Thursday Thirteen – Ontario Election Edition

Hey, an Ontario election is coming and while the media is predicting a Conservative majority (YAY) and have to come clean that I actually like Dalton McGuinty. He looks and talks like a leader. His policies… Not so great, however. He came in as Premier in a Liberal landslide in a province that only sees (saw) Liberal red and loved the fact that he ran the Daily Bread Food Bank or something like that. At the time I’m sure I made some sort of comment about electing a leader who spends their career taking from the rich and giving to the less fortunate. That got us Mayor David Miller and tons of taxes and it got us 7 years of scandal / high taxes and disrespect for the money you and I give in taxes to the province.
So this week’s Thursday Thirteen are the 13 things that will cause the defeat of the Ontario Liberal Party and get Dalton on the road to an awesome pension…

1. The HST – I was at the Canadian Tax Federation annual meeting and the lunch time speaker was Finance Minister Dwight Duncan and he explained to the group of us that even in a recession bringing in the HST Was necessary to keep Ontario competitive. I didn’t understand his motive then and I still don’t understand it now. Minister Duncan also said something to the effect of “no other party has the guts” to merge the GST and PST but he did. Errr, okay. Thanks Mr. Duncan. The HST added additional taxes to such items as Cigarettes, fast food and which was good, but there were way too many bad, such as home heating costs, gas, electricity, new homes (over $400,000 – after June 30, 2010 which was why we closed June 29th, 2010 on our new house), airfare, TTC / Go Transit / Via services, real estate agent commissions.

2. The Delisting of OHIP Covered Necessary Health Services – When McGuinty’s Liberals promised not to decrease any health services covered by OHIP, and not to raise taxes, some people bought in to it and others, like myself, raised their eyebrows in skepticism, McGuinty did not disappoint and did both by implementing the Ontario Health Premium (recall that “fee” we have to pay each year to the doctor) and the delisting coverage of Optometry, Chiropractic and Physiotherapy Services for Ontarians.

3. The Ontario Health Premium – Mentioned above, this “fee” turned out to be the highest tax increase in Ontario’s history, and it was implemented not too long after McGuinty’s Liberals took power in 2003.  I even remember him signing a contract with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation – because I was working at the CRA at the time - to not increase taxes).

4. eHealth - This program never got off the ground and cost Ontario taxpayers billions of dollars and opened our eyes to the notion of sole-sourcing and untendered contracts and how to get the best price sometimes you have to get quotes for other service providers than to Liberal friends.  Consultants were hired and even they spent money like there was no tomorrow, billing Ontarians hundreds of thousands of dollars per year while having the balls to expense a chocolate bar or a Tim Horton’s coffee.  Shame.

5. The Tire “fee” – Just another “tax” that the Liberals brought in while in power.

6. I don’t blame just the Ontario Liberals for this one, I also blame the Federal Liberal party (or what’s left of it) but when the provincial HST merged with the federal GST, instead of firing all the provincial collectors, the Liberals thought it would be a good idea to given each collector a “severance package” of $45,000 each, then given them a job with the HST department. 

7. Caledonia – Still a hotbed of criminal activity where Natives and citizens are battling for space and peace and quiet.  Last time I heard from Caledonia, militant natives had blockaded the street and neither Police or RCMP were allowed to go in and break it up.  Dalton… Everyone has right here and the people of Caledonia deserve to live in peace and quiet.  Instead you turned your back on them instead of making tough decisions.

8. Under the Liberal party, University fees in Ontario have skyrocketed to the highest in Canada.

9. Don’t even talk about auto insurance in Ontario under the Liberals.  I remember the Liberals promising to reduce auto insurance rates by 10% to be fair to families, but you know what happened here… Insurance rates in Ontario have skyrocketed.

10. The Eco-Fee - You may not have heard much about this “fee / tax” because the Liberals snuck it in with the HST but this fee was supposed to cover the cost of disposing of items that needed to be recycled but instead it never got off the ground and has cost tax payers a ton of money.

