NDP Menace Evaporates Under Scrutiny

[mentalfloss]

NDP Menace Evaporates Under Scrutiny

To hear Conservative leader Stephen Harper tell it, the stakes in Monday’s election are nothing less than apocalyptic.

If the NDP surge means anything other than a Conservative government, Canada’s economic recovery will be strangled, he’s been saying. Taxes will skyrocket, job growth will wither and foreign investors will get the message that their money is no longer welcome in Canada.

Strangely enough, though, there’s little evidence of such fears among people who actually have their money at risk. Yesterday, for example, the stock market seemed a lot more worried by struggling BlackBerry sales than by the prospect of an NDP horde pillaging Bay St.

Why don’t these endangered plutocrats wake up? Maybe because they’ve seen this so many times before: a desperate politician using fearmongering to prop up a faltering campaign.

In fairness, you have to give Harper style points.

First, he transformed Michael Ignatieff, a brilliant and respected academic, into a sinister quasi-foreigner who somehow insinuated his way into the leadership of this country’s Liberal party. Now that the competition is from another quarter, it became the turn of that dangerous, wild-eyed Jack Layton. It seems Layton is hell-bent on destroying Canada’s economy by laying waste to the prudent Harper financial record, which included carefree vote-buying with the surplus he inherited from Liberals.

But to return to the real world, are we really in terrible danger?

It’s true that a majority NDP government would be a good bit less business-friendly than Harper’s has been, but the odds of such a government are close to zero.

At the beginning of this campaign, it appeared that there were only two outcomes that could be considered realistic: a majority Conservative government or a minority Conservative government. Those options are exactly the same today, notes Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC World Markets. The only change, really, is that the NDP now has a much better chance of becoming the official opposition.

If he’s not prime minister, it’s hard to see how Layton can lay waste to the country.

But there’s another important point: Layton actually isn’t a madman. Brockhouse Cooper, a Montreal-based investment house, analyzed the risk that the NDP surge represented to investors in this country. Looking at the stock market, it could find at least a possible case that they’re nervous. The TSX has lost some ground in recent weeks, even as U.S. stocks gained.

But, even here, there’s room for disagreement. Economist Robert Kavcic at BMO Capital Markets thinks the explanation lies in factors like the squeeze on corporate export profits from a rising Canadian dollar and the poor recent performance of Canada’s only tech giant, Research in Motion, even as the U.S. tech sector soars.

So it’s possible that stock-market investors are nervous, although not evident.

Now, how about the underlying reality of an NDP threat to business and the economy?

Analysts Pierre Lapointe and Alex Bellefleur at Brockhouse Cooper went through the NDP platform looking for things to worry about. They found a few, but concluded that the party’s policies seem mixed at worst.

For example, the NDP would hike corporate income taxes for big companies, but cut them for small ones. And it promises that even big business will always pay less than in the U.S.

Their conclusion: the NDP isn’t the most business-friendly party out there, but it’s also not terribly scary. Maybe more important, they think Canada’s standing in global markets won’t really depend on who runs the next federal government. That’s because we have a long record of fiscal prudence. “The current narrative with respect to Canada in sovereign bond markets is overwhelmingly positive, at least on a relative basis – and the election of an NDP government, as unlikely as it may be, would not change that.”

What about the stock market?

Much the same conclusion “We like Canada because of the resource exposure, not because of Canada-specific (government) policies,” say Lapointe and Bellefleur, and it looks like a good place to invest under any government: “We remain overweight on Canada.”

Read more: NDP menace evaporates under scrutiny
​

 

[Avro]

I wish someone would ask Harper how he would protect Canadian jobs when the dollar increases with the majority he craves.

 

[CDNBear]

