Fuschi’s Canadian Forum

The two  most recent Liberal dynasties owed a great deal, for their existence, to world class lies.

Pierre Trudeau lied to Canadians about a made-in-Canada price for oil and was able to defeat Joe Clark and his eighteen cent gas tax. At that time Canada was a net importer and was unable to produce sufficient oil, because the Liberal- decreed wellhead price was too low to entice oil extraction. Trudeau knew this but played politics with it. Once he was re-elected the price was allowed to rise by more than a dollar.

Chretien had similar disrespect for Canadians, and lied to them emphatically about removing the unpopular GST. Once elected on this promise he was eventually called on it. In response he exhibited probably the most gall in Canadian history, by lying about having made the promise. Rather than being turfed out of office at the first opportunity, he was re-elected twice. The indifference of voters to such abuse, probably had a lot to do with the development of a culture in which adscam politics was acceptable behaviour.

The reason I have reviewed these is because of Dion’s latest ruminations about energy taxes. It is tempting to think that this guy has a political death wish, but then these previous incidents show that perhaps Canadians, and especially Ontario, exhibit one as well. Both these men were obvious one night stand con-artists, and yet we fell for them. To emphasize the point, we re-elected McGuinty, whose abuse of our trust made us feel like battered partners. 

Before wading further into this wonderland, consider the absurdity of this proposal at this time. If new energy taxes ever see the light, they might arrive about the time gas hits two dollars a litre. Evidently Mr. Dion thinks that the Canadian driver will do nothing in self-defense while these prices rise inexorably, and must be wacked with a new tax to make him see the light. Which tax, by then, will be about as popular as a social disease.

But wait, this tax will be revenue neutral, a promise made in the memory of all past Liberals. And if you believe that, you are still in the subservient position we left you in during the Chretien dark ages. No less an authority than the TD bank, reported at the end of that period, that all wage gains made by Canadian workers in that time, were taxed away by the ever ready hand in your pocket. After all there were brown envelopes to stuff, people to pay.

Let me conclude by wondering… does no one see anything strange about a platform which contains nothing but a potentially devastating new tax? A tax which in spite of its potential to devastate our economy, is founded on an illusory goal. I just read that China is projected to build almost 600 new coal-fired generating plants. Whatever you think about the truth of global warming, it is obvious that we may be jeopardizing our economy and the wealth of future generations, for nothing. The one sure thing that appears endangered in a Canada with Mr. Dion and the Liberals at the helm, is disposable income. 

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 17th, 2008 at 4:21 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.