11. Let’s look at the next few items as groups relating to green initiatives; Smart meters – time of use rates, Wind turbines, hydro rates. All colossal failures. Smart meters work for my family because we do our laundry, use the dishwasher, etc. after 7pm to get the lowest rate and we have seen the benefit but from what I understand there are some people, like seniors who cannot wait for the reduced rates and them – on fixed incomes – have their energy rates go up (and HST on it too). Wind turbines, on the other hand, were an epic failure. There were grants given out for them that were much higher than the expected rate of return, they are unsafe and noisy.

12. The Federal Liberal Party was decimated. Ontario is next. The Conservatives care about your money and the NDP are just plain entertaining. That leaves no room for the Libs… Well, that and former Ontario Premier Bob Rae is their interim leader for the next 2 years. I shudder when I think about how bad the province was after Bob was forced out.

13. Sheer arrogance. I’ve heard the moniker “Teflon Dalton” go by and I think he actually believes he is unbeatable… I think the Federal Liberals felt that way too as did the Liberal who ran for mayor, George Smitherman.  Their time is up.  Time for a change.

 

Some blog updates

I’ve made some blog updates while taking a break from all the taxation work I’ve been doing night and day since December 1st.

Slowly but surely I have updated all my blogroll so if you are looking for a good read, check out any of the links. They are all great.

I’ve changed my layout, so for those of you who read me in a blog reader or through Facebook, come on by the URL and see the changes.

In this period of lack of creativity, you may want to check out my twitter feed which is on this blog on the right side, or you can follow me @urbandaddyblog

Also this time of year I tend to spend more time on my tax blog; www.intaxicating.wordpress.com / www.intaxicating.ca as I spend a lot of time, this time of year, answering technical tax questions and in researching the answers, I put all that information on up on my blog for future reference.

So if you think of any other blogs that I might be interested in, please post a comment with that information and thank you again for dropping by.

 

Where are the Rob Ford haters now?

As 2011 rolls along (project 365, as someone called it) I’m wondering where all the Rob Ford haters are right now. They sure have been quiet since the kerfuffle over Don Cherry calling them “pinkos”. I hope they were not actually offended?!?

I gather they are quiet because since Ford took power he has;

Made the TTC an essential service.
Put Councillor (future mayor and my old City Councillor) Karen Stintz in charge of the TTC
Removed the $60.00 “fee” (I prefer to call it a tax) on registering a vehicle in Toronto
Moving to remove the Land Transfer Tax
Announced he is moving to remove the bag tax of $0.05 for plastic bags purchased in Toronto (if council wants to)
Stopped sending our garbage to Michigan.
Cut Councillors expense accounts from $52,000 a year to $30,000 a year(the taxpayers money councillors spend on stuff)

And he announced that he is not anti-bike and will be unveiling more and safer bike routes for the biking community in Toronto.
He is not done considering a light-rail / subway for Eglinton connecting Scarborough to the airport
and his resolution for 2011 is to lose sme weight.

Not bad.
Saving us taxpayers some money and removing stupid hidden taxes put in place by David Miller.
How awful of him…
I remember the night of his election people tweeting that they were going to move out of Toronto because this was going to destroy the city… Yup.

So I’m going to take a moment and put on my left-wing hat, and figure out how I would reply to this post.
I would probably reply with this comment, saving you all the time to have to type it for yourself;

“Yes Urban Daddy, you right-wing capitalist bastard, he’s cutting taxes but how is he going to pay for services? I’ll tell you… He’s going to cut services and apply userfees!”

Well, Lefties (and I am left-handed so do be offended) I would like present this case in my defense of not wanting to tax the rich to give to the poor… Your hero, David Miller put in place all these taxes and fees because he wanted to point out how poorly the previous mayor treated the city and to pay for all his giving to make every Torontonion equal… Then upon stepping down from being mayor, in order to preserve his “legacy” he announced that he left the city better than it was when he took over, with a surplus! Pardon me.
surplus would mean his additional taxes needed to run the city were either a cruel joke or a huge miscalculation of the debits and credits at City Hall.

