect people to bother to discuss them all. So lets keep them important and relevant to N.B.

Good idea or bad?

Got any suggestions about what you’d like to see here? Email me or post it here. I’ve got some other ideas also……more on that over the next week or so…….

It’s darn good to be back.

PNB

Posted by PoliticsNB at 8:24 PM | Permalink | |