Results tagged “conservativeparty”

In a recent article, we described Canadian democracy as "drunken" and "staggering," eliciting the image of a bumbling, well-intentioned dullard saddled with an affliction that, for better or worse, is an effect of his or her environment or circumstances but manifest as failure for reasons entirely their own. Today, with news from Ottawa that two opposition parties are going to supportively wedge themselves under Harper's armpits for a while, we—like others with a shamelessly professed anti-Harper bias—stand by it.

Cue the trumpets, unfurl the banners, make with the fanfare, and let fly with a triumphant shout of "Sweet merciful crap, here we go again."

With his intention to shove the Ontario PC party back to the right, newly hatched leader Tim Hudak demonstrated that he is the true heir to Mike Harris. But what kind of son will he be? Will he fit the mould of the creature in the Toho studio's Son of Godzilla film or will he be like the comical sidekick, Godzooky, from the animated US Godzilla TV series? In a city that never recovered from the "Common Sense Revolution," the answer to that question will suggest future perils for Toronto.

There's more than enough trash-talking to go with the tulips this spring on Parliament Hill, with some distinctly unflowery themes (Fiscal mismanagement! Attack ads! Election threats! Secret tapes!) echoing through the air.

Toronto residents, take heart: crime in your city is less severe than you have been led to believe. That's the word from Statistics Canada, which yesterday released the first edition of the Police-Reported Crime Severity Index, a new ranking created at the request of the police community that takes into account both the volume and seriousness of criminal acts. According to the index, police-reported crime across Canada declined in severity between 1998 and 2007, the last year for which data is available. The index also pegs Toronto as the metropolitan area with the lowest crime severity, well below the national average and that of other major cities such as Montreal and Vancouver.

The CBC doesn't always get it right. In the last few months alone we've mocked it for losing an iconic hockey anthem, been exasperated by its new primetime television show, and condemned its poor taste in music venues. Still and all, we're pretty sure that the CBC is essential to keeping Canada, well, Canadian, and we'd very much like for the federal government to stop kicking it around quite so much.

When Iggy took the podium today he was full of fire and brimstone, sternly taking the Conservative government to task for its recent shenanigans. "We hold them responsible for telling us there would no recession when the rest of the world was already taking action...this is a record of reckless, arrogant, and short-sighted government." Strong stuff. Those who hoped that this language meant the Liberals would reject the Tories' new budget proposal were in for a rude awakening, however, as Ignatieff then toned his rhetoric down dramatically and introduced the crucial caveat: "But here is the point—the budget also contains important concessions...These measures are only in the budget because the opposition parties did their job." This afternoon in Parliament, Ignatieff introduced an amendment to the budget, meant to "put this government on probation"—it requires that the government issue updates in March, June, and December on the implementation of the stimulus package. Question Period is ongoing at this time, and Ignatieff is facing far more severe challenges from one-time coalition partners in the Bloc and NDP than from the Tories. The Conservatives appear poised to accept the amendment: Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry Mike Lake just took to the floor to thank the Liberals for their support.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty released the government's budget plan today, entitled "Canada's Economic Action Plan" (a.k.a. "Money Can't Buy Me Happiness, But Maybe Massive Deficits Will"). While the broad strokes of the budget were all leaked ahead of time—tax cuts, massive infrastructure spending, support for the unemployed, increased regulation of the financial industry, and an $85 billion deficit over five years—a few details from Flaherty's speech are of interest to Toronto. Specifically, the federal government plans to pump cash into the revitalization of Union Station and augment the Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal rail corridor in order to reduce travel time between Toronto and Montreal by thirty minutes. There was, however, no mention of funding for the TTC's Transit City plan. Maybe this snub will finally lead to the cage match between Jim Flaherty and David Miller we've all been waiting for. Two GTA politicians enter, only one leaves!

With the national economy struggling under the weight of a global economic crisis, Governor General Michaëlle Jean yesterday delivered a throne speech that was both incredibly brief (the English version contains just 750 words) and, due to the intense Ottawa cold, surrounded by hardly any of the usual vice-regal pomp and circumstance. Which was probably just as well, given that yesterday's speech was really just the pre-game show for today's main event, the federal budget.

Putting together a concise biography for Severn Cullis-Suzuki is something of a daunting task. Not due to a lack of achievements, but rather because the Vancouver-born environmental and social-justice activist has an incredibly long resumé for someone not yet three decades old. There's so much there, it's hard to whittle down to size.

                

It's been a tumultuous month so far in Canadian politics, with an unlikely centre-left coalition seeking to oust the newly re-elected Conservatives from power in Ottawa. But although Prime Minister Stephen Harper put the kibosh on the opposition's attempt to boot him from office before year's end, Saturday's duelling noontime pro- and anti-coalition rallies in Toronto went on as planned, showing just how much this unusual crisis has shaken residents across the political spectrum.