That’s like me running a free swimming pool, then suddenly charging users $10.00 a visit because without it the pool will have to close, then after doing this for 5 years saying, Look everyone, I have $2 million extra dollars in the bank”… Not nice!

So I for one am happy that for dinner last night there was no gravy. Staying away from that stuff can help me shed some pounds… That and not wearing pink!

BEAUTY!

 

Still on politics: 10 Reasons to Vote for Rob Ford for Mayor of Toronto

I’ve been challenged by those leaning to the left (maybe a little too far to the left to make a difference) and those standing in the centre to give them 10 good reasons why I am voting for the right-leaning Fiscally Conservative, Rob Ford, for Mayor of Toronto on October 25, 2010. 

Here is my list: 

10. Once elected, Ford pledges to cut waste at City Hall, and that means no councillors will be given free passes to anything, or free parking or free TTC passes…  I know even those on the left can feel my frustration when reports come out that councillors without cars were passing off their free parking pass to others. 

9.  Reduce spending – It makes sense after cutting waste, to reduce spending.  This goes right in the face of George Smitherman’s campaign promises as this is a big part of Ford’s campaign.  He’s going to reduce spending on salaries, on unionized garbage workers, on building middle of the road streetcar only lanes that mess up streets.   

8. Eliminate the hated city vehicle registration tax – Toronto residents have to pay $60 every year to register their vehicle. It’s a cash grab that hits families hard.  Rob Ford will push to eliminate the Vehicle Registration Tax at the first City Council meeting after becoming Mayor.  Too bad I just renewed my vehicle for 2 years and paid $120.00 extra.   

7. Eliminate the land-transfer tax – This tax almost killed us when we bought and sold our house.  The land transfer tax on a million dollar house in Toronto costs the seller over $10,000.00.   

6. Garbage and other solid wastes must be collected on schedule, without fail. The strike during the summer of 2009 put the health of people and families in Toronto at risk.  Etobicoke, for example, uses contracted providers and saves the city $2 million each year. By adopting the same approach for the whole city, taxpayers will save about $20 million each year and can have the confidence their garbage collectors won’t go on unnecessary strikes. 

5. People and businesses in Toronto depend on the TTC to get them from home to work, or school. When the TTC isn’t running, the city grinds to a halt and commuters and businesses suffer. TTC service is essential and it must be designated this way in order to prevent costly strikes. 

4. For seven years, City Hall has tackled Gridlock by declaring war on cars in Toronto. Toronto has eliminated lanes from busy roadways, increased parking charges, ignored roadway repairs and generally made life miserable for drivers  

3. I often wondered why it takes my 20 minutes during rush hour to go north on Bathurst street considering all the lights should be synchronized, right  Well they’re not.  I no sooner leave on light and the next one is red… Very frustrating.  Once elected, Ford, will synchronize the city’s traffic signals to improve traffic flow.

2. We will keep and maintain our Expressways.  The Gardiner Expressway, Don Valley Parkway and Allen Road/Expressway will be maintained, without tolls, as key components of our transportation infrastructure. 

1. Build a comprehensive network of off-road paved, illuminated, bicycle trails with street lamps across the city.  In addition, 100 km of pedestrian paths alongside the bicycle trails.

 Not bad, eh?  But in case you are still not convinced, I have more reasons…

• Introduction of Smart Card technology for fare payment on TTC
• Streetcars are not the answer to Toronto’s transit needs – To attract drivers into transit, it must be comfortable, convenient, affordable, reliable and rapid. Streetcars are none of these things. Streetcars are slow (average speed: 17km/h) and take hours to travel across town. This limits your ability to live in one part of the city and work in another. Streetcar construction destroys streets and interrupts businesses. Streetcar lines down the centre of arterial roads increase gridlock and create pollution.
•  Hiring of 100 additional frontline police officers giving Toronto Police enough new officers to
  • Protect Children in Schools. 30 additional School Resource Officers will double the number of schools protected by this successful program. By introducing police officers to youth in a positive environment, students are less likely to take a negative view of police and more likely to seek help for issues before they reach a violent stage
  • Target Gangs, Guns & Violence in More Communities. 70 additional frontline officers will support an expansion of the successful Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy (TAVIS) targeting gangs and violence in priority neighborhoods year-round.