TORONTO - When NDP Leader Jack Layton left City Hall for greener federal pastures in the spring of 2003, I bid good riddance (to bad rubbish).
I figured he couldn’t do much damage being the head of a moribund third party. I could be eating my words on Monday night.
Not that Bicycle Jack, or the Patron Saint of the Environment or Just Jack the Smog Saviour — the names I gave him depending on what cause of the day he was pushing — ever made life dull.
Nevertheless I quickly learned that whenever he rolled up the sleeves of his buttoned-down shirts in some city committee or in council — his trademark gesture to show he was the Everyman — Layton was about to make some pronouncement that would jack up our taxes.
Whatever pet cause he was zealously promoting — the environment, the homeless or himself — money was no object to this relentless spender.
The Patron Saint of Many Causes had no problem, either, making a shameless spectacle of the very people he purported to be championing.
I will never forget that day in the fall of 1998 when — as 450 of his homeless friends and assorted poverty pimps packed the council chambers — he convinced councillors to declare homelessness a “national disaster” in Toronto along the lines of an ice storm or tsunami.
But Layton achieved what he intended. He promoted himself as the council point person on homelessness and manipulated then mayor Mel Lastman into pouring millions and millions of dollars into emergency homeless shelters, grants and what I called not-so-affordable housing.
His homeless schemes didn’t stop there.
In June of 2000, he tried to convince councillors the city should erect “creative” emergency shelters — trailers, tents and mobile homes — to allow the homeless to live in downtown parks all summer.
Less than a year later, he did manage to persuade a majority of councillors to proceed with proposals for pre-fab housing (at $50,000 to $100,000 per home) to accommodate the squatters living in Tent City on a waterfront piece of property. Those squatters were finally evicted a few months later, much to Layton’s chagrin.
It should come as no surprise that his hypocrisy extended to his environmental crusade as well.
Despite repeatedly painting himself as a Smog Saviour, Layton was found to be one of the highest users of the city’s fleet of limos.
When I questioned Bicycle Jack about it in 2001, he told me 20% of the 541 rides he used were to “deliver stuff quickly and efficiently” to constituents and the rest were to get to the airport or to a ward meeting.
His outdid himself, however, in October of 2000 when he convinced his NDP pals on council to grandstand for eight long days at council in an attempt to derail the $1-billion contract to ship Toronto’s garbage to the abandoned Adams Mine site near Kirkland Lake.
The deal eventually fell through and we can thank Layton for spearheading the back-up plan — that is, to send Toronto’s trash using up to 200 trucks daily along Hwy. 401 to a Michigan landfill site, a far more costly and environmentally unfriendly deal which ended just last year.
Let’s not forget Layton’s partner in crime — wife Olivia Chow, now an NDP MP, who made some very unholy alliances while at City Hall, particularly with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) terrorists.
A fierce opponent of the revitalization of the island airport, Chow was there along with her islander friends protesting the day Porter Air took off for the first time.
So this folks is what Canadians can look forward to if the Patron Saint of Many Causes finds himself in a position of power, or heaven forbid, prime minister: Shameless theatrics, A Sky’s the Limit attitude when it comes to spending on the environment and the downtrodden; A Unions Rule mentality and most of all Taxes, Taxes and more Taxes.
Let’s not forget one other bonus — Olivia Chow snuggling up next to him at 24 Sussex.


http://www.torontosun.com/2011/04/28/levy-bicycle-jack-a-national-problem

 

[mentalfloss]

I'm sure there's tons of dirt conservatives have been desperate to dig up on Layton. Most of it will come from the compromised sun (not surprisingly).

Regarding the economic policies of this particular NDP platform, I'd have to agree with this article. A lot of the concurrent issues that relate to Canadians on our fiscal policy don't seem to be under any particular threat. Certainly not to the extent the conservative fear mongers would have us believe.

No one is saying we should favour one party or the other on principal alone. That would be partisan, and that's what appears to keep fueling the conservative vote, despite the fact that conservatives aren't actually fiscally conservative right now.

But it would be nice to get some legitimate arguments that are truly critical of the NDP budget, without someone mindlessly flinging the poo around.

 

[Avro]

I'm sure there's tons of dirt conservatives have been desperate to dig up on Layton. Most of it will come from the sun (not surprisingly).

Regarding the economic policies of this particular NDP platform, I'd have to agree with this article. A lot of the concurrent issues that relate to Canadians on our fiscal policy don't seem to be under any particular threat. Certainly not to the extent the conservative fear mongers would have us believe.

No one is saying we should favour one party or the other on principal alone. That would be partisan, and that's what appears to keep fueling the conservative vote, despite the fact that conservatives aren't actually fiscally conservative right now.

But it would be nice to get some legitimate arguments that are truly critical of the NDP budget, without someone mindlessly flinging the poo around.

Fear is the campaign when the establishment is threatened.

The NDP in my mind is the only party willing to protect the middle class and the poor from the ever increasing amount of income disparity.

 

[CDNBear]

I'm sure there's tons of dirt conservatives have been desperate to dig up on Layton. Most of it will come from the compromised sun (not surprisingly).

This is how you remove the mask. It isn't just dirt MF. It's fact.

You want to run on his platform and how spiffy he's acting, good for you. That shyte don't make countries great.

