It's Over For the Liberals

The only question we have is why did it take so long?

Meanwhile Dion is insisting the band play on the deck. The Liberal ship is unsinkable!

It's time to go, Ralph...

Wascana on the Radar Nationally

Goodale, first elected in Saskatchewan in 1974, is one of those rare politicians who ends up known by only one name: “Ralph.” He is as much a Prairie icon as the grain elevators, though they, of course, are rapidly vanishing from the Big Sky landscape.

And so will Ralph...

This is the part of MacGregor's column that gets us.

“It's not a ‘TAX,'” says Goodale. “It's a ‘TAX CUT!'” – one that he says will give every individual in the province a tax break.

Ralph is either incapable of telling the truth, or to arrogant to admit what Green Shift actually is.

However, last week on JGL, Ralph all but admitted Green Shift was a wealth transfer from the West to the East. We're still trying to source the clip but will post it here when it becomes available.

The Polls Speak

I guess the election plan didn't work as well as anticipated...

Green Shift not central plank: Dion

So much for the courage of their convictions.

What we will do is make sure that every voter knows that Green Shift was Dion's plan and that Ralph promoted it vigorously to the detriment of every single Saskatchewan resident.

It's time to make Goodale pay politically for his betrayal of our province. Send a message to the LPOC and get rid of Ralph in Regina Wascana on October 24th.

Ever Get The Feeling The Whole World Is Against You?

But Ralph Goodale, the Liberals' only MP in Saskatchewan before the writ was dropped for the Oct. 14 vote, said the figure cited by the government doesn't include any of the offsetting personal taxes that are included in the Green Shift plan, which the Liberals calculate as more than $1,300 for the average family.

"They have totally ignored the benefit side of the equation," he said. "You can't make the most favourable assumptions for the Conservative government and the most unfavourable for the Green Shift."

What about the about the increased cost of products and services as a result of new taxes at the manufacturing level, Ralph? What about the fact that that very little collected by this new tax would actually be utilized to stop greenhouse gas emissions, rather than to fund pet Liberal projects to solidify support in the 905?

You really don't want to get into a "what they omitted" discussion. Liberals are the very worst at art of transparency.

Ontario's Economic One Man Wrecking Crew Speaks

If Bob Rae is for it, you know it has to be bad for Canada...

If Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall is going to criticize the federal Liberals' key election plank, he better be prepared for a fight, says former Ontario premier and Liberal candidate Bob Rae.

During a stop in Regina on Saturday for the official opening of Palliser candidate Cal Johnston's campaign office, Rae defended his party's Green Shift plan to tax carbon in exchange for income tax cuts.

...

Last week after meeting with his Alberta counterpart, Wall raised concerns the climate change plan could be harmful to the province's economy. Wall has said he'll release the province's analysis before the election. Rae wants to see the math.

"I've seen some wild statements about things that bear no relationship to any fact of which I'm aware," Rae told reporters as he stood flanked by other Saskatchewan Liberal candidates, including Ralph Goodale, the province's only Liberal MP.

...

That's funny, Bob. The people of Canada want to see the Liberal math on Green Shift, but that hasn't been forthcoming either.

Bob Rae; The Canadian political equivalent of the sound of one hand clapping.

Mind you, it's a nice change from the Canadian political equivalent of Foghorn Leghorn, Ralph Goodale...

What? He's Not Really A Hockey-Loving Outdoorsman?

Sorry Stephane... It seems as though the great unwashed aren't buying it.

The Liberal effort may have made Dion even less likable to Canadians. The gap between his popularity and that of Prime Minister Stephen Harper -- or even NDP Leader Jack Layton -- is wider than ever.

Ouch. That's gotta sting!

Now THAT'S Confidence

We're behind you, Stephane (with knives drawn).

This from a party in the middle of a federal election.

The Liberal party moved last night to cancel its biennial convention in Vancouver in December, clearing the way for a full leadership vote next year should Stephane Dion fail win the Oct. 14 election. Sources say hotel reservations were ordered released this week as the national executive gathered to finalize the postponement decision. Mr. Dion's leadership was not cited as a key reason for the delay.

Right...

"A Crock of Unmitigated Horsefeathers"

Who actually uses a term like that? Oh, I forgot... Ralph Goodale. What does that term actually mean?

...

"I don't know the environmental benefit of some of these initiatives, especially when there aren't even reduction targets attached to some of them. We're going to defend our economies regardless of the federal interests here." (Brad Wall)

...

"Goodale said Wall's depiction of a capital outflow is also wrong, noting the carbon tax will apply on the wholesale side, meaning the burden is distributed among the province.


"Their arithmetic is just completely wrong, mistaken and false," said Goodale from the campaign trail in Regina's Wascana riding."

...

The problem is nobody has seen the arithmetic on Green Shift. Let's see the numbers, Ralph.

(As an aside, part of the reason we started this blog is that nobody in the Regina media challenges Ralph by asking the simple question, "OK, Ralph show us how the arithmetic is wrong. Show us some concrete numbers.)

One of the additional problems is that the plan keeps changing, partly due to Liberal candidates (not Ralph) who have pressured Dion to change it because they see what the plan is doing to them on the doorsteps.

Not that I need to remind you, but Ralph is one of the few that has never suggested a change in Green Shift regardless of how much the current structure was going to hurt Saskatchewan.

We all need Ralph to 23 skidoo...

Whoops!

Liberals losing ground in key ridings...

"Stéphane Dion's Liberals are losing the crucial close-fought ridings they won in the last election, leaking potential voters not just to the Conservatives on the right but to the Greens on the left, a new poll tracking key electoral battlegrounds shows."

Say it with me... "Wascana, Wascana, Wascana..."

Dion's "Brown Shift"

"Dion's fuel-guzzling campaign plane," the caption read. The text suggested that "a two-hour flight from Toronto to Halifax on Dion's Boeing 737 will burn 6,017 liters of fuel, 1,000 liters more than the Conservatives' Airbus 319."

What would Dion's dog Kyoto say? Or rather bark?

Harper's Election Play

"The Liberals chose a leader whose centralist biases and hard-left economic nostrums would add instability and uncertainty precisely when and where they are least needed."

Yup...

The Countdown Begins ...

... to Ralph Goodale's ouster in Regina Wascana.

Federal election set for October 14th.

Keep your eye here for developments in Regina Wascana and other important ridings throughout Canada.

It's showtime!

How Does a Drowning Man...

... throw himself his own life preserver?

"The sweeteners include $400-million in emission-reduction credits for farmers and forestry workers under the proposed Green Shift and a $250-million "green farms fund" to support environmentally friendly research aimed at cutting fuel consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions. Another $250-million fund would help fishermen and truckers go green."

Election's coming up, Stephane. Glub, glub, glub...

This Doesn't Look Good For Dion

Uh, oh...

"The new poll for The Globe and Mail-CTV News finds Canadian voters satisfied with the direction of the country and significantly more confident in the leadership abilities of the Tories and Prime Minister Stephen Harper than they are in those of his main rival, Stéphane Dion and the Liberals."

You mean that stone cold Stephen Harper could lead the country more effectively than the natural governing party? Awww, shucks...

Who Would Have Thought?

Green Shift support declining, poll shows

"An Ipsos Reid poll of 1,003 adults completed Aug. 26-28 found that a majority 51-per-cent support for the Green Shift in July has declined to a majority of 52 per cent opposed. That is a seven-point decline in support and a nine-point rise in opposition. Four per cent are undecided."

You're going to sell this thing right out of your job, Ralph...

The Light At The End Of The Tunnel...

... is a train heading right for the LPOC.


OTTAWA -- Only one week before they expect to be plunged into a federal election campaign, some Liberal MPs are still hoping to make "adjustments" to the centrepiece of their party's platform -- the risky proposal to impose a carbon tax.

They want Liberal Leader Stephane Dion to massage the so-called green shift to make it more palatable to farmers, truckers, rural residents and others who stand to be hardest hit by a tax on fossil fuels and who have not yet been appeased by the promise of offsetting income tax cuts and tax benefits.

Really? But Ralph's been trying to sell it to Saskatchewan just the way it is.

Prime Minister Harper, let's get rid of these buffoons once and for all. Call the election.

Ralph's Weekly Bloviation

Two words; Sponsorship Scandal

...