Still not convinced?  Still can’t move past the way Ford looks?

Then let’s look at the very poor #2 choice, George Smitherman and his “plan” for Toronto.  

 George has a three-point plan to get Toronto working again:

1. Get City Hall’s books in order.  How?  Freeze taxes and hiring for one year.  Freeze spending for 100 days so he can review “every dollar the city spends”
2. Get Toronto moving again by expanding transit to every corner of our city, ensuring faster, round-the-clock road repairs and separating bikes from cars to improve safety for both.  How?  Where is this money going to come from?
3. Create jobs – especially for young people – by telling the world we’re open for business.  Really?  LOL.  Yikes!!! 

Even though George will not talk about the eHealth scandal – he has walked out of a debate when it came up – stating that he had nothing to do with that scandal.   So I guess as a deputy premier for the province of Ontario, he had no power to stop this from happening.  He does, however, say this; “I have the experience of being a senior cabinet minister – and have the scars to prove it. I know what it takes to run an organization as complex as the City of Toronto”. 

So how is George going to pay for all this?  It’s on his website.  Go see it for yourself.  But I have taken these figures right from his sight and made it nice and clear.

Revenue: 

$100 million from the province 

$100 million from the sale of Enwave 

$65 million from selling off “unused city land” 

$33 million from growth in property tax payers. 

So he’s going to sell of city assets and use property taxes to pay for his plan.  Hope you like paying $20,000 a year on property tax.

But George is going to find cost savings too… So what are in his plan?!?

Well, George is going to save $61 million by only re-hiring 2/3rds of city staff that  retire 

Save $50 million by spending less and;

Save $150 million by being smarter and buying all of Toronto’s items together, a la Rob Ford… 

So there are some might big assumptions here… One that the province is going to give the city $100 million dollars, and that there will be enough city assets left for George to sell to pay for his plan.  Once an asset is sold, it’s gone forever.

By this rate he’ll burn through the 1 billion that was wasted while he was deputy premier of Ontario in 4 years as Mayor of Toronto. 

But what about the re-hiring of only 2/3rds of retiring city staffers.  Well anyone involved in city politics knows that retiring city workers are at the top of their pay-scales and a majority of them are probably pulling in over $100K/year.   Basically Smitherman is going to rely on attrition and not rehire the 6% that retire each year, but he’ll re-hire the fat cats with their pensions and seniority.  Nice…

So what is this $100 million dollars Smitherman is going to net by selling Enwave?!?  Well the city of Toronto has a 43% stake in Enwave Energy Corp. and after 7 years of spend-first, tax the rich leadership, the city faces a budget shortfall of as much as $500 million.

 

Working in the Trenches: A tale of a CRA field officer

This post is yet another post that I was encouraged to write by Elliott of Supernova.com, after telling him this tale while our boys were in karate class.

I was spouting off about my days working for the Canadian Tax Authority, when my responsibilities afforded me the opportunity to leave the office and visit clients to discuss their tax debts / compliance issues.

Unlike others who “may” have abused that authority, I loved getting out to visit clients. I’m a social guy, and it was always in my best interest to leave a good impression on them and help them resolve their issues, while also promoting the CRA.

I would always set up a full schedule of visits, and spend the entire day seeing as many as I could. When I first started with this role, I would wear a tie, but as I became comfortable with the role and spoke to many clients I realized the tie made me appears like I was a salesman, or worse, Jehovah’s Witness, so people refused to open their doors for me.

