Canadian Political Leaders Debates...

THE CANADIAN POLITICAL LEADERS DEBATES 2008
A commentary on the Real Issues, the Red Herring Issues and
Side-Step Issues to be expected during the French Language debate on October 1rst and the English Language debate on October 2nd 2008.
By Victor Drummond ©
September 2008

Real Issues:-

Regardless of any bail-out package the American Congress may approve for “Main Street” to salvage “Wall Street” the world economy vis-à-vis the Canadian economy will dominate the Canadian Political Leaders debate in both official languages.
i.e:- Job Loss, Job Creation, International trade treaty re-negotiation etc.

Getting tough on youth crime is sure to make the top ten list.

Energy conservation. Initiating projects to replace fossil fuel energy sources by renewable energy sources. All leaders will subscribe to this issue but do not expect much in the way of a W5 on this item.

Then the topic of provincial equalization payments will take center stage – at some point -- with accusations flying back and forth regarding which provinces are being over compensated and which are being short-changed.

Municipal transfer payments – Infrastructure renewal etc.

In the mix will be the issue of recognizing Quebec as a nation within a nation.
To what extent self rule etc.


Red Herring Issues:-

Saving the world from global warming. According to scientific calculations Canada’s total contribution of green-house gas to the world total is approximately 2%. Go figure.

Our political leaders may make a lot of rhetorical comments on this issue but in reality there is nothing substantial that Canada alone can do to make any real difference.

The Carbon Tax. The theory of revenue neutral taxation sounds great but just does not work in this instance.

The cost of setting up -- and operating -- anything like a system that gives the taxpayer something for nothing would be horrendous and could never be kept in balance. This plan should be best classed as a Make Work project.


Side-Step Issues:-

Note:- A side-step Issue is a Real Issue that none of the Party Leaders want to deal with.
Although most – perhaps all – Canadian Political Parties subscribe to popular moral values such as honesty, decency, dependability, justice, fairness, equality and the like – when it comes to costing them votes and/or significant sums of money they can turn a blind eye to the most flagrant examples of a violation of one or more of these typical Canadian Values.

The matter of correcting unfair, unequal, abusive, taxation of thousands of Canadians allowed by a defect in the taxable benefit legislation is well known to every current Canadian Political Leader. To date not one leader has acknowledged the existence this outrageous violation of taxpayers RIGHTS.

Canadians for Fair and Equal Taxation, (CFET), has organized the submission of several versions of the “Question” –

As Canada’s next Prime Minister what would you do to correct this unjustified tax and compensate its current victims?

My bet being their question will not be presented – in any form -- during either of the Leadership debates. It will be lost in the shuffle of so-called higher priority issues.

What if I am wrong – for once? Then my sincere apology will be posted in my next article – constructed to be commensurate with the degree the question is presented intact.

Then if any of the top three party leaders claim no prior knowledge of this issue – they are at the very least undermining their party communications system and at most prevaricating.

Because this issue has been appealed by its victims numerous times -- to every party to form our government -- over the past seven years.

Side-Step Actions:-

(1) At least one party leader can claim to have partially addressed the issue -- of taxing phantom income -- by way of signing a “Tax Remission Order”, (TRO), to revoke this unjustified taxation of -- by my estimate --- 0.00001% of those honest hard working Canadians victimized by this insidious tax.

(2) This same leader can also claim to have upgraded the tax victims appeal process and appointed a toothless Tax Ombudsman to advise the Canada Revenue Agency to treat all such victimized appellants courteously.

Victims shouldn’t mind being told very politely to:-
“Pay up or else.”

(3) In order to facilitate a victim’s case being brought to the attention of a “Chief Appeals Officer” this same leader had a tax appeal form, or two, upgraded to make it easier for individual appellants to organize and submit their appeals.

The problem has not been solved – or even alleviated – by the foregoing three government actions.

As Journalist Don Cayo said on this topic in his article published in the Vancouver Sun last year:- “Change the law – don’t just mask the problem.”

When a flaw in an existing law becomes apparent by creating victims at a wholesale rate it is dishonest, unfair, and an insult to the intelligence of any normal person to pretend a one-at-a-time appeal process is any kind of corrective action.

Unless at least one leader – if elected Prime Minister -- commits to -- the very minimum -- extending the conditions of the SDL/JDSU – TRO – to every honest hard working Canadian -- taxed on phantom income – then they have all failed the people they portend to represent.

See you at the Federal Election Polls – O’Grady

Victor Drummond ©