WEEKLY COMMENTARY

By Ralph Goodale, M.P.

A TAINTED ELECTION! A TAINTED GOVERNMENT!

From its first day in office, Stephen Harper’s government has been one of questionable legitimacy.

The Conservatives made two massive, vote-buying promises in the last campaign which they quickly dishonoured. One was never to tax Income Trusts. The other was to pay Saskatchewan $800 million more every year in Equalization.

Such bare-faced dishonesty obviously undermines Conservative legitimacy.

Their position is further eroded by the serious legal questions which have been raised by the Chief Electoral Officer about a Conservative election financing scam in the last campaign.

Respected, independent election officials are investigating whether campaign spending limits were violated at the national level, while illegitimate reimbursement claims were filed locally.

On top of that, the Conservatives benefited shamelessly from the extraordinary and inexplicable involvement of the RCMP in the last campaign. Every credible independent observer says this incident in the midst of the last election had a huge and totally improper impact.

Two and a half years later, Stephen Harper now wants a snap election – in violation of his promise of a fixed election date in October of 2009.

The illegitimate Conservative behaviour continues.

What has the Harper government so panicked that they are prepared to break their word to Canadians – yet again – and even break the spirit of the fixed-election-date law which they, themselves, enacted?

They’re spooked by at least three things on the horizon, which don’t look good for Mr. Harper.

First, the Conservatives will lose all four of the federal byelections called for September.

Secondly, the national economy is getting into deeper trouble, and the responsibility will rest squarely on Mr. Harper’s shoulders.

And third, the investigations into Conservative ethical lapses are exposing more and more illustrations of apparent Conservative corruption and incompetence.

A quick election could sweep this all under the rug.

The Attack on Green Shift...

continues unabated.


"The carbon tax proposed by the Liberal leader would be like a new transfer program, whereby billions of dollars would flow from taxpayers in these two provinces, to be spent in other regions.

...

Mr. Dion has won some praise for showing leadership by introducing a bold idea.

But leadership at the national level also requires an understanding of the interests of Canada's different regions and a willingness to ensure that any national proposal does not penalize one region, especially one in which the Liberals hold very few seats.

Let's not return to the divisive days of western alienation and regional discontent."


Well said, Ms. MacKinnon...

This Is Really Going To Screw Up Our Pension Plan

While Ralph Goodale continues to sell Green Shift, as is, to one of the provinces that will be most hurt by this wealth transfer tax, other Liberals seem to have been reading the tea leaves.

Is that election thing still on, Stephane?

More Proof: Just Because You're Tenured...

Doesn't mean you know anything...

"Staging the election this fall would allow Stephane Dion, the Liberal leader, to capitalize on some of the excitement surrounding Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic candidate, said Stephen Clarkson, a political scientist at the University of Toronto."

Now I've heard some political scientists say some pretty stupid things over the years, but this have to be one of the dumbest.

"The perception of Obama standing for change and hope will play out it Canada in its own way," Prof. Clarkson said. "And Obama is portraying himself as green, so there is a connection there as well."

Regardless of the fact that Mr. Clarkson is in fact a political scientist, there is no evidence whatsoever to support either one of his statements. The line between "political scientist" and "progressive" seemed to have been breached.

Clarkson gives a personal opinion that is easily lapped up by Cowan, which says something about Cowan and the National Post.

Cowan would be wise to ask a few more questions of Clarkson rather than taking what he says as some incredible insight, rather than the wishful thinking that it is. Mind you, this is just another example of the abdication of professional journalism shown by the MSM.

When You're Explaining, You're Losing

Liberal policies at odds with province

"Based on the reception the various players got at a Liberal town hall meeting here Sunday, the answer is Orchard. He received easily the loudest ovation of any of the half dozen or so candidates presented, even Goodale."

Man, that's gotta sting...

Dion Is The New "Baghdad Bob"

Prime minister in 'panic,' Dion says in Saskatoon

Anybody remember this guy?

We Are "Not So" Many Festival

Check out John Gormley's blog for the "standing room only" crowds at this weekend's We Are Many festival. The festival received $40,000 of your tax dollars to promote leftist and environmental views, which evidently doesn't seem to go well here in the heart of the flat lands.

But the "big draw" at WAM was Stephane Dion on Sunday, where he and Ralph Goodale extolled the virtues of Green Shift to a partisan crown of around 300.

To put this in perspective, the Ukraine Day in the Park crowd was estimated at 2,000. And Cruise Weekend, a celebration of carbon belching, American made classics, was the largest in its history with an estimated 100,000 people dropping by over the three days. Saskatoon's entire downtown was transformed into a museum of American art for CW.

If the Liberals had their finger on the pulse of Saskatchewan, they would have gone to where the people were, and doing the things that people care about, rather than trying to shove a "wealth distribution plan" down their collective throats on a hot Summer in front of a partisan crowd.

People in Saskatchewan seem to care more about perogies and classic autos, than they care about the Liberals and their Green Shift plan.

"Parliament is doing its work"

Huh?

After threatening the Conservatives with a fall election, Stephane Dion now wants to have a chat with Harper about... what?

When joined with the NDP and the Bloc, the Liberals have the votes to bring the government Conservatives down. What is there to discuss? The only reason parliament is working is that on confidence issues in the past, the Liberal's have abstained from even showing up to vote.

So much for the courage of their convictions.

The Liberals have not received the expected bump from Green Shift. As a matter of fact, they have received the opposite.

From Dion's unexpected tariffs announcement, to Ken Boschoff's announcement that Green Shift was indeed a "wealth redistribution" tax, and Goodale's less than truthful representations to the Saskatchewan people about the plan's impact on the economy, Green Shift has gone from bump to bust.

If the Liberals, who attack Harper and disagree with his policies at every turn, want an election, they have all the backing they need to bring the government down. An election call won't matter the NDP or the Bloc. They both know they are incapable of forming the next government. So it really is the Liberals who have the ball in their court now as they have had since 2006.

But by continually playing the brinkmanship game they, and I didn't think this was possible, have even lost more credibility.

Don't discuss anything with Harper, Stephane. Bring down a government you claim your party or the people have no confidence in.

But I suspect the only thing Dion will learn after a fall election is how much confidence the Canadian public have in the Liberals.

A New Acronym For the LPOC

LPOC used to stand for the Liberal Party of Canada.

Now, I believe it stands for the Loco Party of Canada.

"Premier Rodney MacDonald’s opposition to the federal Liberals’ green plan has been “fully bought and paid for," says a Liberal MP (Scott Brison)."

Check out Rodney MacDonald's carbon tax calculator here...

BTW, someone in Nova Scotia needs to start brisonwatch.blogspot.com. It's working here in SK...

Andrew Scheer Nails It!

"Of all the criticisms one might have of Ralph Goodale, one would not question his faith in the value of putting party loyalty above all other considerations --even common sense."

...

"The reasons are simple. Goodale uses misleading math when attempting to sell the new tax, most recently in an opinion column published in this newspaper. What Goodale conveniently leaves out of his arguments is the simple fact that not only will individual Canadians pay higher taxes on energy-related necessities like home heating and electricity, but the cost of virtually every necessity they buy, from clothing to groceries, will go up as well."

Stick It To Stephane On Sunday

Stephane Dion will be in Saskatoon on Sunday, Aug. 24/2008 to speak about his Green Shift wealth distribution plan. Early reports are that Stephane will be speaking at the WDM at around 5PM. That is yet to be confirmed so watch this post for additional details.

John Gormley is calling upon his listeners to attend the event and urges them to "Stick It To Stephane on Sunday".

Let Dion and Goodale know what Saskatchewan really thinks of Green Shift. It might be worth the drive up from Regina to attend this.

What Saskatchewan People Think

We get dozens of emails every day. Here is a sampling of the typical messages we receive.

"What happened to Ralph? He used to stand up for the people in his riding?" T.M. Regina

"You know, just when Saskatchewan gets on a roll, the Liberals are trying to destroy it. Why Goodale would back Dion is beyond me." L.P. Regina

"Goodale is a good example of why we need term limits in parliament" L.L. Saltcoats

"When Ralph became the finance minister, he was the pride of Regina. Now, by the way he's been pushing this Green Shift down our throats, he has become the embarrassment of Regina." J. Y. Regina

"If Ralph had any morals, he would stand up against Dion and the Liberals and stand for the people of Wascana!" F.P. Regina

"Goodale is an a**hole!' P.L. Saskatoon

Thanks for reading and keep the emails coming.