So I kept the nice clothes, but lost the tie.

One fine spring day, I found myself assigned to a business quite far north of the city who had been filing for the GST (now HST) for around 5 years, but they had been getting quite a lot of money in credits and for some reason had stopped filing, and their account had credits sitting there, un-issued.

Over the months proceeding this visit, I had called and left many messages and sent several letters, but there was no response, so I set up a visit during the day to initiate contact.

Upon arriving at the address I located in my Perlies, I realized I was in a very secluded, run down, commercial area which appeared to be pretty vacant – really odd for a weekday.

I approached the unit, the door was open, so I walked in and yelled, “hello, anyone here”.

I heard a voice respond back to me that I should enter the warehouse – that he were back there with another employee.  The front foyer of this unit had some electronics and other electrical gadgets so I briefly stopped to make some quick notes as to what I thought this company did, as I made my way to the back.

Once in the warehouse, I was shocked…

In front of me was this huge dark, empty warehouse with a desk at the back of it.  At the desk were 2 males, and there was one light on in the warehouse and it was just above the desk, like you would see on TV.

I stopped dead in my tracks.

“You can come closer”, the man sitting down calmly said to me.

“No thank you, I’d rather stay here”, I replied surveying the situation.

“What can I do for you?” said the other man, standing to the right of the man sitting at the desk, his arms crossed.

“I’m here from Revenue Canada, it would appear that there were some errors on your GST reports and I had left several messages but no one called me back, so I came to visit to see if we could resolve this in person”.

The response I got shocked me…

The man sitting down said to me; “Do you see that baseball bat behind the door?!?  We use that to take care of people like you!”  He then stood up.

I looked at the 2 of them and said; “The CRA owes you guys money, however I do not feel welcomed here so I am leaving.”

I turned around and left, hoping not to hear them come running after me.  I must say thinking about it now that I must have raced out of there, and I remember my heart pounding – thinking about my family.

I had parked across the parking lot facing the unit so that when I arrived I could take notes in my car about the business – like traffic, registered names, condition of the building…  I opened my door, sat down, locked my door and called my team leader.  As the phone was ringing the 2 guys rushed out of the unit and came towards my car.  I rolled down my window very slightly and told them I was talking to my boss and they should stay back from my car.  I turned it on.

They asked me to hang up – said it was a misunderstanding, that they were expecting a “bill collector” and they had been harassed.  They wanted the money owed to them as it might be enough to get this debt off their books.  My TL answered the phone and I told him briefly the situation.  I told the guys I would not leave my car, and have to come back with my TL, possibly tomorrow.  I handed them both the information they needed including the missing returns and the amount of the credit on file with the CRA.

They stood there looking at me…

My TL told me to leave.

I did.

One week later we returned with the RCMP.

The place was raided, the men arrested and a bunch of weapons seized.  All the electronics were stolen goods.  The credit on the GST account was seized by the RCMP as having been proceeds from crime.

I closed the GST account.

From that day forth I realized some people are intimidated when they receive a visit from the tax department.  I used this to my advantage, but never entered a building which made my spidy-sense tingle.  From that day on I clearly identified myself and my intentions up front before I would enter a building or house.   If it looked shady I would come back with another person bigger than myself (I’m 5 foot 11, 225 pounds).  We looked like thugs there to break some legs. 

So now you know.

 

Thursday Thirteen

It came to me last night during a conversation with a friend that a lot of people may not know much about me other than the tidbits I choose to share.

Case in point… This friend thought I was “left wing” (shudder). 

I tried explaining my views.  Then I thought about the image I have been portraying through my posts.

So I thought this Thursday Thirteen could discuss a little about me.