I'm going by his actions from his first days in politics. He hasn't changed at all. His policies, platform, is pretty much pie in the sky BS.

But it would be nice to get some legitimate arguments that are truly critical of the NDP budget, without someone mindlessly flinging the poo around.

Durry posted a nice piece in another thread. By the CBC's Greg Weston no less.

And you have become an apt flinger of poo. So drop the silly self righteous BS. You just look silly now.

The NDP in my mind is the only party willing to protect the middle class and the poor from the ever increasing amount of income disparity.

The middle class will be the ones to carry the burden.

 

[mentalfloss]

Let's be honest though, it doesn't really look that bad CDN.

Do you think the conservatives have really been much better? It seems to me that they haven't really done well from an economic standpoint. I haven't even read any objective metrics which show the conservatives are any better fiscally.

While one can point to cap and trade as a blackspot, the deficit the NDP would bring (if arguably at all) could not be any worse than where the conservatives have brought us it seems. I mean, from the surplus that the Liberals handed them to $30 million in deficit, plus another $30 million for the jets?

I'm reeeally trying here, but I just don't get the conservatives fiscal imperative. No one who tries to be non-partisan about this could actually say the conservatives hold the upper hand by any stretch of the imagination. And that stark realization is what is costing them their majority this election.

They've abandoned their own fan group.

 

[CDNBear]

Let's be honest though, I doesn't really look that bad CDN.

Yes it does. Cap and trade right off, will be a disaster. That makes you and me pay. Corporations aren't going to eat the cost. If Jack pushes legislation that forces business to eat it. They're going to leave.

Do you think the conservatives have really been much better? It seems to me that they haven't really done well from an economic standpoint. I haven't even read any objective metrics which show the conservatives are any better fiscally.

I don't need to read anything.

1, They were forced, in order to keep power, to spend. This very board lit up like a Christmas tree when the opposition was bitching about his budget not going far enough. Can you guess what the bitching on CC mirrored?

2, We hit a recession of which we have never seen in our life time.

3, I wouldn't hold the debt over any party that held office in this time.

4, My work puts me on the wrist of the economy. I can feel the pulse picking up. I'm making more money. I don't need to lose any to Jackies silly plans.

While one can point to cap and trade as a blackspot, the deficit the NDP would bring (if arguably at all) could not be any worse than where the conservatives have brought us it seems. I mean, from the surplus that the Liberals handed them to $30 million in deficit, plus another $30 million for the jets?

Look, you guys can cry about jets until the cows come home. I'm not thrilled that we're buying the ones we're buying, but at least the feds are replacing the CF 16, before we have another Sea King issue on our hands.

I can live with that.

I'm reeeally trying here, but I just don't get the conservatives fiscal imperative. No one who tries to be non-partisan about this could actually say the conservatives hold the upper hand by any stretch of the imagination.

I agree. And I can assure you, the bulk of my core values, simply don't mesh with the Conservatives, at all!!! But, in my opinion. It's either them or the Liberals at this point. Voting for Layton, is dangerous and a desperate spanking vote, against the other parties. I'm not willing to punish them, at the expense of my living thanx.

 

[PoliticalNick]

The middle class will be the ones to carry the burden.

There is no middle class anymore thanks to Harpo's policies, you are either well off, working poor, or just plain old poor and destitute.

 

[damngrumpy]

The metals are going to go moldy in the mountains, the seas will dry up, all the
trees in the forest will die and fall over, there will be endless clouds over us all
and God will come back and punish us all. For heavens sake the scare factor
is so unreal I can hardly contain my laughter, What this clearly demonstrates
is the Tories have poll results that will scare the hell out of them, in fact they may
know there is a chance Layton could actually win this thing. Fear and dirty tricks
are what the Conservatives will work on for the last couple of days. They are now
throwing Jello at the wall hoping something will stick.
This is Friday night, and there is really only Saturday, Sunday and part of Monday
left. The people are watching hockey and the Royal Wedding this weekend and
many are out and about. I think it is too late for anything now really, for even something
earth shattering takes at least four days to gather steam and the vote will be done
by then.
I would have been content to have Layton as opposition leader now I want him to
finish off Harper and his desperate gang of small minds, with the help of the American
PR people he has around him.

 

[mentalfloss]

Yes it does. Cap and trade right off, will be a disaster. That makes you and me pay. Corporations aren't going to eat the cost. If Jack pushes legislation that forces business to eat it. They're going to leave.

