Tories: Economic union by 2010

- I oppose any Senate reform that doesn’t involve a tombstone
- Expanding RESP is just a tax credit for people who don’t need government help
- I hope they don’t loosen the foreign investment rules on banks! that’s worked pretty well for us, don’t you think?
- I hate FTA’s, lets just eliminate all our tariffs and stop trying to sign away elements of our national sovereignty

Forcing free trade on provinces from the top down won’t have as many of the great benefits which you expect.

Obviously free trade is a good and trade barriers such as tariffs, quotas, etc. are an abomination which only makes the provinces poorer which indulge in such things. But there is a reason why these wealth-killing interventions have persisted for so long. The reason is federal transfers and equalization plus numerous other federal boondoggles and pork subsidies which actually encourage local politicians to wreck their own provincial economies. On the one hand the provincial politicians enact trade barriers which buy them votes and, ah, “favors” from the companies and unions which benefit from the barriers. The overall wealth of their province suffers, which makes them eligible to receive even more money from the feds to compensate. But the federal money doesn’t go into the hands of the ordinary blokes who suffer because of the trade barriers – the money goes into the hands of the provincial politicians who then divvy it up among themselves, their provincial bureaucracies, and the various municipal politicians/bureaucracies and corporate cronies who have shown a willingness to play ball with them. This gives them the incentive to hamper trade. Destroying their constituents’ wealth increases their own personal wealth and power.

So the problem of hampered trade within Canada is due in large part to the bloated, crooked, interventionist policies of the federal government. It does not therefore follow that the only solution is for the federal government to ratchet up the intervention and stick their boots even further into the economy of Canada. That might shift the focal points of political overlordship somewhat, but in the end politicians will be politicians and the wealth of the country will continue to be horsetraded by people who have no moral right to stick their noses into the affairs of private business.

Ending transfers, equalization and a lot of other federal boondoggles would be the most beneficial way to enhance free trade within Canada because it would remove the incentive for non-federal politicians and bureaucrats to wreck their own local economies. But there isn’t a single federal politician who would ever even speak about this reform, let alone enact it. That’s because the government sector attracts people who enjoy power and wealth as much as anybody but who dislike working in the private sector and last thing they are inclined to do is implement policies which would diminish their own power and increase the power and wealth of non-politicians and non-bureaucrats.

I’m really tired of the oposition parties trying to paint this horriby picture that the economic troubles for Canada (particularly in Ontario) are being caused by the Conservative Government! The reason we are in trouble here is due mostly to the finacial break down the the US (they are not spending and traveling here) which in turn has raised the Canadain dollar. Our manufacturing, tourism, forestry etc’s DEMAND is all drivin by the fact our dollar has been low.

In touch times you have to cut back on spending and look for the opporunities that are being created by the slow down etc.

The opposition leaders want to throw money at the failing industries in effort to save jobs. While this is valiant in an effort to save Canadain family the pain of layoffs, NEWS FLASH..until the US econmy gets better thier not going to be buying what we manufacture no matter how much money the Government throws into the industry.

Canada needs strong, stable Ledership that is not going to spend billions on bandaids putting the Country into debt and further into recession. Harper said he would lower the GST and he has! I don’t remeber the other guys ever actually keeping a promise??

I like the concept of Senate reform. I just don’t like the Harper concept.

I think I`m paranoid- because when I saw your title I immediately thought of the Security and Prosperity Partnership and the approximate 500 conspiracy theories surrounding it.

Bulk export of water isn’t a very good idea, ecologically speaking. Neither are the tar sands, but two wrongs don’t make a right.