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May 30, 2004

Sizing up the Campaigns: Week 1

It’s been a full week since Paul Martin called a General Election in Canada, so it’s a good time to look back and see how everyone’s doing so far. The Liberals: It has been a tough week for Mr. Martin... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 09:52 AM | TrackBack | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Canada

May 29, 2004

Martin's in trouble

Paul Martin’s strategy to demonize Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper isn’t working according to the latest EKOS Research Poll. Harper is almost as trusted as the PM despite the Liberals’ attempts to paint him as the Spawn of Satan and... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 10:22 AM | TrackBack | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Canada

May 28, 2004

Tories hand Martin an issue

Since the beginning of the election campaign, local Conservative candidates have had just one complaint about the Harper campaign -- they have had to go through central campaign hoops to do interviews with national media and outlets outside their area.... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 10:56 AM | TrackBack | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Canada

May 27, 2004

"No threat to Canada"

Buried in yesterday's revelation of increased terrorist activity by US Attorney-General John Ashcroft, was a reference to one of their suspected terrorists plotting to highjack a Canadian airliner. [As an aside, the Democrats think yesterday's announcement was politically motivated. Bush... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 10:53 AM | TrackBack | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Canada

May 26, 2004

Teflon Harper?

Andrew Coyne makes the interesting observation that the media have been easier on Stephen Harper than Paul Martin. He argues this is because the media have a clear understanding of where Harper stands but their understanding of where the PM... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 03:20 PM | TrackBack | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Canada

I want a bus!

I don't know if you've noticed, but everybody has a "bus" for this election campaign. Gilles Duceppe has a bus, so does Stephen Harper. Paul Martin and Jack Layton also have buses. But this is not unusual. What's new for... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 02:33 PM | TrackBack | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Canada

May 25, 2004

Sound familiar?

Paul Martin has promised not to raise your taxes (sort of). But he won't cut them either. The government needs that money to invest in priorities like health care. Where have we heard this before? Dalton McGuinty made the same... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 10:05 AM | TrackBack | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Canada

Key Martin advisor helped McGuinty break his promises

Well if the Tories were looking for something to tie Paul Martin to Dalton McGuinty's broken Election promises, they have it now. An article in today's Toronto Star quotes another anonymous senior Liberal source saying the McGuinty Liberals "knew that... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 08:36 AM | TrackBack | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Canada

May 24, 2004

Tories lead The Star's straw poll

This can't be right. Toronto Star's online readers currently have the Conservatives as their preferred government. According to their straw poll, 45% would vote Conservative, 23% for both the Liberals and the NDP, while 5% support the Greens. More than... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 03:43 PM | TrackBack | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: The Media

I think the PM is confused

As Paul Martin campaigned yesterday he kept mentioning the Mike Harris. What the PM has apparently forgotten is that he is not running against Mike Harris. While Mr. Harris, the former Ontario Premier, thought about making a run for leader... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 10:56 AM | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Canada

Unilever makes a mockery of election

Seeing this year's election campaign as an opportunity to sell their products rather than an exercise in democracy, Unilever Canada issued a news release this week announcing the creation of a "new political party." The "Carb Options Party" is a... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 10:43 AM | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Business

May 23, 2004

Did you hear that? It's the sound of writ dropping

Paul Martin has fired the starting gun and the four party leaders are now (officially) campaigning for the votes of Canadians. Paul Martin took direct aim at the Conservatives and their leader, Stephen Harper, accusing him of wanting to turn... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 02:38 PM | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Canada

May 22, 2004

Tech on the Trail

As Canada's political parites gear up for an election, the media are doing the same. The National Post and Global TV have teamed up with the wireless phone companies to get your views on the election via your text-enebled cellphone.... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 09:54 AM | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Science and Technology

An election about issues?

