Most with any recollection with recognize the name Don Drummond. No enemy of Liberals, he. Well, maybe now.
The Full Report.
You broke it, voters of Ontario, you buy it.
Most with any recollection with recognize the name Don Drummond. No enemy of Liberals, he. Well, maybe now.
The Full Report.
You broke it, voters of Ontario, you buy it.
When will the credit rating agencies do their job?
The Province of Ontario’s credit rating should be downgraded immediately. If that doesn’t encourage the McGuinty government to implement the recommendations then the rating should be downgraded another notch within 60 days. It’s time to stop coddling this government. They are no better than Greece when it comes to controlling their debt. So treat them the same way.
Premier Dull-tone McScrimpy has no clothes…just like CBC programming and they don’t even wear a barrel!
Next we’ll see the CBC churning out voter ‘spankings of the Premier sans chemise de nuit’.
Cheers
Hans Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
McScumbag should be thrown out of office and his entire administration investigated for corruption. But lets get the FBI to do the investigation. The OPP and the RCMP are too corrupt and incompetent to do the job. But, the people of Ontario deserve what they are going to get- higher taxes, more poverty and fewer jobs. If you were stupid enough to vote for McLiar u deserve to stand in a soup kitchen line.
Owen- I don’t think anyone from Ontario that visits SDA has ever voted for McGuinty.
Drummonds report is an abject failure for the simple reason that he didn’t address the rape of Ontarians via The Green Energy Act.
This report reinforces my belief the Conservatives and Hudak deliberately blew the last election. If they had defeated McGuinty they would have had to implement the drastic measures to come with all of the ‘Harris era” recriminations from the Liberati and MSM. McGuinty it looks good on you, now wear it.
Wanna bet they’ll try to blame it all on Harper, Alberta, China, America….anyone but themselves.
It couldn’t have happened to a better group of arrogant lieberal asswholes.
As a victim of my fellow provincial imbecile’s poor voting choices, I still haven’t figured out why people are so dumb.
Any wonder politicians are such scumbags? Rae decimates Ontario’s finances, Harris cleans it up (and Paul Martin’s budget as well.) What happens? The village idiots band together for an anti-Harris riot and vote in McShifty. Now we get to clean that mess up, too.
Don’t think that this won’t be shelved until the end of time (the PC’s will bugger up the next election as well. Being run by retard children and all…) Shifty won’t cut. He’ll raise taxes and fiddle until there is no economy.
As for being an Ontario thing, last I checked, Alberta has McShifty in drag running the joint. If not for expensive oil prices, AB’d be in our shoes. Even then they’re draining the Heritage fund like they won the lottery. AB’s per capita spending is not only greater than Ontario, it’s greater than Quebec, too.
I never thought in a million years I’d be jealous of the government in… f’ing SK!!?! The place that was governed by the NDP for about 6000 years.
It’s like the poles reversed charge or something.
I also think that the PCs deliberately blew the last election, although I am not so kind as to believe that it was strategy or even incompetence.
Drummond and his report were well received by the Blubb and Wail. I wonder what is up.
One must feel badly for those who cannot migrate from the have-not province to another more successful part of Canada.
Screw you, McGuinty!
Bet you there are some great Ontario jokes coming out of Newfoundland.
No problem, McGuinty can follow the Manitoban template of federal transfer payments funding public sector jobs to create economic activity.
It’s an economy built on government subsidized consumption which mostly works as long as the oil sands keep churning away. It would work even better if provincial governments would exercise a modicum of common sense when faced with no-brainer cash cows like Bipole III.
We are witnessing the end result of universal suffrage. Stupid people with no stake in society who are allowed to vote will vote for the government that promises to give them something or do something for them. I believe that every social welfare state goes through the same thing and will ultimately collapse.
Britain is the ultimate warning of this. In about a century, they went from being the freest, richest most advanced state in the world, effectively to extinction. All the industry is gone, they have massive unemployment, but still manage to absorb huge numbers of immigrants because the natives have no work ethic or skills any more. The productive people all left and they are now populated by multi generational welfare trash, and foreigners.
All democracies will get to this state because no government that tries to stop it will ever get elected.
Drummonds report is an abject failure for the simple reason that he didn’t address the rape of Ontarians via The Green Energy Act.
Posted by: Ralph at February 16, 2012 4:16 PM
Bingo!
and,
“…the PC’s will bugger up the next election as well…”
Posted by: jason at February 16, 2012 4:41 PM
They have already done that by giving ‘Waldo’ Hudak a vote of confidence at their recent convention.
Prediction: a true conservative party formed from small business, the disgruntled rural base, and MPPs who are disgusted with Hudak.
LOL @ Fred. Yes indeed.
The first paragraph of MacParland’s piece cuts right to the bone: “… spells out just how badly the Ontario economy has been damaged by eight years of the Premier’s phony accounting and feel-good politics.”
Word, yo.
@minuteman: you’ve been reading Tytler again, haven’t you.
Watching the TVO panel last night with Drummond plus media reports there’s something fishy about the whole thing.
Premier McGuinty and crew are advertising his “cuts” as even more sweeping then Mike “the knife” Harris from the ’90’s. But so far, the following are the only “cuts” I have heard proposed under the Drummond recommendations:
– at least 2.5% percent INCREASE in health care spending.
