Martin defended his good record of managing the economy and fiscal health of the country, and tore the Conservative platform to shreds. How will giving parents money ("a dollar a day") help create any child care space? How will increasing the tax rate on low income Canadians give them tax relief? Martin rightly called it 'non-sense'. When Harper tried to lie that low income Canadians pay no income tax (anyone earning above the minimum, which the Conservatives plan to lower, pay 15%), Martin reiterated his plan that provides tax relief to ALL Canadians. This is probably the first time a Conservative platform is campaigning on increased tax rates. How will giving transit users a (very negligent) tax cut pay for another bus on the road, another subway line? Harper had no answers to any of these questions, merely repeating his talking points. As someone who had found the Conservative platform attractive, this debate was an eye-opener.
And Duceppe. He was unimportant, boring and callous today. Martin, to paraphrase CalgaryGrit, 'bitch-slapped' Duceppe around. When Duceppe said all people of Quebec wanted to separate, Martin replied he was from Quebec and he wanted no such thing. Martin showed why Bloc would be powerless against a Stephen Harper government. Martin responded to Harper stating Martin was afraid of debating Duceppe by saying, "Well, I'm here!"
And Layton. Boy, get out of the car salesman mode. Same tone, same reply, every question. To this viewer, there can only be one winner of this debate.
Paul Martin.
Related Links:
Tags: Canada Election Debate Paul Martin
1 comment:
The CBC web site has listed both the Liberal tax cut plan and Conservative plan for weeks and update it daily. CBC is hardly a conservative pro news media but as of today they also have a Reality Check column asking, "Taxes: whose cuts are the deepest? "
There answer is as follows:
"On the other hand, our Reality Check promises chart confirms that the Conservatives are correct when they assert that Canadians will be paying less tax under a government led by Stephen Harper. In fact, it’s not even close."...
"What is intriguing about the Conservative cuts... is an approach that has long been favoured by many economists on the left, but condemned by most mainstream economists..."
What CBC points to is that in fact the Conservative tax cuts are reject by right-wing economists and are the one that left-wing economists have been asking for over the years. WHY... because the Conservative tax cuts help the poor the most. Period, end of story.
When Liberal media finally has to admit that the Conservatives help the poor more than both the Liberals or NDP then you know the truth has set you free.
Link to CBC
By the way, Mr. Martin claims that parliament itself can remove the Notwithstanding Clause - if so, cannot another parliament simply put it back in?
Post a Comment