One hundred and forty-two minutes: That's how long it took Prime Minister Stephen Harper to emerge from Rideau Hall this morning to announce that Governor General Michaëlle Jean had granted his request to prorogue, or suspend, Parliament until Jan. 26. The first item on the agenda upon the resumption of Parliament will be the presentation of a federal budget. In comments to reporters, the prime minister pledged to try to address the opposition parties' concerns with respect to stimulus for the beleaguered economy. Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, NDP Leader Jack Layton and Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe all say that the possibility of a Liberal-NDP coalition is still in the cards. Click here to discuss Harper's prorogation move and Canada's continuing political drama.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will speak to the nation tonight at 7 p.m. in a televised address that could spell out his plan to stave off defeat at the hands of an unprecedented Liberal-NDP coalition. The address comes in the middle of a public relations blitz from both sides of the political battle, featuring websites, newspaper editorials, and attack ads. Protests are also being organized across the country, including duelling rallies in Toronto planned for Saturday, December 6 at noon, with coalition supporters meeting at Nathan Phillips Square and the anti-coalition side gathering at Queen's Park. Get your placards ready! Click here to discuss the coalition crisis and wildly speculate on Harper's last-ditch plans.

After a weekend of negotiation and conjecture, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion and New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton this afternoon signed an accord pledging to work together in a coalition government until June 30, 2011, should the Conservative government be defeated in a vote of non-confidence. Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe also signed on, agreeing that his party will support the coalition until at least 2010. Under the accord, Stéphane Dion would be prime minister until the Liberal Party picks its new leader in May 2009; the new cabinet would consist of twenty-four members, including six New Democrats, with a Liberal finance minister. Click here to discuss the coalition deal and the unprecedented political drama engulfing the nation.

680 News and the Canadian Press are reporting that the Liberal Party will introduce a motion to bring down the Harper Conservative government on Monday and will attempt to form a coalition government with the NDP. According to the Canadian Press, Stéphane Dion will become prime minister should the Conservative government fall. Click here to discuss this story and to read Torontoist's round-up of the political events of the past twenty-four hours.

It was barely a month ago that the Harper Conservatives were returned to government with a strengthened minority and politicians of all stripes were pledging to work together to steer Canada through the global financial storm. But after Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivered an economic update yesterday that promised to end pay-equity programs, suspend federal employees' right to strike, and eliminate the subsidy for political parties (a move that would financially cripple the Liberals, NDP, and Bloc, but not the Conservatives), all three opposition leaders declared that either the Tories would have to blink or the government falls.

Photo by Owen Byrne.

Today was the kind of day that sent financial reporters scrambling for their thesauri to look for synonyms for the word "plummet." In its biggest one-day point loss since the crash of 1987, the TSX fell 764 points, largely on the back of tumbling oil prices and bad news from TD Bank. The 9.02 percent hammering brought Canada's main stock market down to 7,726 points at the closing bell, the first time since 2003 that the exchange ended a day below 8,000. The loonie also faired poorly, falling 2.48 cents to 77.35 cents US. The abysmal market performance was not the day's only troubling financial news: Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page earlier released a report predicting that the federal government is on track for a deficit of up to $13.8 billion next year, despite the Prime Minister's insistence during the election campaign that such an event was outside the realm of possibility. If all that doom and gloom has you feeling a bit down, think of it this way: at least we're better off than Iceland.

Now that the federal government is teetering on the verge of its first budget deficit in a decade, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is publicly considering the possibility of selling off the CN Tower to help balance the books—and pay for Prime Minister Harper's still-planned tax cuts. The building, until last year the world's tallest freestanding structure, is owned by Canada Lands Company, a crown corporation. Flaherty's musing should not come as a surprise to local residents: as Ontario finance minister, he pushed for the sale of publicly owned assets such as TV Ontario, the LCBO, and Ontario Place. Torontoist's suggestion: sell the iconic concrete hulk to Canadian Tire. At least then the name wouldn't change much.

In the run-up to our favourite national pastime of electioneering, Torontoist profiled some of the most closely contested ridings in the GTA, looking for the bellwethers and offering snapshots of electoral districts in transition. Today we survey the outcomes of those races.

Torontoist is officially in election mode. In the run-up to the big day, we'll be profiling some of the most closely contested ridings in the GTA, looking for the bellwethers and offering snapshots of electoral districts in transition.

Torontoist is officially in election mode. In the run-up to the big day, we'll be profiling some of the most closely contested ridings in the GTA, looking for the bellwethers and offering snapshots of electoral districts in transition.

Torontoist is officially in election mode. In the run-up to the big day, we'll be profiling some of the most closely contested ridings in the GTA, looking for the bellwethers and offering snapshots of electoral districts in transition.

Torontoist is officially in election mode. In the run-up to the big day, we'll be profiling some of the most closely-contested ridings in the GTA, looking for the bellwethers and offering snapshots of electoral districts in transition.

Torontoist is officially in election mode. In the run-up to the big day, we'll be profiling some of the most closely contested ridings in the GTA, looking for the bellwethers and offering snapshots of electoral districts in transition.

Photo by functoruser.

Hillary Clinton has won the Pennsylvania primary. The Clinton campaign remains alive after a ten-point win in the state, thus proving that a campaign currently in debt can win if it runs enough negative attacks and limps along to the next contest. This is also known as the "limping zombie" theory of electoral campaigning.

Mayor David Miller, anxious to prove the civic value of his trade mission to China, announced yesterday that a major Chinese mining company would be opening an office in Toronto. Well, not necessarily an office. It could be one of those shared rental suites. Or a mailbox, definitely a mailbox, at least. Say, how 'bout that Great Wall?