My work puts me on the wrist of the economy. I can feel the pulse picking up. I'm making more money. I don't need to lose any to Jackies silly plans.

Here's where I don't understand people in general.

To me, this sort of attitude appears a bit too selfish. Now don't get me wrong, if the economy tanks, that's obviously not good for our wallets. But, I just don't understand why people have this sort of black and white mentality when there are gradients.

It's not a take all or give away proposition here. It's equally dangerous to everyone in the country if we all had the attitude that we deserve to keep every penny. Likewise, it's equally stupid to assume that a tax, for all intents and purposes, will cause us to go into bankruptcy. Before we take the step to assume what is some dangerous economic policy, we need to really put into perspective what kind of economic sacrifice is reasonable and prudent for the average person to sustain.

I can't even begin to fathom how scary the oogy-boogey cap and trade scheme is with all the noise. None of the conservative fear mongering can put that kind of loss into an observable metric for the average person to digest. It's just not enough to move the undecided voter right now.

 

[CDNBear]

There is no middle class anymore thanks to Harpo's policies, you are either well off, working poor, or just plain old poor and destitute.

Ya, my neighbourhood, didn't get the memo.

Here's where I don't understand people in general.

To me, this sort of attitude appears a bit too selfish. Now don't get me wrong, if the economy tanks, that's obviously not good for our wallets. But, I just don't understand why people have this sort of black and white mentality when there are gradients.

It's not a take all or give away proposition here. It's equally dangerous to everyone in the country if we all had the attitude that we deserve to keep every penny. Likewise, it's equally stupid to assume that a tax, for all intents and purposes, will cause us to go into bankruptcy. Before we take the step to assume what is some dangerous economic policy, we need to really put into perspective what kind of economic sacrifice is reasonable and prudent for the average person to sustain.

Right now? None. And yes, I am selfish. I worked for it. It's mine. i don't mind covering my share of the local infrastructure, but that's where it ends.

When the economy tanked, I almost lost my house. I did lose my business. I'm rebuilding it now. I can't afford to take chances on a pipe dreamer, with a proven track record of making stupid, costly decisions.

I can't even begin to fathom how scary the oogy-boogey cap and trade scheme is with all the noise. None of the conservative fear mongering actually puts that kind of loss in an observable metric for the average person to digest. It's just not enough to move the undecided voter right now.

The NDP's cap-and-trade plan: Brace for sticker shock - Reality Check - Canada Votes 2011 - CBC News

 

[damngrumpy]

People don't want to hear the fear mongering or dirty tricks should they come. See the
Conservatives and Liberals could have saved themselves over the last hundred plus
years and they chose to take the people for granted and now the tide is turning to something
new. An attack is only going to drive more people to the polls to vote for progress over
greed, as it were. Dirty tricks or smear campaigns would also have an adverse effect.
I really believe the undecided vote is shrinking so fast even the parties are taken by surprise.
The reaction by Harper makes me believe there is more to this, and the Tories see the NDP
actually pulling out a win or they are very close to it. When you had what looked like a sure
thing disappear overnight you become frightened and we see the real faces of power
emerge. What I am seeing is a very ugly political face that people don't want anymore
and this will only hurt the Conservatives now as it hurt the Liberals last week. The Conservatives
are starting to plead with people not to vote NDP why? Because so many people appear to be
voting for the NDP. The conservatives are scared as hell and the Liberals have fallen into
despair and the reason is because they were so arrogant they took the voter for granted.

 

[PoliticalNick]

Ya, my neighbourhood, didn't get the memo.

Try living on the West coast right now, we basically only have millionaires and those trying to save their houses and keep from starving. very few in between. Probably why the whole Island and most of rural BC will be NDP come Monday night.

People don't want to hear the fear mongering or dirty tricks should they come. See the
Conservatives and Liberals could have saved themselves over the last hundred plus
years and they chose to take the people for granted and now the tide is turning to something
new. An attack is only going to drive more people to the polls to vote for progress over
greed, as it were. Dirty tricks or smear campaigns would also have an adverse effect.
I really believe the undecided vote is shrinking so fast even the parties are taken by surprise.
The reaction by Harper makes me believe there is more to this, and the Tories see the NDP
actually pulling out a win or they are very close to it. When you had what looked like a sure
thing disappear overnight you become frightened and we see the real faces of power
emerge. What I am seeing is a very ugly political face that people don't want anymore
and this will only hurt the Conservatives now as it hurt the Liberals last week. The Conservatives
are starting to plead with people not to vote NDP why? Because so many people appear to be
voting for the NDP. The conservatives are scared as hell and the Liberals have fallen into
despair and the reason is because they were so arrogant they took the voter for granted.

