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 environment. Other issues: the arts, health promotion, renewal in faith in the democracy.

Scott Reid, Conservative. Incumbent. Seeking fourth victory. Most important issue: THE ECONOMY. Other issues: state of our local rural economy.

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 yourself a leader. You put forth candidates all across this country who put their heart and soul into canvassing and campaigning for YOU and now you tell them they don’t matter. People in their ridings should vote Liberal instead. If I was running for you in one of those ridings I’d be pretty pissed. Thanks for nothing. What, you can’t even get YOURSELF elected, you don’t want anybody else to either?

Ms. May, you are a liar, and you better crawl back into the hole you came from and if I never hear from you again, it’ll be too soon.

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, the best thing to do is to try to get people to BUY stock, not SELL them. Selling your stock will just increase the rate the stock market will go down. The only way to reverse a massive sell off of stock (ie: the market going down) is to BUY stock (ie. market going up). This is BASIC ECONOMICS. Shouting doom off the rooftops saying “We’re tanking!” is extremely irresponsible for a Leader of a country (and isn’t that what our Opposition ‘leaders’ strive to be?) It just creates panic resulting in a massive sell-offs of stock which in turn will make them worth even less. If the opposition leaders would set aside their desire to be elected for a minute, and take into account the well being of all Canadians, they’d have to conclude the same thing: saving this economy is more important that any one individual’s election. Harper is doing what it takes to save this economy, even if it means lower polling numbers. He says it would be irresponsible of him to create a panic even though that is what the electorate wants to hear and would improve his standings.

The fundamentals of the Canadian economy are very strong. They only thing going wrong with our economy currently is that the stock markets are going south (no pun intended). The Canadian People want to hear Harper say what he is going to do about it. Well, the only way to stop a stock market from going down is to MAKE PEOPLE BUY STOCK. Isn’t that what he is saying? If any of the opposition ‘leaders’ had any formal training in economics, and not a week long crash course on it, they would know that. I think they do know that, however, they’ve put their own selfish election chances over the fortunes of the Canadian People. They shout doom and gloom, creating a panic resulting in economic woes, in order to get their own behind into the PM’s chair. PM Harper has done the exact opposite!

If the opposition ‘leaders’ were serious leadership material, they’d realise the PM’s first and foremost responsibility is the stabilizing of the economy.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what Harper has been doing for the past year and a half. That is why we don’t have bail-outs for banks and big investment firms. That is why our inflation is still below 4%. That is why we have a job gain of 87,000 jobs in 2008 so far. That is why the IMF projected Canada to lead the G7 in economic growth next year.  And that, is why we have to continue with his successful strategy.

On CTV.CA the big headline says:

Economists call on gov’t to stimulate economy

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 state for finance, and Rodrigue Tremblay, who served as Parti Quebecois industry minister of Quebec.

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.

read more…

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 years ago, we’d be there too.

And if you were Prime Minister, this country would be bankrupt within the year.

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. Doing nothing is not an option.”

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 flaky? Why am I facing a three headed firing squad? Why is my back to the camera in the overhead shots, and the firing squad is facing the audience?
To Elizabeth May: God, you’re annoying. You remind me of Jar Jar Binks (“Global Warming comin dees way: Meesa Gonna Die!”) I hope so…

And that is why I would never be a PM. But that’s OK.

The debates

Wouldn’t it be fun if, at the debates, whenever someone says something really stupid (and the chance of that is pretty high, with Dion, Layton, Duceppe AND May in the same room), that Harper looks into the camera a la Jim Helpert of The Office with a look of “What am I supposed to do with this?!?”.

That’s what I want out of these debates.