Would You Buy A Used Car From This Man?

Ralph tries selling Green Shift with real Corinthian leather

WEEKLY COMMENTARY

By Ralph Goodale, M.P.

SASKATCHEWAN WILL BE AN INVESTMENT WINNER

One inescapable reality of the 21st century is the world-wide battle against climate change and the man-made greenhouse gas emissions that cause it, especially carbon dioxide.

As a consequence, constraints on carbon pollution are inevitable.

This is not an “optional” state of affairs. Even both of the candidates for the U.S. Presidency, John McCain and Barack Obama, are committed to “putting a price” on carbon as a key way to slash American emissions.

The good news for Saskatchewan is that world markets will still want our valuable fossil fuels. They’ll just want them cleaner, with less pollution. For Saskatchewan, this can be a big opportunity. To take advantage of it, we need to get out in front of the carbon issue.

We need to be leaders, not followers.

The first step is “carbon pricing” – i.e., charging something when carbon pollution is dumped into the atmosphere, and then using all the revenue raised in this way to cut income taxes, both personal and corporate.

As respected experts like Jack Mintz from the University of Calgary and Don Drummond from the TD Bank point out, this will lead to a stronger economy.
Such a fiscal framework will also help position Saskatchewan as a clean energy powerhouse – one that’s built to last.

We’ll need to focus on three priorities.

First, greater energy efficiency and conservation in everything we do. This is just common sense and it saves money for everyone through lower energy bills.

Secondly, more renewable green-power sources, like cellulosic ethanol, bio-diesel, and wind, solar, geo-thermal and small-hydro projects.

And thirdly, new technologies to develop our fossil fuels in cleaner ways.

The level of high-quality “green” investment flowing into Saskatchewan, to cut harmful emissions, could rival past Canadian mega-projects, like the building of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

What's missing in this piece is how Goodale is going to replace the estimated $3 billion of taxes on Saskatchewan each year as a result of Green Shift.

And no Ralph, we don't want the rust proofing...

The Old Goat Speaks

Chretien blasts Harper for not attending the Olympic opening ceremonies in Beijing.

But...

"Dimitris Soudas, a spokesman for Harper, shot back at Chretien, saying that he only attended one of six Olympic opening ceremonies during his 13 years as prime minister, when he went to Atlanta in 1996.

"For Mr. Chretien to sit there and say our relations with China are damaged because the prime minister did not attend is hypocritical," said Soudas, adding the government sent a delegation led by Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson."

After presiding over one of the worst and most costly political scandals in Canada on would think that Jean Chretien should keep his misguided opinions to himself.

As an aside, one wonders what Canada's progressives and the MSM would have said had Harper actually attended the opening ceremonies in the capital of one of the worst human's rights violaters in the world.

Scratch that... We know what they would have said.

Have You Ever Seen Anyone This Uncomfortable...

... holding a fish?

It looks like he's holding his breath too.

Nice golf shirt and tailored trousers. And not an ounce of fish slime on him. It must be the newest the fashion rage for fishermen.

How The Mighty Have Fallen

A new sacrificial lamb provincial Liberal leader has been anointed.

Congratulations to Ryan Bater who will in all likelihood be the second consecutive Liberal leader not win a single seat in the Saskatchewan legislature.

The first leader to accomplish that feat was David "Senior Spiky Shoes" Karwacki.

Not surprisingly, Bater's leadership bid went unchallenged.

Even Layton Gets In On The Act

"If anyone was out of step with the needs of Saskatoon, it was Goodale, who preferred to address boardroom table issues instead of kitchen table issues."

We never thought we'd say this but, "Atta boy, Jack!"

Now excuse us while we wash our mouths out with soap.

Goodale - "As Popular As A Kick In The Groin"

Stephane Dion and Garret Oledzki in happier times

First, it was Ralph Goodale's backing of Joan Beatty in DMCR that backfired - twice.

Now comes the revelation that Palliser Liberal candidate, Garrett Oledzki, probably stepped down because of this and not the Green Shift platform as some suggested earlier.

Once again, Saskatchewan's most influential Liberal takes a hit.

Has Goodale had enough, or is his desire for power so great that he would rather risk his entire political reputation and the well being of his fellow Canadians to govern with the immoral Liberal Party of Canada once more?

I think we know the answer to that...

Bring It On

PM hints at coming election

Ralph pops his head up to say something incredibly stupid... again

"But Liberal House leader Ralph Goodale said Harper would be "breaking his word" by calling an election before the fixed date -- in November 2009 -- although it would not be illegal.

Goodale rejected the prime minister's statement blaming the Liberals for dysfunction in Parliament. "The obstruction and the dysfunctionality comes entirely from the Conservatives themselves."

Evidently, it's only Liberals that are allowed to break their word.

If Ralph believes that his morally and fiscally bankrupt party are NOT responsible for the dysfunction in Parliament, he really has lost it.

The Prime Minister should call the election. And Wascana needs to get rid of Goodale for the sake of all reasonable Canadians, and for Goodale's own family.

He's probably embarassing the hell out of them.

A Senior Roars; Turner Blames Harper for Green Shift

Jon C. Coates breaks down Dion's carbox tax and it's effects on seniors.

Meanwhile, asshole par excellence Garth Tuner denies Coates even exists.

'I was highly suspicious of the letter when I received it for the umpteenth time, for several reasons. If he does have an income consisting only of government benefits, where did the money come from to retrofit an entire house with new insulation, windows and doors? How about those new energy-efficient appliances? How could his energy costs increase by 25% under the Green Shift, while his income tax load stayed the same? And the “Tax Poem” that’s attached to his letter is nothing more than a crude knockoff of a US chain letter, which is factually wrong. Moreover, calculations of the impact of the carbon tax also being circulated with his email are simply incorrect.

This had all the markings of a PMO disinformation initiative, and I concluded that, especially so after I called Mr. Coates Sunday and his wife answered, putting to bed the assertion he lives on one income.'

In an arrogance that is indescribable, even for Turner, he turns Coates argument around and ends up blaming, of all people, Stephen Harper.

"Do I blame him? Absolutely not. I admire him. He decided to do something about a situation he perceived was unjust. There are too few among us willing to do so.

It’s just a shame his prime minister lied to him."

These are Liberals.

They are without shame, ethics or morals.

They are all about power at any and all costs, even if it means trashing a senior on a fixed income.

Stop The Carbon Tax

New website launched here. Make sure you sign the petition...

Let's make sure the Liberals never get to implement that plan that will destroy our economy first then our country.

So The Solution is To Tax Us More Through Green Shift?

I love the last line... Doom and Gloom Goodale.



THE HONOURABLE RALPH GOODALE, M.P. (WASCANA)
310 University Park Drive, Regina, Sk., S4V 0Y8
Telephone: (306) 585-2202
Facsimile: (306) 585-2280
E-mail: Goodale@sasktel.net



August 11th, 2008

For Immediate Release


WEEKLY COMMENTARY

By Ralph Goodale, M.P.


CANADA’S ECONOMIC TROUBLE DEEPENING

The western Canadian economy is booming right now, thanks to world-wide inflation in prices for basic commodities like oil.

That good fortune is not the result of any government policy. It’s simply our long-awaited turn to cash-in on rising global markets.

But be cautious. The commodities boom – as enjoyable as it is, while it lasts – is masking fundamental weaknesses that Stephen Harper’s Conservatives continue to ignore, or even make worse.

Mr. Harper has recklessly increased federal spending by more than $40 billion, to try to buy voters with their own money. Prudence has been thrown to the wind.

He has also eroded the tax-base – pushing Canada to the brink of a deficit once again, while failing to provide meaningful reductions in personal income taxes.

Independent monitoring agencies, like the Conference Board of Canada, are reporting a sub-standard performance by this country in such fields as productivity growth, innovation, literacy skills and environmental integrity.

In four of the last six months, despite western resource wealth, the economy not only stalled overall, it actually shrank. Sectors like manufacturing, forestry and tourism are in particular trouble.

