In this week’s edition of the Lanark County EMC is a “Meet the candidates” section for my riding, Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington. It profiles the four major candidates with a little biography and a blurb that was obviously sent in a good while ago to meet the deadline.

Here are the candidates:

Dave Remington, Liberal. Napanee Mayor… blah blah blah… business community… blah blah blah… ah, the good stuff: Most important issue this election: The Green Shift. Other issues of importance: education, health care, agriculture, the environment.

Sandra Willard, NDP. Home health worker. Most important issue: global warming, jobs, keeping health care private, supporting single parents and keeping uranium mining out of the riding.

Chris Walker, The Green Party. Renovation contractor, renewable energy consultant. Most important issue: the read more

To Elizabeth May:

I’ve had it with you. First you were voted out of the debates and you cried foul. Then some people cheered for you and you were, with kind permission of Harper and Layton, let back in, even though your numbers didn’t allow it. You called it a “victory for democracy”. At the debates all you did was talk through people and point fingers. Then you were accused of making a deal with Dion to, at the last minute, call upon your people to vote strategically, and in most ridings that would mean Liberal. You denied this deal.

Now, it comes out, that you are actually calling upon your followers to vote strategically in certain ridings to stop Harper.

You call read more

To all the people who laughed at PMSH’s statement that now is perhaps a good time to pick up some bargain stock: you think this is a party leader who is “out of touch” with the electorate and doesn’t know what the electorate wants to hear. I tell you this: these words came from a Prime Minister who holds a Masters’ Degree in Economics. These words did not come from a party leader who wants to be re-elected (although that is naturally what he wants). Mr. Harper is an economist first, politician second. As an economist AND PM you have to avoid panic in the stock market at all cost. In times of economic uncertainty, when stock markets are crashing, read more

On CTV.CA the big headline says:

It’s a big story about it’s the THIRD letter economists had to send to the government this week urging the government to act on 1) Carbon Taxes are good (Monday), 2) Act on Climate Change by voting strategically (Tuesday) and now 3) Act on the economy.

Basically the story informs us how this country’s economists keep urging Harper to “do something” and that “doing nothing” is not the answer.

Sounds familiar? Oh, these ‘economists’ the story mentions, are the Progressive Economic Forum, a group that describes itself as promoting “alternatives to conservative economic theory and policy.” The letter is signed by Doug Peters, a veteran federal Liberal and former junior minister of read more

Well, what do you know, Mr. Chretien said in Wednesday’s Globe and Mail:

“While everybody’s in turmoil, Canada is not in turmoil,” Mr. Chrétien explained in a brief interview.

So, Dion and Rae are shouting off the rooftops that the economy is not fine and we need to do something NOW, while Chretien says “Canada is not in turmoil” and effectively proving Mr. Harper is right.

From The Star, December 21, 2007:

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper expects Canada’s economy to suffer next year, buffeted by turmoil south of the border and the “cost” of new climate-change measures here at home.

In a calculated signal to Canadians, Harper said that 2008 will be “more challenging” for his government and the country.

“There remains very serious economic uncertainty in the United States and in other parts of the world, and it’s impossible for me to see how Canada can be entirely immune from those developments,” he said in a year-end interview with the Star.

Candidate Bob Rae issued a warning that Layton and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May are robbing votes from the Liberals and as a result, are actually strengthening the Conservatives’ chances.

Bob, you’re all on the left, and judging by the debates, you’re all battling a common ‘enemy’! Of course you’re “robbing votes” off each other. All parties are constantly “robbing” votes off each other. There are not any more voters now than 20 days ago. It is the same pool. They go from party to party. That’s how the system works!

“We know for certain that if Stephen Harper had been Prime Minister five years ago we would have troops in Iraq,” Rae said.

Um, if Ignatieff was the leader of the Liberals 5 read more

Just replace “Climate Change” with “The Economy” and you can just reuse your speeches!

I have found a new way to save some money for the LPC: you can just reuse old speeches by replacing the words “Climate Change (formerly: Global Warming)” with “The Economy”:

You can change:

“In times of the climate change crisis, it is imperative that a government offers a plan to Canadians and takes action,” Mr. Dion told the Montreal Chamber of Commerce. “The risks from inaction are too great. Doing nothing is not an option.”

To:

“In times of economic crisis, it is imperative that a government offers a plan to Canadians and takes action,” Mr. Dion told the Montreal Chamber of Commerce. “The risks from inaction are too great. read more

If I was the PM and I was at the French debates I’d say:

To Gilles Duceppe: Can I finish my sentence for once?
To Jack Layton: How come you sound like a Scot, and I sound effeminate?
To Stephane Dion: Can you take a stand on something? I know Rae and Iggy are not here, but geez. You can’t even say if you’re for or against a our crime bill. At least Jack said he’s fundamentally against so he’ll vote against. You say “we’ll see”.
To the moderator: They have four minutes to pile on me, and I have 1 minute for rebuttal. Why are we sitting around a giant guitar pick? Do I have to sit next to the passion read more

I made a button for you to put on your blogs/websites to link to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation nocarbontaxes.com website.

Just copy and paste the following code:

<a href='http://www.nocarbontaxes.com'><img src='http://www.erwingerrits.com/nocarbontaxes.png' border=0></a>