1) I’m right-wing conservative.  Always have been, always will be.  Not radical / extremist as I hate extremists.  They ruin everything.  I’m for big business and capitalism.  I believe that people have choices to make in their lives and they should live by those choices.  If you decide to skip school as a kid and not graduate then you stand a much greater chance of being a drain on the system.  Your choice.  Don’t make me pay more for your welfare because you thought smoking up and drinking were more important than school.  I chose to trudge through school and fight and claw to 2 other degrees, graduate and post-graduate.  I don’t need, nor do I want the government to prop me up.

2) I am environmental to the core.  Don’t like pollution, waste or what is happening to the planet.  I’ll hold “garbage” which can be recycled with me until I can.  I feel bad for birds covered in oil from toxic spills and I have boycotted companies for polluting.  Geez. I drive a hybrid.

3) I love sports.  Prefer playing them, but like watching them too.  Hockey, Baseball, basketball and lacrosse.  Love them all.  Also fiercely patriotic, so that ties in sports-wise. 

4) A good time to me involves my family.  If I’m doing something I want them with me. 

5) I have never taken or been offered drugs and in a sheltered sort of way I judge people who do.  Sorry.  I just do.

6) I’m ok with my lack of hair but my expanding physique really bugs me to the point that the stress causes me to eat.  Stupid, eh?  Nothing relaxes me more than a great sweaty workout.  I recently hired a personal trainer to help me get through this difficult issue I have with my body.

7) I hate conflict.  But if I have to  will fight to win in the most ruthless manner.  My morals go out the window if I’ve been wronged.

8) I love loud aggressive music.  Saliva, STP, Marilyn Manson, Nirvana, Disturbed, Theory of a Deadman… The louder the better.  But I cannot listen to anything that sounds like my kids banging on pots and pans, nor rap.  That shit makes me sick.  And no, rap and that horrible lip syncing stuff is not music.  Real music dies when sampling begins.

9) I am educated and continue to expand my knowledge on a daily basis.  Looking at courses right now.

10) I love gardening.  Love it!  Also like painting (houses, but not the taping part), enjoyed running (until injured).

11) Hate stupidity.  My patience over the years has declined and while I can still hold back I try. 

12) I have a wicked temper.  I seem to have less and less control of it when it comes to the stupidity of others.  I believe it is called speaking up.

13) I am a blogger.  As I approach 500 posts on this blog and as I try to re-brand my professional tax blog I have come to the conclusion that I enjoy blogging – way more than “tweeting” – and I can see this expanding for me as more and more people become familiar with my writings (on the tax side, not this one).

There.  A little more about me.

 

Risk

Spent all day @ the office working on my unit’s risk registry. 

Boy was that fun!

  We have some very applicable risks, such as the risk of incorrect tax filing should the government change legislation and we miss it, and we have some really crappy risks, like the risk that someone could get hurt walking up the stairs… That’s a risk, right?

So after risk-fest, I hopped in my car hoping to get some quickly, only to get stuck behind a… house on the highway.  Who moves a house during rushhour?!?

Then to ball-hockey where a confused team lost 2-1 in the first game of our playoffs… UGH.

Now it’s home, showered, kissed UM goodnight, doing some work in order to wind down then bed.

 

Is it just me?!?

Is it just me or is everyone else in the world crazy too…

Somalie Pirates hijacking boats…

Billy Bob Thornton and his “band” the Boxcutters dis a Canadian radio (CBC)  interviewer Jean Ghomeshi…  Not sure who Billy Bob thinks he is… I know Jean.  I ran against him for York University Student President one year while @ York.  He plastered the campus with literature… Me… Not so much.  I started and ran a club for the left-handed students @ York.  They all voted for me.  So did my sister… That was about it.  Jean’s out there, but seriously… Billy Bob?!?

After a season of trying to win when I thought they should be losing, now Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke tells the media that he intends on moving up in the draft in order to select highly touted John Tavaras… When didn’t he say this earlier?!?  Then I could have rooted for the team this season… Grrrrr.

Work tax season ended today with the Internet filing of 1042S returns to the IRS.  So far so good.  I suspect senior management is waiting for a “bomb” to drop as has happened in every previous year.  Sorry guys… No bomb!