The Bank of Canada and all major private sector forecasters are now predicting a pathetic annual growth rate of barely one percent.

In July, 55,000 Canadian jobs were lost. The last time we saw that sort of setback was in the early 1990’s under Brian Mulroney.

Remember, the Harper Conservatives are the people who failed to tell the truth about Income Trusts or Equalization.

They are the ones who raised Personal Income Tax Rates, while claiming to cut them. They are the ones who proposed investment policies that encouraged foreign takeovers of Canadian enterprises.

Incompetence and dishonesty are their hallmarks.

That’s why Tory times are always, ultimately, tough times. And it’s happening again!



Ah, yes I remember how good SK was under Chretien and Martin.

Influence?

"On the first question, there is no doubt federal MP Ralph Goodale is the single most influential Liberal in the province. Few significant decisions are made without his involvement and approval. Goodale is a big part of the reason leader Stephane Dion chose to appoint Joan Beatty as the party's candidate in its failed attempt to hang on to the riding in a March byelection."

The real question is whether the Liberals have prospered in Saskatchewan as the result of Goodale's influence.

Despite being the Liberal finance minister and the former leader of provincial Liberals, under Goodale's influence the provincial liberals have been electorally wiped off the face of the map for two consecutive elections. Federally, under that same influence, Goodale has managed to save one seat in Saskatchewan; his own.

His support of Joan Beatty in the riding of DMCR was the kiss of death for the Liberals there. The Liberals lost the only other seat in SK they had after the 2006 general election because of Goodale's influence and Dion's bumbling.

If Goodale is indeed influential, it has been and will continue to be a negative influence, especially as he continues to promote the wealth redistribution plan that is Green Shift.

If the Liberals desire any presence ever again in the province, they have to get rid of the most Saskatchewan's most influential Liberal, Ralph Goodale.

Ralph has been good for one person... Ralph.

It's time to go, Ralph...

The Great Liberal Trademark Heist - Part Deux

The REAL Green Shift fires back....

"Liberal partisans are trying to diminish our rights to our name by calling it an everyday term. In point of fact, an independent analysis performed by Influence Communication of some 15 million environmentally themed news articles and editorials from 14,000-plus publications in 159 countries exposes the falsity of that assertion: Between June 1, 2007, and May 31, 2008, they found the term Green Shift used only 62 times."

The Liberal Party Of Canada is immoral.

If they are willing to "steal" a fully copyrighted name for their own purposes right under their noses, what do you think they would do to the average taxpayer?

They cannot be trusted...

Chicken Little Speaks

Goodale's latest column in the Leader Post is amazing in it's arrogance and lack of hard cold facts.

He's got all the basics down;

1. The obligatory reference to George W. Bush - "There will always be skeptics, like President George W. Bush, who simply deny every problem, but the hard evidence is compelling."

2. The liberal (small and big L) view that humans are bad and should be punished - "Is climate change real? Yes it is. It results from human activity. And it's serious."

3. The sky is falling scenario - "We see more damaging storms, droughts and floods, rapidly melting mountain glaciers, northern permafrost and polar ice-caps. Sea levels are rising, yet there are dwindling prairie water supplies. The devastation of Mountain Pine Beetles and other pests and diseases threatening agriculture and forestry. People and communities increasingly at risk."

4. The spin - "That's the "shift" -- taxing less the good things we want (like incomes, investment and innovation) leaving more money in taxpayers' pockets and boosting overall productivity, while charging something (for the first time ever) when pollution is dumped into the atmosphere."

5. The Big Lie - "When fully implemented, this proposed carbon pricing is expected to cost the average Saskatchewan household about a dollar-a-day. Simultaneously, the typical Saskatchewan family with two kids and an annual income of $60,000 would get their taxes cut by $1,350 per year (or $3.69 per day)."

6. The attack - "What about Stephen Harper's plan? Harper is proposing a punitive regulatory scheme. It would involve quasi-criminal penalties against all energy utilities, like SaskPower and SaskEnergy, the oil and gas industry, IPSCO Steel, PotashCorp, Cameco, cement companies, chemical producers and many others.

7. Identifying the real enemy - "Those who throw stones at Dion should keep a closer eye on Harper."

8. The incredible enlightenment of the Liberal Party - "We can show the world how to run a resource-based economy that is built for lasting success --one that is knowledge-intensive, environmentally sound, a magnet for world-class investment, competitive, rapidly growing and highly profitable."

Goodale has taken a page out of Barry Obama's playbook; enlightened platitudes, hand-holding and if the Liberals win the next election, all will be well with not only the world, but the universe.

Goodale's plan with destroy the Saskatchewan economy for the benefit of the Liberal Party of Canada and Goodale.

It's time to go, Ralph...

A Tale Told By An Idiot...

full of sound and fury, signifying nothing...

More Spin From Goodale

"Goodale said he was aware that some people see the Green Shift as a tax grab, but said emphatically that it is not.

"In fact, it reduces more taxes than what we collect in the form of the carbon levy. This goes directly into people's pocketbooks.

"Every Saskatchewan taxpayer will get a tax cut, and a very significant one."


Of the estimated $3 billion Green Shift will cost Saskatchewan taxpayers, not including the loss of jobs and damage to the economy, Goodale claims that we would save more than that in taxes?

Prove it! (The problem with journalists is that they don't ask for the numbers.)



As an aside, does anyone else find it odd that the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce invites a Liberal MP to speak to their luncheon when, if implemented, Green Shift will destroy the provincial economy and every business person in that room?

This is the same brilliant mindset that invited former NDP Minister Dwain Lingenfelter speak, not once but twice, to the North Saskatoon Business Association. Lingenfelter who regularly attends NDP conventions, is a potential candidate for the provincial NDP leadership. The CCF/NDP once vowed to "eradicate capitalism" in the Regina Manifesto, a document that is still proudly displayed on the current NDP website.

And the NSBA allows Lingefelter to use them as a forum?

The fact that these two "business groups" invite people that represent organizations that would destroy them for political gain, proves that they are both absolutely irrelevant when protecting or promoting the needs of Saskatchewan business.

The respective members of these two groups should either vote out both boards, or choke them off financially by refusing to support them any longer until they once again become business friendly and politically savvy.

Hopefully, It'll Swing One Riding

Goodale's...

Making It Up As They Go Along

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said Wednesday he would impose tariffs on imports from countries that Canada deems are not doing enough in the battle against global warming.

Even some of Dion's own caucus aren't buying it.

Liberal Finance critic John McCallum has already confessed that “no Canadian will be unharmed” by the costs Canadians will have to absorb on electricity, home heating fuel and diesel fuel. And Liberal agriculture critic Wayne Easter and two of his caucus colleagues flatly rejected Dion’s Carbon Tax saying it will impose an unsustainable financial hardship on farmers and farm families.

But thank goodness Saskatchewan has Ralph Goodale, the Liberal MP that doesn't care about wreaking havoc amongst his constituents as long at the Liberals manage to convince enough voters in Ontario to vote for Dion's wealth distribution plan called Green Shift.

There has to be a way to impeach MPs like Goodale...

Gearing Up For A Scrap

Michelle Hunter, the CPC candidate in Regina Wascana, exposes Goodale's less than truthful comments about Green Shift.

"It is time for Liberal MP Ralph Goodale to come clean and tell the truth to Saskatchewan voters.

In an article in the July 4, Leader-Post, Goodale claimed Saskatchewan would not carry a "disproportionate burden" of the Liberals' green shift.

This is utterly untrue. Saskatchewan and Alberta produce 40 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. The tax is on carbon and 40 per cent of the tax revenue generated will come from Saskatchewan and Alberta. With Saskatchewan's population, we will be paying, per capita, far more than other parts of the country. It is a tax grab will take hundreds of millions of dollars out of the Saskatchewan economy and pay back a very small amount.

There is also no guarantee that the Liberal program will reduce carbon emissions in Canada at all. This "carbon shaft" is a massive tax grab to finance wasteful Liberal spending.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government is investing in the Saskatchewan economy to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions including support of our biofuels industry and contributing $250 million dollars toward clean coal technology. This is real money with real support and will have a real effect on the environment.

It is time for Goodale to stand up for Saskatchewan and be more than a simple mouthpiece for a tax grab. Goodale needs to defend Saskatchewan, and not help those who attack us."

