Manitoba Election Post Mortem
My buddy Steve from Cambridge ON .... sent me an e-mail this morning with a column from the National Post by Kevin Liblin.
National Post Link
The Headline: "Manitoba fine with status quo. Doer majority comes despite economic malaise"
KEVIN LIBINNational Post klibin@nationalpost.com
Wherein He Notes:
"Take the highest tax regime in Western Canada, the fattest government in the country and throw in the nation’s lowest level of private investment and moribund population growth, and what do you get? "
'In Manitoba it’s a recipe for political success. Or, more accurately, an electoral landslide."
Absolutely correct!
"In his victory speech, the 59year-old Premier announced: “The people of Manitoba have voted … to move forward, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
"But what, exactly, the province will move forward toward, however, remains something a lot of political observers are still guessing at."
Moving forward to ensuring that his attitude of accepting mediocrity and failure is the norm! All the while sinking us in further in the hole! That would be my guess!
“This was a Seinfeld election — it was really about nothing,” says Peter Holle, president of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, a Winnipeg-based economic think-tank. "
"No one was really interested in talking about the important issues that face the province.”
Especially NOT Doer and the Dippers OR the Local Media!
"It is tough to dispute, after all, that Manitoba’s health has generally deteriorated since Mr. Doer was first elected eight years ago — which might go some way to explaining the dismal 58% turnout at Tuesday’s polls."
"Spending in the province, under the NDP, has outstripped growth. Job
creation, at 0.9%, is barely a shade of the 2.3% national average, and comes entirely from the public sector, while the private sector has seen a net shrinkage of thousands. Private capital expenditures of $4,500 are the lowest in Canada (in Saskatchewan it’s $6,698; in Alberta, $14,405). And Manitoba is the only Western province to have seen virtually zero population
growth in the last decade, while hospital waiting times have only worsened, despite Mr. Doer’s last-election pledge to end “hallway medicine” and unloading massive new spending on the health system (Manitoba spends 30% more than the national average on health costs). "
"The provincial debt, at $20-billion, consumes roughly a quarter of the province’s GDP just to service and opposition critics have argued that Mr. Doer has avoided a deficit only by raiding the treasury of Manitoba Hydro, a Crown corporation. All of this in the heaviest taxed province west of Quebec — with the burden of all corporate, investment and income taxes nearly double that of Alberta."
"Unable to keep up with the neighbours, Manitoba’s dependence on federal handouts has become an uncontrolled addiction. When the NDP took provincial power away from the PCs in 1999, about 32% of revenues were comprised of federal transfers. Today, the number is closer to 37% ...... "
“We’re in an Alice in Wonderland environment, here, where problems are distorted by all these transfers,” ........ “If you want to have a serious public policy discussion in this province, you really have to take these transfers away.”
It would be nice too if the Winnipeg Free Press and the Sun would get serious about reporting on the Government!
"With Manitoba’s prospects likely the dimmest in Western Canada, and no hopeful glimmer in sight, it’s fortunate for the NDP it has a sunny leader in Mr. Doer. ................"
Yep! A province populated by self satisfied lazy and unmotivated people all too happy to live in their insulated little world without any regard for the consequences of indolence and apathy! But it's all OK because Gary Do-Nothing isn't out there scaring folks by, well " Actually Doing Something". Yup, just quietly spending money on non productive and wastefully managed programs and warping public policy to favour labour group interests in tidy little increments. All this at the expense of the people who actually bring money into the province..... you might have heard of them! They are called businesses! And Investors!
Too bad you're dragging the rest of us down the rabbit hole with you!
OMMAG
National Post Link
The Headline: "Manitoba fine with status quo. Doer majority comes despite economic malaise"
KEVIN LIBINNational Post klibin@nationalpost.com
Wherein He Notes:
"Take the highest tax regime in Western Canada, the fattest government in the country and throw in the nation’s lowest level of private investment and moribund population growth, and what do you get? "
'In Manitoba it’s a recipe for political success. Or, more accurately, an electoral landslide."
Absolutely correct!
"In his victory speech, the 59year-old Premier announced: “The people of Manitoba have voted … to move forward, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
"But what, exactly, the province will move forward toward, however, remains something a lot of political observers are still guessing at."
Moving forward to ensuring that his attitude of accepting mediocrity and failure is the norm! All the while sinking us in further in the hole! That would be my guess!
“This was a Seinfeld election — it was really about nothing,” says Peter Holle, president of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, a Winnipeg-based economic think-tank. "
"No one was really interested in talking about the important issues that face the province.”
Especially NOT Doer and the Dippers OR the Local Media!
"It is tough to dispute, after all, that Manitoba’s health has generally deteriorated since Mr. Doer was first elected eight years ago — which might go some way to explaining the dismal 58% turnout at Tuesday’s polls."