I agree Grump, as long as the cons and the Libs thought it was just the 2 of them they took advantage of the situation. Now with a real threat emerging from the NDP we are seeing the usual acts and tactics of the power hungry who will do anything to hold on to that power.

More and more people are waking up to the fact that either Harpo or Iggy will just mean more getting screwed in the same old ways for another 4-5 years.

 

[lone wolf]

YouTube - The Walker Brothers-The Sun Ain't Gonna' Shine Anymore

Let's just see what happens as it happens. All the dire predictions and prophecies of doom are sounding a lot like fingernails screaming to a chalk board while the shoolyard bully is getting dragged down to the principal's office

 

[damngrumpy]

Should the NDP actually win, it could be a liberating experience in the long run because
the other two parties can never go back to the old boys club they have been running.
Young people do not want to wait for their share of the pie. All this trickle down stuff, you
kow, where we give the rich what ever they want, and the crumbs will trickle down to you.
It is like saying if you and I are very good boys and girls we can lick Conrad Blacks Plate
to see how good his expensive steak dinner was.
I for one no longer want to wait forever for change, now is the time and the Tories are
afraid of something. Media people will tell you the information gathering for a poll usually
means the information is two to four days behind. This wave is moving so fast we don't
really know how close the NDP is to catching the Tories. Watch for some really nasty stuff
coming in the next day or so. It could have a measure of truth, or no truth at all.
Just a smear campaign, with a scorched earth policy.
I also believe, that the timing for something will wear thin as people are doing other things and
they have tuned out they are waiting to cast their ballot and most have their mind made up.
If the Conservatives feel there is a danger to their power they will stoop to anything to preserve
their hold on power, if nothing is required they will have to endure the NDP as the opposition.
The opposition will no longer be a softball affair, it will be hard, in your face and pressure for
the governing party. Times they are a changing. I actually hope there is some nasty trick or
propaganda launch it will mean the NDP has more momentum than we think.

 

[Colpy]

"Menance" is a little strong, Jack is simply an idiot.

Unfortunately, having an idiot in power quite often proves more damaging than having someone with menance, say Jean Chretien.

A party obsessed with minority rights now supports extending Bill 101 language laws to cover workers in Quebec under federal jurisdiction. A staunchly centralist party now supports devolving powers to Quebec. Mr. Layton’s support for the Clarity Act has never been warmer than tepid; of late, he’s been declaring nothing stronger than a general preference for a “No” vote in a referendum.

Good article.

Chris Selley: Leader Profile ? Jack Layton | Full Comment | National Post

 

[CDNBear]

Ya, I'd have a beer with him....

Have a beer with Jack -but don't let him near the economy

But I don't care what he promises, even the unneeded boost to Native education. He's still not fit to lead a country.

 

[Colpy]

Evaporate this:

Layton has more charisma than his three opponents combined. Not nearly enough though to merit casting a vote for a political party committed to fiscal policies which would arguably prove ruinous to Canada’s fundamental economic well-being.
Mr. Layton would subject Canadians to Al Gore’s supposed planet-saving cap and trade madness, viewed by critics as certain to fuel unemployment and steadily drive upward energy costs. Paying too much for gasoline and electricity now? Cap and trade would quickly make today’s numbers seem like a bargain.
When I confronted Mr. Layton with Northern Ireland Minister of Finance Sammy Wilson’s unequivocal condemnation of cap and trade as responsible for massive job destruction and shared with the NDP boss a warning from Denmark’s Dr. Bjorn Lomborg that were cap and trade policies to became universally adopted they would by century’s end reach $40 trillion in annual costs, and long before then lead to the $9 a litre of gasoline, Layton’s response was “I don’t believe them.”
Not a fact-substantiated challenge of the Minister of Finance for Northern Ireland or Dr. Lomborg, just “I don’t believe them.”
During the same interview the NDP leader referenced the Alberta oil sands project in the preferred lingo of the left, “tar sands”. Those “oil sands” Mr. Layton, are of fundamental economic benefit to Canada and Canadians.

Roy Green: Vote NDP, prepare to pay more | Full Comment | National Post

 

[YukonJack]

If you want to have a beer with Jack Layton, bring a full wallet. The only beer you - and Jack - will drink is the beer you pay for.