US President Obama got a dog… a dog… Seriously… and this is news?!?

I have people following me on twitter.  I don’t twit… OR tweet… or trend… Well that’s why…

 

I’ve been thinking

I do a lot of thinking…

I like to make lists.

Sometimes, I actually work through the list and do what is on it.  Today, for example, I had a list of no less that 15 things I needed to get done.  NEEDED.  I had it all planned out, and I knew once I got to the office I would be able to plan and arrange around my meetings.  Yeah… That didn’t work out that well.

The other manager in my office decided we needed to go downtown for the Operations meeting so we headed out in this stupid snow storm we’re having and an hour later we were later for the meeting. 

All the senior managers were happy to see us, even the gentleman sitting to my left who, in 7 months there, I did not recognize.  When it was his turn to speak, he spoke of a great tax season to date and congratulated me for my efforts.  I smiled, then it donned on me that this gentleman was the president of the Canadian company.  He knew who I was even if I did not know him.  I knew of him.

Back to the office and many meetings later I raced home (ok, edged up slowly in more snowy traffic) to see my family.  We ate (thanks for the yummy food, hun) and watched the opening ceremonies of the Toronto Blue Jays home opener.  Linus knew who the Jays were and even the first 4 verses of O’ Canada.  Remembered them from the “cross” game (lacrosse).  Apparently he also sings it at school every day too.

Cutie.

Oh, yeah, my thoughts…

I think I’m going to come legit… Start a tax / management blog under my real name.  Get some credibility.  That way I wont bore you (yes, YOU) when I talk about W-8BEN’s and 1099′s, or talking about how I like to manage my staff.

If I had time, I’d totally do it…

 

I am so fucking angry…With voters in the Province of Ontario…

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

This province is full of incredibly stupid people. Stupid people that vote Liberal time and time again because they are afraid of the Conservatives. Afraid??? Bullshit. They do this because they are too lazy to formulate their own opinions and are just plain stupid.

-stops to apologize to any readers who voted Liberal – you are forgiven, after all you come here, so you must be closet conservatives. –

Liberal politicians are above the law. They lie, cheat, and steal, and stupid Ontarians vote them back into power.

Hate Mike Harris all you want, but he said he was going to do what he did, and he was elected on it, and he actually did it. He did NOT raise a red book claiming to get rid off the GST – but did not, he did not make his campaign platform around NOT raising taxes, but them DID raise them. At least the PC’s tell you up fornt if they are going to screw you, and then when they do it, no one is surprised, but the Liberals??? See the sponsorship scandal, and Mike Colle the former Finance minister who gave $1 million dollars to a Cricket or Curling club as a grant when they asked for $150,000. He was fired from his post… and re-elected in my riding. Arrrgghhhh. Stupid fucking voters.

50% participation… That’s the media’s fault for always stating that the election was over – before it begun – and that the Liberals were going to get a majority government. Hey media, how about covering the facts, asking the tough questions and stop pretending to be Nostradamus. The media, in effect, told voters not to vote because it was a Liberal win, so they didn’t. All media should be ashamed of themselves. Maybe the Liberals are giving you guys some tax breaks or some “grant money”. Grrrr.

As for the faith-based funding… Who really cared. All everyone wants in this day and age is equality. Either stop funding catholic schools or fund them all. If Tory had come out and asked for Catholic schools to stop receiving funding he’d be hung from the highest cross, but instead he offered up equality and that backfired too. Don’t we all just want equality? Anyone who thinks that by now funding Jewish, or Islamic or Chinese schools is going to make a bit of difference has to ask themselves if funding Catholic schools over the last 125 years

I’m angry enough to run in the next election and start campaigning NOW.

I’ll be fine in 4 years.

I don’t want to hear any bitching or moaning from anyone who voted for the Liberals or who didn’t get off their asses to vote for the next 4 years. You lost your right to complain. To talk to your fearless (read: useless) leader.