With an election call just hours away, it's gut-check time for political hopefuls across Canada. Pollsters, desperately trying to find a word (other than the now overused "volatile") to describe the mood of the electorate, have started using "dynamic" and... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 07:35 AM | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Canada

May 21, 2004

New poll may be giving Liberals heartburn

A new poll from COMPAS gives the first hint that the Federal Liberals may have been hurt by their provincial cousins in Ontario. In the wake of the McGuinty Budget, the Martin Liberals' lead in Ontario has slipped to just... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 10:20 AM | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Canada

May 20, 2004

A hint of things to come

Paul Martin and the Federal Liberal election machine have made enough plays in this pre-election period that we now know their strategy: Attack, or be attacked Here are just two examples from this week: The Liberals have launched their attack... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 09:47 AM | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Canada

May 19, 2004

Ontario Budget

I really don't know what write about yesterday's Ontario Budget. Should I concentrate on the $9-billion tax increase? Or maybe I should discuss the implications of the biggest tax increase since 1993? Or perhaps I should talk about the contradictions... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 10:31 AM | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Ontario

May 18, 2004

Ontario Budget: It's gonna cost you

All of the pre-budget leaking from the McGuinty government is over. It's budget day and here (according to the leaks) is what we can expect. Higher Taxes. Taxes on alcohol and tobacco are set to rise. McGuinty is also going... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 11:35 AM | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Ontario

May 15, 2004

Another McGuinty Tax Hike

The McGuinty government floated yet another tax hike through an anonymous leak to the Globe and Mail today -- Health Care Premiums. The government says the premiums will be "progressive" in nature, meaning the more you make, the more you... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 07:25 PM | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Ontario

May 14, 2004

Ontario Liberals Lose By-Election

Last night, the voters in Hamilton East handed the Liberals a massive defeat. It was supposed to be a fairly easy run for Dalton McGuinty's hand-picked Liberal candidate, Ralph Agostino. When the by-election was called, the Libs were high in... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 09:29 AM | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Ontario

May 12, 2004

McGuinty's Secret Plan IV

It looks like Mr. McGuinty is going to raise your taxes. Apparently the Liberals have been in touch with Elections Ontario about the possibility of holding a referendum. The Taxpayers' Protection Act requires the government to hold a referendum on... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 06:29 PM | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Ontario

Liberals anonymous on bad news

For the second time in two days, I have been shocked to read the response of the Ontario Liberals to bad news. It seems when it has something to say, this government likes to remain anonymous. Take, for example, yesterday's... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 04:29 PM | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Ontario

May 11, 2004

McGuinty's Secret Plan III

Speculation is rampant around Queen's Park this evening that the McGuinty Liberals plan to harmonize the province's sales tax with the hated GST. As I predicted in McGuinty's Secret Plan I the Coffee Tax proposal was likely just a stealthy... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 10:12 PM | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Ontario

Grits shut down AdScam Probe

Paul Martin's support for democracy apparently doesn't extend to scrutiny of his Liberal Government. Today, in a move worthy of his predecessor (Jean Chretien), he used his party's majority on the Commons' Public Accounts Committee to bring an end to... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 09:30 PM | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Canada

May 10, 2004

"Further irregularities have been uncovered"

In the wake of the AdScam arrests this morning, the RCMP say that "further irregularities have been uncovered" and that their investigation is continuing. The RCMP allege that Chuck Guite and Jean Brault conspired to defraud the government by way... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 01:25 PM | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Canada

Mounties Arrest Guité and Brault

The RCMP have just announced that they have arrested Chuck Guité (the retired bureaucrat on whom the Liberals are trying to pin the whole AdScam scandal) and Jean Brault, the President of Groupaction (the marketing firm most implicated in the... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 12:30 PM | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Canada

May 5, 2004

He didn't mean it

When Dalton McGuinty signed a pledge not to raise taxes or run a deficit, he did so with his fingers crossed. That is the only explanation for his government's decision to amend the province's balanced budget legislation to allow his... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 12:30 PM | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Canada

May 3, 2004

Spring Election?

The Parliament Hill Press Gallery can barely contain itself. Why, you ask? Three opinion polls released over the weekend suggest that Paul Martin's Liberals are not doing as badly as they were a few weeks ago. Now, that isn't to... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 12:56 PM | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Canada

May 2, 2004

Campbell vs the Unions

Unless something changes, there's going to be a showdown in British Columbia this week. Union have asked their workers to go on strike Monday in support of health care workers who have already been on strike for a week. The... More...

Posted by maxthecat at 04:47 PM | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics