Obnoxious Thibault Defeated

Liberal MP Robert Thibault was soundly defeated in the West Nova riding last week. This arrogant and obnoxious man deserved defeat. He insulted Canadian seniors by suggesting Greg Kerr, his Conservative opponent, was too old for the job. Kerr is 60. In the process he managed to compound his mistake, tearing a strip off Conservative Senator Marjory LeBreton, for allegedly exploiting his insult. LeBreton is an "idiot"who should “go back to making tea for Brian Mulroney and stay out of serious people’s business,” he said.

Funny that Kerr was "too old," while his former boss Chretien was a lot older than that. Kerr is an experienced former NS cabinet minister.

Well, good riddance to Mr Thibault. This is the kind of individual who undermines our respect in politics. The Liberals are better off without him.

Ten Reasons Not to Vote Conservative

1. The Conservatives are spending too much on the Armed Forces. Instead of a strong, well equipped military that can defend our interests, I want a weak, underfunded bunch of "Boy Scouts" (as Jean Chretien's called them) that make fools of themselves when they try to go peacekeeping.

2. I do not want lower taxes. I want the GST to go back up, as Stephane Dion promised. I like taxes, especially a Carbon Tax to save the world. I want to pay more for everything, because a Liberal government knows how to spend my hard earned money better than I do. And it doesn't matter if Canada only produces 2% of the world's "greenhouse gases," or that even if we shut Canada down completely it wouldn't make a bit of difference to the climate...

3. I feel sorry for violent young offenders, and I don't like Harper's plan to keep them in jail or disclose their names. I don't want to know the name of the teenage rapist who lives down the street, and I don't want him put in jail. My 13 year old daughter can look after herself. I know this repeat violent offender can be rehabilitated, and I feel safe with the knowledge he is anonymous and on a nearby street.

4. I hate businesses, and want to see them pay more taxes. Stephen Harper is lowering corporate taxes to make them competitive with other countries, so they won't move to other countries. With an NDP government, they'll make those businesses pay more, and they'll close up or move to Mexico or China. I'll lose my job, but that is OK as I can go on EI and live on other people's taxes. A little bit of unemployment and more debt won't hurt us....

5. Stephen Harper is too hard on China. He doesn't like the fact they execute more people than the rest of the world put together. He doesn't like the fact that people there are miserable due to corrupt officials, pollution, censorship, etc. He doesn't like the fact that over 1,000 Chinese agents are spying in Canada right now. Harper believes in human rights. I'd prefer a Liberal government that turns a blind eye to all this, and only wants to line the pockets of their supporters with trade deals.

6. Stephen Harper believes in families. What an antediluvian idea! He believes stay at home moms should get a child care benefit. I would let those people do without. I want to pay more taxes to subsidize day care centers for wealthy working couples.

7. Stephen Harper is doing something about pollution. I don't care about big companies dumping their sludge in my back yard or enormous fines for real pollution. I would rather spend big taxes to fight global warming. After all, carbon dioxide is toxic. What do you mean, plants need it to grow?

8. Conservatives care too much about sovereignty and the arctic. I don't care if Russian or Chinese subs are prowling around up there, or if the Russians take our oil. I don't care if other countries use the Northwest Passage as a toilet while our impotent military looks on helplessly. I like the Liberal idea of "soft power" and throwing my money at cultural programs for the Inuit instead.

9. Harper is not panicking and throwing money around due to the financial crisis. Instead of reassuring people that our banks are carefully regulated (unlike those evil American ones), he should be throwing cash around (taxpayers money, of course)...I don't know why, but it sounds cool. I like Stephane Dion's idea of a big Carbon Tax which would drive up prices, inflation, and kill profits, throwing the country into a deeper recession. So schadenfreude of me!

10. The top reason not to vote for Harper - he is just too honest. Politicians are supposed to be crooks, and steal money....like the Liberals did in the sponsorship scandal in Quebec. They are not supposed to pass laws like Harper's Accountability Act to clean up government! They are supposed to act like thugs and attack protesters in the street.

Death of the Digby Neck Megaquarry

Every now and then something happens here in Nova Scotia that gives me hope. The recent decision by the NS government to stop the development of this quarry was one of the most intelligent things I've seen it do since I moved back here. The quarry was one of those terrible ideas that should have been rejected immediately, but wasn't. I'm sure that the PC government was willing to allow it, but intense local opposition eventually resulted in a study of the project. The conclusion of the study was a no brainer - the quarry would be detrimental and should not proceed.

We can't be opposed to all quarries. Lets face it, we need them to build our roads - not that we are building a lot of roads here lately. Americans are building lots of them though, that is where the Digby Neck gravel would be destined for. Clayton Concrete of New Jersey planned to take 2 million tons of the Digby Neck to the US annually. You won't see them dig up their own state because they can't.

The North Mountain has a lot of basalt, and I think most people have no problem with a quarry located in an environmentally approved, unobtrusive area away from the coast. The problem is that we handle these matters the same way we did a century ago...there is no clear policy. The people of Nova Scotia should be paid an appropriate royalty for the stone when it is exported. There was no royalty for stone exported from the Digby Neck megaquarry.

My hat goes off to Andy Moir. I met him 10 years ago, a fellow who moved to Freeport because he loves the place. Andy took a large part in championing the struggle against the megaquarry along with many others. There is hope, but it takes more people like Andy to fight for their beliefs. Sadly, not a lot of this is happening. We still have herbicide spraying of the forests, clear cutting, unjust foreign land ownership, and Nova Scotia Power undermining clean and renewable power development through government sanctioned policies. The politicians here (all parties) are extremely backward when it comes to intelligent progressive policies to benefit the population. As long as this continues, Nova Scotia will remain a backwater.