Looks like Ralph's got a fight on his hands...

Good on you, Ms. Hunter for speaking on behalf of the residents of Wascana, as opposed to speaking for the Liberal Party of Canada as the existing MP does.

Green Shift Full Court Press!

Do you think it's easy to load websites? Check out the Tax Tag page. Hilarious...

Liberal Loose Lips

"To be sure, the Green Shift would be hard to defend. Nowhere in its nearly 50 pages do the Liberals actually explain how their proposed new taxes would stop global warming. Far more space is given over to how Mr. Dion and his party intend to spend the new green taxes on expensive social engineering schemes."

When will Ralph Goodale stand up for the people of Saskatchewan and admit he was being less than truthful in defending Green Shift as an environmental policy? This is about transferring the wealth of all those that don't have a gold plated MP pension.

A Fall Election?

Lorne Gunter is the last columnist to lay waste to Green Shift.

The more this plan is explained by Liberal MP's, the more that Canadians are questioning the actual intent of the program. Despite Ralph Goodale's false claims that Saskatchewan will be net benefactors in the long run, the damage this plan will do to the economy will be immense.

This morning on JGL, Gormley adds up the math for MP Ken Boschcoff. Of the $15 billion in taxes generated, only $3 billion will actually be used for green projects. The rest will be used for Liberal social programs, like universal day care. Since Saskatchewan is no longer dependent on Ottawa for equalization and only has approximately 3% of the population, but contributes with Alberta to produce 40% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions, how on earth could this even out?

Both Dion and Goodale proclaimed that our universities would benefit from green energy R/D, but if we have 3% of the money allocated of the $3 billion, that amounts to $90 million dollars. But our companies and industries will be taxed roughly $3 billion.

Goodale and company are trying to sell us a bill of goods that will destroy those of us that don't have a federal MP's pension to fall back on.

Prime Minister Harper and the Conservatives need trigger a fall election and eliminate the threat of Dion, the Liberals and Green Shift.

And Saskatchewan needs to make Ralph pay politically for his defense of the indefensible.

Liberal MP Ken Boshcoff on JGL

I will post the link to the actual interview audio when NewsTalk 980 posts is one their websites.

Gormley had Boschcoff spinning in circles. Why he would agree to appear on JGL is beyond me. Kudos for showing up, but...

Pay particular attention to Gormley's question about the amount left over for actual environmental programs. Wow!!!

UPDATE: Gormley/Bischcoff interview audio

UPDATE #2: Gormley gives his thoughts on the Boschcoff interview

It's Official - Harper Recognizes Dion's Green "Shaft" Plan

"Dion's carbon tax is not an environment policy. It is just a wealth redistribution program disguised as an environment policy," Harper told the crowd. "The Green Shift is a green shaft and we must never let it happen to our country."

The Prime Minister has now officially said what Dion and Goodale have denied all along (although I suspect Harper is more confident after Liberal MP Ken Boshcoff let the cat out of the bag as to the true nature of Green Shift).

It's time to go to the polls and get rid of this new Liberal scourge that is threatening to destroy Canada.

An Honest Liberal?

Or a Liberal that didn't bother to read the "the real reason (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) is the environment" memo.

Green Shift is a wealth transfer plan, plain and simple. The plan is about funding Liberal social programs for Liberal votes. And those aren't in Saskatchewan or Alberta.

And Ralph Goodale knows that, while trying to sucker Saskatchewan into voting for a plan that wouldcut our own throats...

It's time to go, Ralph.

h/t SDA


UPDATE: Edmonton Journal picks up the story

Bob Rae In Moose Jaw... Why?

The former NDP Premier/Liberal leadership contender was trying to promote Green Shift in Saskatchewan.

Did he forget that the NDP were hoisted out of here a few months back with the lowest popular vote ever recorded since the CCF were formed? I don't think this is fertile ground for Eastern delusions any longer. But thanks for playing, and please take a "Snakes and Ladders" board game home as a consolation.

h/t John Murney

"It's Deplorable"

... but we're willing to settle!

So much for the courage of their convictions.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Liberal Party of Canada are irredeemably unethical. Plain and simple...

The Great Liberal Trademark Heist

is now in the hands of the lawyers. It's merely an $8.5 million law suit

It's nothing a broken Liberal Party can't manage.


UPDATE: Dion calls 'Green Shift' lawsuit 'deplorable'

"Wright said she delivered a statement of claim at the Liberal party headquarters Wednesday morning seeking $8.5 million "in general and special damages" and another $250,000 for aggravated and punitive damages.

The suit also seeks a court injunction to stop the Liberals from using the phrase "Green Shift." Wright said the trademark has been approved, but has not yet been registered with the federal government. "

They can't afford this lawsuit. Hell, the Liberals can't even afford by-elections.

Absolutely Unacceptable!

Where is the outcry, not from the media or the public, but from the Liberal Party of Canada on this?

Liberals make jokes about murdering Stephen and Laureen Harper

There should be jail time for this!

When Will Goodale Do The Right Thing?

"Today, hours before Stephane Dion launches his carbon tax attack on Canadians, Liberal agriculture critic Wayne Easter and two of his caucus colleagues flatly rejected Stephane Dion’s Carbon Tax saying it will impose an unsustainable financial hardship on farmers and farm families. During a meeting of the Parliamentary Agricultural Committee today, Liberal MPs Wayne Easter, Omar Alghabra, and Lloyd St. Amand voted in favour of a Conservative Government motion to protect Canadian farm families from a Mr. Dion’s punitive, regressive Carbon Tax."

Other Liberal MP's are willing to stand up for their constituents.

Why won't Goodale stand up for Wascana?

The Shifty Green

Awesome!

Add Bronwyn Eyre ...

to the growing list of columnists that oppose Dion's "Green Shift"

"The NEP aside, I guess we westerners are supposed to forget Dion -- a woefully ineffective federal environment minister -- once said a carbon tax was "bad policy." Now, with the scientific jury still out on whether carbon dioxide even constitutes a significant greenhouse gas, Dion wants CO2 emissions at 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020. This would entail removing the equivalent of the entire Canadian transportation sector (including personal vehicle use) and electronic utility sector in just over a decade."

Dion Cutting "Special Deals" on Green Shift

CTV's Question Period, July 06th

"Mr. Dion actually called me and said there would not be double taxation that he does not want to impose something that will not work on British Columbians" - Gordon Campbell, BC Premier

What about imposing something that will not work on Albertans? Saskatchewanians?

This double dealing once again shows the true nature of Dion and the Liberal Party of Canada.

Actually, This Commentary Exposes Ralph's Fears

Note; Links added to discredit Goodale's commentary...




THE HONOURABLE RALPH GOODALE, M.P (WASCANA)
310 University Park Drive, regina, Sk., S4V 0Y8
Telephone: (306) 585-2202
Facsimile: (306) 585-2280
E-mail: Goodale@sasktel.net

July 7th, 2008

For Immediate Release
WEEKLY COMMENTARY
By Ralph Goodale, M.P.

CONSERVATIVE LIES EXPOSE THEIR FEARS

The lies and smears used by Conservatives to attack Stephane Dion’s tax reform proposals show how worried the Harper government is about the Dion plan catching on.

The principle is simple – we should cut taxes on the good things that we want more of (like incomes, investment and innovation), and we should begin to collect taxes on those things that are harmful (like pollution, waste and greenhouse gases).

Across the country, the vast majority of economists and environmental experts agree that Dion is right and Harper is wrong.

The “disinformation” the Conservatives are peddling has been discredited as “vitriolic” and “dishonest”.

Their biggest allegation is that putting any price on carbon pollution would discriminate against western Canada due to our large concentration of fossil fuel industries. But the Dion plan is designed to avoid such unfairness.

For example, in the case of Saskatchewan’s petroleum industry, two-thirds of our oil is directly exported to the United States and consequently would not be subject to any “carbon tax” in Canada.

The remaining one-third is processed into fuel products, mostly gasoline, and gasoline at-the-pump is explicitly exempted from Mr. Dion’s proposal, because it’s already subject to an equivalent federal excise tax.

Moreover, the “carbon tax” suggested by Mr. Dion would NOT be levied at the wellhead level. To do so would place all the responsibility on the oil and gas sector, and that would not be reasonable.

Instead, the Dion plan would apply the tax at the wholesale level which spreads the overall impact among producers and consumers alike, and balances the costs across all sectors and regions.

And one final point, this “Green Shift” plan uses every penny raised from putting a price on carbon pollution for substantial income tax cuts benefiting every Canadian family and business.
-30-



No matter what Goodale is claiming, the Green Shift program is wrong for Canada. At best, it will destroy our economy, and at worst irrevocably tear apart our country.

We have to ensure the Liberals never get a chance to implement it.

Goodale Talks A Big Game...

when he's spending YOUR money

It's not like he isn't getting paid enough to contribute to his party.

Maybe, there aren't enough programs he can contribute to...

Goodale wants voters to believe in the Liberal Party of Canada. Why doesn't he?

h/t SDA

Canadians Aren't Buying What The Liberals Are Selling

"Unsurprisingly, negative reaction was highest in Alberta at 79 per cent, followed by Atlantic Canada, 62 per cent; B.C., 61 per cent; Ontario, 60 per cent; Saskatchewan and Manitoba, 58 per cent and Quebec 46 per cent."

A couple of things surprise me about this poll.

The first is that the negative reaction in Saskatchewan is so low (undoubtedly the Green Shift plan is supported by most NDP voters; they would love nothing more than to see Saskatchewan in financial hardship as a result of this plan).

The second is that the support in Ontario for the plan is so low. Did the Liberals miscalculate the hatred for the West by Ontario?

As a matter of fact, only Quebec supported the plan more than 50%.

There's a quick way to fix that. Tell Quebecers that all smokers will be taxed as an effort to save the environment. That should end any potential support for Green Shift.

Isn't That How Whores Work?

I'm surprised you don't call them via a 1-900 number

"The plan asks Liberals to commit to monthly contributions to the party, a riding association or both, on a scale that ranges from $5 to $91.66. In return, supporters are invited to 120 hours a year of online chats with senior Liberal MPs and executives."

Hello, you've reached the offices of the Liberal Party of Canada. Me so horny...

"I can't accept that your reputation is damaged, as it is now."

Dion motivates a province to vote for the Liberals. Not the one he was speaking in, of course...

The people of Alberta should be asking the following question immediately, "Damaged, as defined by whom?"

The political manoeuvring is quite evident here. Dion is willing to lose what little support he has in the West, to win over Ontario through regional politicization of the environmental issue.

We'll give him what he wants when it come to Goodale.

But one can only hope that Ontario voters are wise enough to see this ploy for what it is and reject Dion and his party for the good of Canada.

Liberal Modus Operandi

Canadian vs. Canadian



"While our two provinces have only 13 per cent of Canada's population, he pointed out, we produce 40 per cent of the country's greenhouse gases. He placed no blame, of course, on central Canadian consumers (and voters) whose demand for our energy drives our production and thus our emissions.


We're not producing carbon for the fun of it, but Stephane Dion would like to leave the rest of Canada with the impression we are. It would make it so much easier for him to sell his new "Green Shift" tax scheme if he could convince central Canadians that a disproportionate burden will fall on the West and that we've got it coming.



...



This is an old Liberal tactic: Equate Liberal policy with the national interest so that anyone who disagrees can be portrayed as an enemy of national unity and not merely an opponent of Liberal ideas."



Make no mistake about it. The LPOC would bring the country to the brink of disaster in order to acheive their poltical goals.

Dion Defends Trademark Heist ... Again

"But the Toronto-based firm, whose founder Jennifer Wright says the Liberals failed to respond to a cease-and-desist order by a deadline last week, is moving closer to a full-blown lawsuit that could add to the growing potential legal damages the opposition Grits are facing.

...

Liberal party officials were still reviewing Green Shift's cease-and-desist letter, a spokesperson said Thursday. On Wednesday, in his first public comments over the dispute, Dion said, "I don't think we're hurting them at all."

Regardless of whether Dion et al think they are hurting Green Shift is not the issue. The issue is that the Liberal Party of Canada is so arrogant (or obtuse) to believe that they can hijack an existing trademark for political purposes without legal consequences.

Mind you, this "above the law" thinking has always been modus operandi for the LPOC.

We here are Goodale Watch are looking forward to Green Shift's pending lawsuit and will keep our readers up to date.

We're Getting Noticed!

"A recent Conservative Party press release contained various statements Goodale made in the late 1990s about a carbon tax not being part of the Liberal plan, accusing Goodale of "flip flopping and trying to fool the people of Saskatchewan."

An anonymous blog aimed at unseating Goodale in his Wascana riding -- it uses "It's time to go, Ralph," as its headline -- also lists the same quotes."

It looks like we've caught the eye of the Leader Post and Canwest. h/t to John Murney and to SDA for their attention and linking to this blog.

Finally, I want to thank Goodale himself for comments such as the following...

"What (Liberal leader Stephane) Dion has proposed is this tax reform plan that shifts the burden away from income and onto something that everyone would regard as undesirable, that is pollution. It was not any kind of a rebalancing of the tax system or a shifting of the burden that was under discussion 10 years ago," Goodale said."

This blog would have never been created had it not been for Goodale's constant attempts at trying to spin the fine people of Saskatchewan for the benefit of himself and the Liberal Party of Canada. We deserve much better than this.

To reiterate, "It's time to go, Ralph"

Goodale - Provincial NDP Leader?

Over at GPM, speculation over who might be taking over the provincial NDP leadership ...

"Ralph Goodale

Pros: Name recognition, lot of support from New Democrats federaly.

Cons: He is a Liberal MP, enough said.Analysis: I would be kind of surprised if Ralph jumped ship (I think he has his eye on the Federal Leadership next time around) but I heard his name mentioned by a number of people in Regina so I am including him on my list."

Personally, I think this is a non-starter.

But I think it's hilarious to see his name mentioned by someone in the blogosphere as a possible contender. It also shows that the Liberals and the NDP are basically the same party as a result of the Liberals movement to the left of the political spectrum.

Our pick as the person who will probably get the nod is Dwain Lingenfelter.

Lingenfelter has political and business experience and has been hanging out at NDP conventions since his "retirement" from politics. He has spoken to one particular business group (the NSBA) in Saskatoon a couple of times in the past year, most likely to seek their support in the upcoming NDP leadership campaign, and next provincial election slated for 2011.

What Language Will the Debate Be In?

My guess? Frenglish...

Dion challenges PM to carbon tax debate

As Gormley mentioned this morning, let's have a debate after the writ has been dropped.

We'll see what Canadians really think of "Green Shift" with $1.60+ per litre gas prices.

Canadian vs. Canadian - The Liberal Re-Election Strategy

Green tax plan setting stage for east-west conflict

"If the Liberals should happen to win the next federal election on this platform, it's pretty clear the country is in for the kind of east-west confrontation it hasn't seen in 30 years."

Saskatoon Star Phoenix - July 03rd/2008

Do You See A Pattern of Behavior Emerging?

"These walls are funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. That's institutionalized." - Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding - The Shawshank Redemption (1994)



"In a March 27th, 1995 letter to David Dingwall (then Minister of Public Works and Government Services), Ralph Goodale (then Minister of Agriculture) asked for a special favour:
In order to respond to the issue in time our department will need to sole source a contract to conduct the necessary survey and analysis work amongst both the general prairie public and the farm population. I wish to contract with The Earnscliffe Strategy Group to conduct this survey which will cost under $50,000. The company’s knowledge of the policy file gained from previous research permits the rapid turnaround on issues such as methodology and issues to be explored during the survey. Also, the primary consultant to be involved is from Saskatchewan and has an excellent background in prairie agriculture.

A sole source contract to Earnscliffe? The primary consultant is from Saskatchewan? The primary consultant was likely David Herle who it turns out, was Ralph Goodale’s driver and a close aide when Goodale was leader of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party."

Although this was a post originally by Stephen Taylor in 2006, when you compare Goodale's behavior with the Green Shift stance, the Cadman affair, his budget "analysis", Goodale cannot help himself.

He deliberately distorts, spins, and is less than forthcoming all the while accusing the Conservative Party of acting in that same manner. He acts in a manner that would never be accepted in the outside world.