"Spending in the province, under the NDP, has outstripped growth. Job
creation, at 0.9%, is barely a shade of the 2.3% national average, and comes entirely from the public sector, while the private sector has seen a net shrinkage of thousands. Private capital expenditures of $4,500 are the lowest in Canada (in Saskatchewan it’s $6,698; in Alberta, $14,405). And Manitoba is the only Western province to have seen virtually zero population
growth in the last decade, while hospital waiting times have only worsened, despite Mr. Doer’s last-election pledge to end “hallway medicine” and unloading massive new spending on the health system (Manitoba spends 30% more than the national average on health costs). "
"The provincial debt, at $20-billion, consumes roughly a quarter of the province’s GDP just to service and opposition critics have argued that Mr. Doer has avoided a deficit only by raiding the treasury of Manitoba Hydro, a Crown corporation. All of this in the heaviest taxed province west of Quebec — with the burden of all corporate, investment and income taxes nearly double that of Alberta."
"Unable to keep up with the neighbours, Manitoba’s dependence on federal handouts has become an uncontrolled addiction. When the NDP took provincial power away from the PCs in 1999, about 32% of revenues were comprised of federal transfers. Today, the number is closer to 37% ...... "
“We’re in an Alice in Wonderland environment, here, where problems are distorted by all these transfers,” ........ “If you want to have a serious public policy discussion in this province, you really have to take these transfers away.”
It would be nice too if the Winnipeg Free Press and the Sun would get serious about reporting on the Government!
"With Manitoba’s prospects likely the dimmest in Western Canada, and no hopeful glimmer in sight, it’s fortunate for the NDP it has a sunny leader in Mr. Doer. ................"
Yep! A province populated by self satisfied lazy and unmotivated people all too happy to live in their insulated little world without any regard for the consequences of indolence and apathy! But it's all OK because Gary Do-Nothing isn't out there scaring folks by, well " Actually Doing Something". Yup, just quietly spending money on non productive and wastefully managed programs and warping public policy to favour labour group interests in tidy little increments. All this at the expense of the people who actually bring money into the province..... you might have heard of them! They are called businesses! And Investors!
Too bad you're dragging the rest of us down the rabbit hole with you!
OMMAG
Labels: Consequenses, Politics
posted by OMMAG at 8:08 a.m.
8 Comments:
Four more years of all my friends moving to Calgary.... I guess I'll have to jump ship one of these days too.
I just hope Doer takes this mandate and actually does something productive for the province... for once in his sorry career.
I can't even begin to understand why nearly 50% of Manitobans
are content with the status quo. I'm really wishing I would have
taken the advice of my fellow right leaning friends and left in
1999, rather than wasting my time in this backwater. It's clear
that either manitoba's like it this way, are too un-informed
to understand the issues, or simply have no ambition to change.
Well, 8 years late, but I'll be in Calgary by fall.
Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out!
You PCs whine to much.
If you actually DO the math it's about 28% of Manitobans who voted for the dippers.
But the complacency is still mind boggling!
Re; last anonymouse post: Whine?
I am howling mad and you my friends if you are from Manitoba will be living with the shit your buddies create.
I am only concerned with minimizing the damage they do! And thanks to the self satisfied fools who won't be bothered to think beyond their next paycheck and the parasites who live off the public tit they have 4 years to continue!
Where is everyone threatening to go to? In 1999, we heard if the NDP is elected the province will shut down and the last one at the Sask. border might as well shut out the lights. Well if someone would have taken an aerial photo of the city of Winnipeg then and compared it to now, the transformation would be obvious. The city has grown, new large suburban homes, housing prices have soared (how does that happen in your competitive world of supply and demand? Wasn't everyone moving-leaving vacant houses-shouldn't the price have dropped?) the building cranes, a rejuvenated downtown with the MTS centre, post secondary enrollment way up, etc. Give it up Tories, your spin of untruths has worn out and it is not helping the people who can actually see growth. People are leaving to make money from the oil patch- a natural resource that is not renewable, once it's gone it's gone. Remember the Alberta of the 80s, a lot of people filed for bankruptcy, where was your blue god then? We can afford to keep Garry Doer and the NDP in office for a long long time. Good luck paying off your new mortgage. We'll be heading off to the lake for some R&R while you put your shoulder to the wheel to pay your debts. Well at least the missus can stay home a raise the youngens like the Cleavers, that'll save you a few bucks instead of having a nanny to look after the Beav. See ya wouldn't want to be ya.
Tuxedo could have gone NDP if it wasn't for a Liberal, next time. Good- bye Heather, go back to advising the whiners about how the government should have looked after their high risk investments in Crocus, maybe they all didn't write off (how come that hasn't been mentioned with the conservative ads?)their losses yet.
Have you checked the PC Manitoba web page only 58.4% of members actually support their own party, and you wonder why you lost seats? Spin it all you want, he has only been the leader for a year, um Hugh is only one of 56 candidates. The excuses for the other 55 would be? Oh yeah, maybe something like Jack Reimer has been around a little too long, 17 years? Or Trudy Turner was too tired after trying unsucessfully for city council? Nice try. I have an idea you might try next time. Let's combine the idea of private prisons and getting and keeping a NHL team. Build the prison close to the airport and every plane carrying NHL players has to land and you incarcerate the millionaire players in the new fancy prison, charge them room and board and let them exercise on their PST free bicycles. Your investors will make a ton of cash off the players and no chance of losing an NHL team and their will be no problem of doing in less than four years. Its a win win all around for you guys. You voted against the MTS centre so maybe slip a few ice cubes in the exercise yard to make it look like a rink. Good luck in four years, we wouldn't want to forget some of your promises either.
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