Nothing to Brag About

From the Canadian Press, Nov 1, 2007:

Canada rates worst on health-care waiting times among 7 countries
The Canadian Press

WASHINGTON — Canada has the worst rating in a new study of health care in seven countries when it comes to wait times for seeing doctors and getting elective surgery.

And the Commonwealth Fund says Canadians are most likely to report going to an emergency room as an alternative to a visit to a doctor’s office or clinic.

Some 12,000 people were surveyed last spring by the Commonwealth Fund. The results have now been released in Washington.

Only 22 per cent of Canadians survey say they could get a same-day appointment when they’re sick. Thirty per cent — by far the highest among the countries — say they had to wait six days or more.

And 15 per cent reported waits of six months or more for non-emergency surgery.

Meantime, two-thirds reported having a lot of difficulty getting care at night, on weekends or holidays.

‘‘The report indicates that Canadians are saying the same thing to politicians that they’re saying to the Commonwealth Fund: access to physicians and access to medical services has to improve,’’ said Health Minister Tony Clement.

‘‘We share that concern.’’

The number of people with chronic conditions reporting a medical mistake or medication error in the past two years is 28 per cent. That was the highest among all countries surveyed except the United States, which had 32 per cent.

‘‘This bolsters my opinion that Canada does have to lay an emphasis on patient safety,’’ said Clement, who attended a session in Washington on the findings.

‘‘On the plus side, when it comes to access to care without extra payment, Canada stands out very well among the top of the nations. That’s certainly a value that Canadians treasure.’’

Twelve per cent of Canadians skipped some form of care in the past year because of cost-related problems, compared with 37 per cent in the United Sates.

Still, 12 per cent of Canadians also reported spending more than $1,000 on medical care in the last year.

Ninety-one per cent of Canadians reported having a regular doctor or place of care.

But 60 per cent said they think Canada’s system needs fundamental changes, with 12 per cent saying it should be rebuilt completely.

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So why do Canadians brag about their poor health care system? Probably because its free. I can't put a price on my health. Can you?

Why Are We Bragging?

From The Chronicle Herald, Oct 21, 2007:

AMHERST — Bill and Tina Archer are caught in a vicious circle: They can’t get help for their seven-year-old son’s ear problem without a referral from a family doctor — and they can’t find a family doctor even after months of trying.

"I’ve done everything I can think of to get a family physician, without any luck," Ms. Archer said Saturday in an interview from her Amherst home. "Now, I just don’t know where to turn."

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Canadians love to brag about their substandard health care. Why do they oppose adopting European models which are working?

Unfortunately Canadians are deluded by a socialist myth invented by Liberals that any kind of private heath care is evil. They fail to realize that EVERY OTHER DEVELOPED COUNTRY on the planet Earth have both public and private systems, and most of them are cheaper and work better than our Cuban style system. I wonder if that thought ever crossed Mr. Archer's mind as his child suffers because he can't find a family doctor.

When are Canadians going to look to Europe and realize that they have health care that works? When are they going to wake up and realize the system they have now is crap?

It'll happen once the wealthy baby boomers get old and sick.

Lazy Yokals

Its that time of the year again...apple harvesting time in the beautiful Annapolis Valley. Apples that are harvested by hard working Jamaicans and now Mexicans. Despite a high unemployment rate, farmers have to bring in pickers from other countries because unemployed Valley people are too lazy to get off their ass and do a decent day's work. Instead, they sit around drinking and getting fat on my taxes. These yokals should have their welfare cut off if they are unwilling to work when jobs are available. This is a prime example of the culture of dependency you create when you dole out money without strings.

Foreign Land Ownership in Nova Scotia

If you've ever though of buying a nice piece of oceanfront property in Nova Scotia, you'd better have a very thick wallet. And if you currently own some, or your parents do, you'd better have a thick wallet to pay the outrageous taxes.

The major reason for this - foreign ownership of our coastline areas. This has driven up the value of seaside property making it unaffordable for most Nova Scotians. In the past, our low dollar made property relatively cheap for Germans and Americans, who have bought up the prime land in our province.

PEI discovered that something had to be done, and instituted laws to prevent non-residents from buying up their province. Efforts to do the same in NS resulted in a task force that published its final report in Dec 2001. See http://www.gov.ns.ca/vp/nonres/fr.pdf

Here is a quote from the report - "The provincial government’s background information on non-resident land ownership in Nova Scotia identified non-residents as owning 6.4 per cent of the Province,16 per cent of the coastline and 6.8 per cent of non-coastal waterfront land. On the high side of the range, Digby, Annapolis, and Shelburne counties report non-resident ownership approaching 30 per cent of the coastline."

The outcome of this report was a complete disappointment for Nova Scotians who want to limit the detrimental effects of unchecked foreign ownership. Any measure to control foreign ownership was shot down.

I spoke to a German about buying 14 acres of undeveloped land he owned near Margaretsville in Annapolis County. This man also owned land in Lunenburg Co. He told me he is holding it as an investment, "Money in the bank" he said. Well, it sits there unused until he sells it to another German. It does not generate any economic activity, and denies Nova Scotians the opportunity to build and live there. And if it does get developed, the Germans will only visit it a few weeks a year, then go back home. This provides very little economic benefit for Nova Scotia for the rest of the year (supporting businesses, paying taxes, etc).

It's time our leaders stand up for Nova Scotians, to ensure foreigners are limited in the amount of acreage they can own, and to make them pay much higher taxes to compensate our province for lost economic activity. It is also important to ensure existing Nova Scotia landowners are protected from skyrocketing property assessments due to the deleterious effects of foreign landowners .