Ralph has been an MP and a member of the Liberal Party of Canada for far too long.

In other words, Ralph has become institutionalized. It's time to bring him back into the real world.

Who's Actually Paying for the Green Shift?

Well, it depends on where you live, (or how desperate your MP is to keep his job) ...

• In Ontario, Stephane Dion says Saskatchewan and Alberta will pay: Stéphane Dion says 40 per cent of Canada's carbon emissions come from Alberta and Saskatchewan and the two western provinces will have to do the most to change their habits under his new green plan (Globe and Mail, June 27, 2008)

• In Saskatchewan, Dion says Ontario and Quebec will pay: “Also, the carbon tax liability for those emissions in many case will fall outside Saskatchewan. … in Ontario with their concentration of…and Quebec. (John Gormley Live, News 650, June 27, 2008)

• In Saskatchewan, Dion says Toronto will pay: “Many of these emissions are in the hands of stakeholders that are in Toronto or elsewhere in the world, not in Saskatchewan” (John Gormley Live, News 650, June 27, 2008)

• In Saskatchewan, Goodale says Ontario and Quebec will pay: "While Saskatchewan is a place where many greenhouse gas emissions arise, the carbon tax liability for many of those emissions will fall outside this province, especially in Ontario and Quebec with their concentration of corporate head offices,'' Goodale said. (Leader-Post, June 27, 2008)

• Or, Goodale says Toronto and Calgary will pay: Even if the volume of greenhouse gases created in Saskatchewan by the oil and coal sectors is proportionately high, those who will pay for it are head offices in Calgary and Toronto, Goodale said (StarPhoenix, June 21, 2008)

• Or, Goodale says, Ontario and Alberta will pay: "While Saskatchewan is a place where many greenhouse gas emission arise, the carbon tax liability for many of those emissions will fall outside the province -- especially in Ontario an Alberta with their concentration of corporate head offices in the fossil fuels sector." (Leader-Post, June 28, 2008)

• In Nova Scotia, Mark Eyking say Alberta will pay: Last week Sydney-Victoria Liberal MP Mark Eyking defended his boss's green tax shift, saying it will extract a much heavier toll on companies operating in Alberta's oil sands than in the Atlantic provinces. (Cape Breton Post, June 28, 2008)

• In Nova Scotia, Scott Brison says the federal government will cover the costs: The federal Liberals are ready to cushion the impact the party's green tax shift would have on Nova Scotia, Grit MP Scott Brison said Tuesday (Chronicle-Herald, June 25, 2008)

In other words, in every jurisdiction in Canada, the other guy is paying the tax for Green Shift. Meanwhile, the jurisdiction a Liberal Party MP happens to be speaking in on that day will reap the benefits.

Such is the true nature of Dion, Goodale, Eyking, Brison and the Liberal Party of Canada; create regional rivalries, make Canadians stand against Canadians, for the sole purpose of attaining power once more.

This has never been about Canada, it's people, or the environment.

It's about them...

Goodale Spins Green Shift - CTV Regina June 30th - News at Noon

"MANFRED JOEHNCK (Anchor):
Joining me is Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale, also the Liberal MP for Regina Wascana.

We've been hearing a lot about this new Liberal environment plan. You call it the Green Shift. Our Energy Minister calls it the Green Shaft and very unkind things have been said about it. It's been called a carbon tax. It's been called sort of a -- a new version of the old national energy program. I'm not hearing a lot of good things about it, Ralph. Why are you championing it?

RALPH GOODALE (Regina Wascana MP):
Well, we have a lot of work to do to make sure it's clearly understood. And basically the principle is very simple. You should generally tax less those things that you want more of, like income and investment, and you should tax more the things you want less of like pollution and waste. 1 - In this country, we have the reverse situation where the heaviest taxes are imposed on the good things, like income while pollution, greenhouse gas emissions are not taxed at all. If you can shift that paradigm, lessen the burden on income and shift it over to something like pollution, you will actually result in a greener economy, a greener environment and a more productive economy.

MANFRED JOEHNCK (Anchor):
Right.

RALPH GOODALE (Regina Wascana MP):
Because incomes will be -- will be less burdened.

MANFRED JOEHNCK (Anchor):
Now, we are resource-based economy in Saskatchewan. We've suffered for decades. Finally, we've got things going on. We've got a boom happening, and the Liberals are holding this out there and people are saying, well, this is no good, it's all the stuff that is happening now for Saskatchewan that is going to be hit by that tax.

RALPH GOODALE (Regina Wascana MP):
Well, actually --

MANFRED JOEHNCK (Anchor):
That's going to hurt.

RALPH GOODALE (Regina Wascana MP):
Well, actually -- actually not, Manny, and I think it's important to understand how the -- how the tax falls here. 2 - Because this is not a retail tax at the consumer level, it's -- it's a wholesale tax upstream. The burden for collecting that tax, and remitting it will be on -- will be on up-stream companies, essentially in the fossil fuels sector. 3 - Most of those head offices are not located in Saskatchewan. They are in Alberta or in Ontario, or, in many cases, in the United States. So that's where the -- that's where the burden for remitting the tax will fall, even though the emissions occur in Saskatchewan, the burden of the tax falls largely outside of Saskatchewan, plus, all of the revenue that's collected, whether it's from within the company or from the 46% of our resources that are exported. So roughly speaking, 46% of this revenue will come from other countries, especially the United States. All of that will be redistributed in lower income taxes. For the average Saskatchewan family, we would estimate the new cost burden after four years would perhaps be something in the $350 to $400 range, everything included, but the tax cut for that average Saskatchewan family would be about $1,350, in other words, three times more coming back than would be going out.

MANFRED JOEHNCK (Anchor):
Isn't it an awkward position to be in, though, to be defending something as you try to regain power? Whereas Stephen Harper said some very unkind words, our Energy minister has said unkind words, anybody in the West you talk to says this is just a bad deal.

RALPH GOODALE (Regina Wascana MP):
Well, well, it's not everybody in the West. When you think of, for example, Jack Mince from the University of Calgary, comes from Alberta, probably the preeminent economist in this country when it comes to tax and fiscal matters, he supports this approach. Tom Courchane, he discovered all of those inequities in the Saskatchewan equalization situation, he supports this approach. John Drummond who is the chief economist for the Toronto Dominion Bank says that is makes sense.

MANFRED JOEHNCK (Anchor):
You have to get the people to understand that it makes sense.

RALPH GOODALE (Regina Wascana MP):
That's the critical challenge.

MANFRED JOEHNCK (Anchor):
Can you do it?

RALPH GOODALE (Regina Wascana MP):
I think so, I think show. I mean, the principle is very simple. Tax less, things like income, shift the paradigm over to the things you want less of, and make sure that it's fair and equitable among individuals, which it will be. 4 - Lower and middle income people will actually be receiving back more than they would be sending out, and make sure that the parts of this country that are the most carbon intensive, like Saskatchewan and Alberta, have that investment in new science, new technology, the new ways of doing things in what is a carbon constrained world, not just Canada, this is global. We have to get ahead of that curve.

MANFRED JOEHNCK (Anchor):
We like the new way things are going on in Saskatchewan right now. Let's not mess with that.

RALPH GOODALE (Regina Wascana MP):
Well this, is -- this is going to actually promote a lot of the objectives that Premier Wall has talked about. He's talked about opening the Saskatchewan power grid to independent power producers. 5 - This plan will not only support that, it will provide incentives to encourage it. He's talked about value-added investments in the nuclear sector. This plan will support that as well. He's talked about the need to make sure that we've got carbon capture and sequestration systems, clean coal, this plan will support everyone of those things to make sure that we've got the most sophisticated energy program and we can show the world how to run a resource-based economy in the most profitable and developmentally sound way.

MANFRED JOEHNCK (Anchor):
One final question, then. The opponents of this, are they just out and out lying?

RALPH GOODALE (Regina Wascana MP):
Well, it’s a complicated plan. It takes time for people to understand all of the details, all of the nuances. 6 - Many of the people who were devising the plan took awhile before it became evident that the tax burden here, the new tax burden that will be created largely fell outside Saskatchewan, not inside Saskatchewan, which -- which largely eliminates the regional unfairness argument from a Saskatchewan the point of view. So there are details. It needs to be explained clearly. We'll be working hard to make sure that happens, and listening to make sure that the feedback comes back where there are errors, they will be corrected.

MANFRED JOEHNCK (Anchor):
All right, thank you so much for joining us and explaining the Liberal Green Shift Plan."

Numbers have been inputted by goodalewatch for reference..

1. Ralph is neglecting to mention that these companies are already paying federal, provincial and municipal taxes, simply for doing business in a Canadian jurisdiction. The Green Shift penalty is a new tax that didn't exist before. Which brings us to point two...


2. Every tax is paid by the consumer as a cost of doing business. If a new tax is imposed on a multi-national, do you think they're just going to absorb it? For a former finance minister to try and fool regular Canadians that this isn't the case is plain dishonesty


3. As per a previous post, this simply isn't true...


4. Most middle income people don't work at Universities or research facilities where they might benefit from new research dollars. But most working people use energy, which will ultimately increase more than any potential tax rebate or reduction than is being offered under this plan.


5. This plan will tax Saskatchewan to the point where R&D dollars will diminish because of the harm to the economy. That's what happens in a recession. Government's focus in helping citizens first. Case in point; while the environment is important, as a result of the energy crisis, individuals are more focused in on gas prices than "going green". Feeding your family today is a lot more relevant than your great-great grand kids.


6. For the points listed above, it eliminates no argument about fairness for Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan will end up as Alberta did in 1980. There is no doubt about it. As referenced this morning on John Murney's blog, this plan is a redistribution of wealth for Liberal social policies under the guise of doing something good for the environment. That's all

Ralph Goodale's utter disregard for the intelligence of Saskatchewan people is unbelievable. His arrogance is astounding. He must be held accountable and the only people to do it are the electorate in Wascana. One hopes that happens in the next federal election.

Are You There, Che Goodale?

How Goodale can make such bald-face lies and expect nobody is going to research his comments?

"Yet, in barely two years, Mr. Harper has obliterated that margin of fiscal security. He has taken this nation to the brink of a deficit -- the first in more than a decade. And it's deliberate. It's his ideological obsession to stop the federal government from being an instrument for good in the lives of ordinary Canadians."

First, how exactly does a $13.7 billion surplus in 2008 obliterate the margin of fiscal security?

Secondly, what sort of manifesto are you reading from that requires the federal government to be an instrument of "good in the lives of ordinary Canadians"? Who is the one with ideological obsessions, Ralph?

To prove my point about socialistic tendencies, in the same article...

"Even when the Harper government had a $13-billion Liberal surplus on its hands, he cut the Court Challenges program, which helped the less wealthy access their constitutional Charter rights; adult literacy services; the advocacy of women's equality; historic measures to bridge gaps between aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians; funding for child care spaces; a credible plan to fight climate change (?); student aid; and more."

Was Goodale a former finance minister, or a Liberal version of Che Guevara?

One thing is for certain. Based on the past few days with the Green Shift proposal, if the Liberals ever manage implement that plan, surpluses will be non-existent as a result of the damage to the economy it will inflict.

But then again, maybe that's what Goodale and the Liberals really want; an unhealthy reliance of Canadians on the LPOC ...

The North Gets It

"The Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Canada's leading Inuit organization all expressed worries this weekend about how such a plan would impact those in the North who depend on emission-spewing diesel generators to keep the lights on through the long, dark arctic winters."

The most interesting aspect of this is that the North is generally considered the most vulnerable to climate changes when it comes to the "effects" of man-made global warming.

Polar bears are supposedly vanishing, the ice is receding, and the food sources are changing for the Inuit. But the Inuit, that have been in the North for hundreds of years, and have quite ably adapted to previous climate changes and survived.

Yet, the Premiers of all three northern territories are speaking out against this destructive plan. Why would they ignore a large part of their collective constituencies?

It's the economy, stupid! The northern Premiers realize that the Green Shift plan has nothing to do with climate change, and everything to do with wealth distribution and vote buying for the East.

Ralph Goodale on Carbon Taxes - Newstalk 980 June 20th/2008

Goodale on Dave Arnold - June 20th

"The corporate responsibility for making those emissions often lies outside of Saskatchewan, with coal companies headquartered in Toronto, or with oil companies headquartered in Alberta. So in fact the burden for paying for those emissions will fall outside of Saskatchewan, because the tax liability is outside of Saskatchewan. But the tax benefits flow back to individual Saskatchewan people."

Funny, I just went through the Coal Association of Canada membership list and found the following;

• Head Offices listed in ON - 7


• Head Offices listed in PQ - 2


• Head Offices listed in NS - 2


• Head Offices in the US - 5


• Head Offices listed in BC - 33


• Head Offices listed in AB - 29

The Green Shift plan is as blatant an attack on the West as has ever has been devised by the Liberal Party of Canada.

By the way Ralph, as goes Alberta, so goes Saskatchewan.

The idea of appealing to a constituency that would enjoy tax cuts, while others experienced the pain of this carbon tax plan is not only misleading, but it flies in the face of Saskatchewan values.

How dare Goodale imply that we would relish benefiting at others misfortunes!

That is a Liberal Party value, NOT a Saskatchewan value.

John Gormley Live - June 27th, Stephane Dion

John Gormley Live - June 27th, Stephane Dion News Talk 650

Listen to hours 1, 2 and 3 to really get some insight as to the reaction of Saskatchewanians to Dion and his Green Shift plan.

Welcome To The All Spin Zone

Harper is planning on hiking fuel costs? You have got to be kidding...

What exactly is Green Shift going to do to fuel costs?

This is vintage Goodale. It's all about spin...

How can Goodale claim the Conservatives will hike fuel prices when Green Shift will have a devastating effect on the province he represents? What will this misguided plan do to the price of fuel and subsequently all goods and services if, God forbid, Dion ever gets elected?

When is Ralph going to stand up for the people of Saskatchewan and speak out against this destructive Liberal plan?

"Do You Know Who This Guy Is?"

No




"I am confident about the big heart and the intelligence of Canadians"

I'm confident of the intelligence of people who would vote for Dion and the Liberal Party of Canada.

www.stephentaylor.ca

"Mr. Goodale's statement is completely and utterly false"

"More hurtful, though, than the semi-comical promise to kick Ralph Goodale are the repeated claims that Ralph Goodale can't seem to tell the truth."

Angry In The Great White North

The Ignorance Defence

The enemy of my enemy is my friend

"Ralph Goodale is lying - as former Public Works minister (charged with cleaning up the "mess") the ignorance defence is not available."

SDA

The Cadman Affair

Goodale blows hot air over the Cadman affair...






No charges over Cadman affair. Oops!

“The Liberals have made fabricated accusations. Very soon Liberals will see how big of a legal problem they have created for themselves.”

One can only hope...

"Relax Ralph, You're Going to Hurt Yourself"

Vintage Ralph spinning his own position...

How embarassing...

Ralph's Tin Foil Hat

Whereas Ralph speculates what the Conservatives may be doing to the economy, the Liberals are trying to destroy it, right in front of our eyes...

"So what’s he doing writing conspiratorial claptrap like this letter to the Regina Leader-Post? It appears Hillary Clinton’s “vast right-wing conspiracy” has wound its way as far as Wascana, the Saskatchewan riding Mr. Goodale represents. He now professes to believe that the Prime Minister (in league no doubt with international financiers, the Trilateral Commission, and unscrupulous Vatican bankers) is conspiring to destroy the economy of the nation, the better to achieve his ultimate goal of destroying the federal government itself."

What's Dion's Definition of "Beneficial"?

To my thinking, destroying an economy has never been seen as beneficial, unless you are seen as the enemy....

"If we do this plan, Alberta and Saskatchewan will be better off 10 years from now than if we don't do this plan," Mr. Dion said. "Their economies will be more diversified, their universities will be at the centre of something big happening around the world, and investments will grow."
He rejected the notion that the two highest polluting provinces having to contend with a greater carbon tax burden could result in Western alienation.

"To do the right thing will be beneficial for them," Mr. Dion told The Globe and Mail's editorial board. "I care about Alberta and Saskatchewan. I know many people who want to do the right thing. Many will know that it will create jobs there - green jobs."

Yup, I can see it now... riggers using their F-350 dualies to pick up styrofoam egg containers for recycling.