Monday, October 06, 2008

A Beer OR A Popcorn

With all his talk of "incremental change", who knew Harper meant change, as in a few loonies.

[Harper] was in Nepean, outside Ottawa, announcing a plan to index the Universal Child Care Benefit payout to inflation, meaning it would rise each year to match increases in the prices of key goods in the economy.

The plan would only add an estimate two or three dollars to the $100 monthly cheque that Canadian parents of children under six currently receive.

7 Comments:

  • The tax credit is also no longer taxable (which was the subject of LIBERAL attack ads in 2006).

    I have been surprised at the reluctance of the Harper government to spend in advance of this election - it suggests to me that with a worsening economy, any other party will almost certainly have to either go into a deficit or break some promises.

    If I were Stephane Dion I would WANT to lose this election narrowly, so Harper gets blamed for the recession, then, a year from now, the opposition can gang together and force an election. Liberal majority returns and all is hunky-dory.

    If Dion wins, narrowly, it would be great for Harper. Dion's spending plans assume robust growth that is not going to happen. Moreover, Harper's argument against the green shift sets things up nicely for Dion to take the fall when the economy heads south, were Dion to become PM. Maybe Harper should lose on purpose (losing in 1930 worked for Harper's real political hero, William Lyon Mackenzie King)?

    By Blogger french wedding cat, at 11:32 p.m.  

  • “If Dion wins, narrowly, it would be great for Harper.”

    Hose! Take a break. You'll be 100% better.

    By Blogger JimTan, at 11:47 p.m.  

  • Yeah, if the economy really tanks, it's certainly not going to be a great Prime Ministership to inherit...especially if it's a minority and the opposition can pull the plug at the most opportune moment.

    By Blogger calgarygrit, at 11:53 p.m.  

  • Well it certainly won't be the the ideal situation that Harper inherited that's for sure. And he managed to bite heavily into the surplus he inherited.

    Canadians by and large aren't stupid. I think they can deal with certain promises being put on hold because of a recession. That's no reason to wish for a Harper victory.

    Eye on the goal people. Do you want Harper at the helm dismantling everything we know Canada to be or do you want another government that can steer through a recession without sacrificing what we have.

    By Blogger Beijing York, at 1:39 a.m.  

  • The tax credit is also no longer taxable...

    Well, what he said was that it would no longer be taxable for "single parents who are the sole providers," which sounds all right until you think about how many people don't fall into that category:

    All the couples who make too much for the normal Child Tax Benefit but get the $100/month anyway? Taxable.
    Joint custody? Taxable.
    Divorced and receiving child support? Taxable.

    There simply isn't as much benefit here as you're implying.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:32 p.m.  

  • You prefer the Liberal promise to spend hundreds of millions of your tax dollars buying the beer for thousands of students who aren't in financial need, so that there is less available for those students who are in need?

    Or is that still part of the Liberal plan? It's changed so often it's hard to tell what they're promising this week.

    By Blogger Paul, at 4:30 p.m.  

  • You prefer the Liberal promise to spend hundreds of millions of your tax dollars buying the beer for thousands of students who aren't in financial need, so that there is less available for those students who are in need?

    I didn't realise there were that many Canadian students in need of beer, but I don't think postsecondary alcohol is under federal jurisdiction.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:43 p.m.  

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