– an INCREASE in tobacco tax
– an INCREASE in alcohol tax
– opening more Ontario Liquor Control Board monopoly outlets to INCREASE government alcohol revenues
– toll roads to INCREASE government revenues
– an INCREASE in driver’s license fees
– an INCREASE in hydro rates
– other INCREASES in taxes and service fees
– closing of all-day government pre-kinder schooling.
From what I can see, the last proposal is the only real “cut” — the rest of the stuff is all tax and service fee increases.
I think McGuinty is up to his old lying weasel ways again. He’s using the language of Hegelian dialectics — the semiotics of the opposite of what he intends to do — in order to avoid cuts to his economically irresponsible pet projects that were unearthed by the scathing Auditor General’s report. In fact, in the end the only real “cut” — the all day pre-kinder — will probably disappear too. It’s really a revenue/tax scheme, and even Conservative leader Tim Hudak appears to be asleep at the wheel again.
McGuinty hired a professional spin doctor: Drummond.
JMSS (Just my sneaking suspicion).
There exists within the borders of Toronto an incredible number of folks that believe governments exist soley to give them stuff. That attitude may be prevelent in many other places, but it reveals itself in larger metropolitan areas. As long as politicians of all stripes place their personal ambitions ahead of sensible fiscal reality, we will continue to cater to the takers. We had short lived optimism when Toronto showed George the door. In reality, Greece is just a steetcar ride to the all day kindergarten on the Danforth.
Take a guess of how long it will take for the name Drummond to dissappear from the lexicon. Don who?
Rural Ontario sent a message to McGuinty last October, specific to Green Energy and wind turbines. I expect the bulk of any actual cuts that are made to affect rural areas directly; rural hospitals and rural school closures, all agricultural services, MOE and MNR, and service downloads on small towns. Payback is a bitch or so I’m told.
Expect open season with the rape and pillage of the countryside with stinky giant fans and open pit mines. Payback.
Also expect sizeable increases in ammunition inventories. Payback.
Family Day is next Monday; another little treasure from Shifty McGuifty: the holiday nobody asked for. A somewhat ironic name considering the rather large number of Liberal MPPs that dance on the other side of the street. In the holiday spirit we in rural Ontario have not forgotten George. We thank George for the Green Energy Act, and we thank George for Ornge. Payback.
ricardo
Yeah I watched that as well.
I agree that McSquinty will do as he will, using this commision report as justification….
Drummond declared right off the hop being directed by the Government not to include tax increases in his recommendations.
Remember Flaherty’s warning to Dalton four years ago, and how he was mocked by the usual suspects? McGuinty and Duncan should have handed in the resignation papers yesterday if they had any clue.
Precisely what manversgwtw said! You sir,(or madam)
are very insightful.
McScumbag should be thrown out of office . . .
Posted by: Owen at February 16, 2012 4:13 PM
============================
Provided his office is on the 60th floor.
manversgwtw at February 16, 2012 5:37 PM
There exists within the borders of ONTARIO an incredible number of folks that believe governments exist soley to give them stuff…and that includes a hell of a lot of farmers.
The snakes – whether Lib.,PC, or NDP) that are sitting in Queen’s Park (or Parliament Hill, for that matter)were all snakes before they were elected – readily identifiable as such. Voters put them there.
And, as far as the average voter is concerned, it’s not that Drummond’s name is going to disappear – it didn’t even register in the first place – because the sad thing is, most of them treat their politics like cheering for a hockey team. Actually, that’s not quite true; the average voter would probably be able to cite meaningless hockey stats, but wouldn’t have a clue about our debt or deficit…let alone be able to tell you the difference.
And, I wish I could agree with you that Rural Ontario sent a message to McGuinty last October, specific to Green Energy and wind turbines…but I didn’t see it that way at all. As a matter of fact, I think that the average rural resident would be quite happy if he could erect panels or windmills and profit from the economic misery of his neighbours. Not that he’s cold, callous or greedy – just unthinkin’ and forgetting about caring.
FML
No Jamie. The vast majority of land owners that signed leases are suffering from lessor’s remorse.
They were duped and are now finding out just how screwed-around they were.
Farmers are not unsophisticated people, despite what urban dweller think.
“…The vast majority of land owners that signed leases are suffering from lessor’s remorse…”
Posted by: Ralph at February 16, 2012 6:49 PM
Thinking you might have got a better deal isn’t remorse…
JM, Full disclosure. Having spent 38 years of my life working for a major auto manufacturer, I spent the first two years of retirement knocking on doors in Ottawa and Toronto just to hang onto my pension. And Dalton McGuinty bailed out the pension plans.
There is a long story there of corperate mismanagement, lack of provincial regulatory oversight, and political collusion that goes back to the days of Bob Rae. A story that deserves another thread.
So I can take with the best of them.
I have spent the last two years working against wind turbines, and evertything you know about rent seekers, crony capitalists, and agenda driven enviro wackos is true.
Yes, there are a number of farmers, threatened by countryside neighbours complaining about noise or smell see payback. But they are being sold a bill of goods by carpet-bagging mining promoters.
When your provincial energy minister is a former used car salesman, you just start to appreciate the scope of the problem.
I don’t give a sh@t about the people in ontario. But it pisses me off that we in the west have to pay for them.
No Jamie- as an example, they are now finding out that they are the ones that have to take out and pay for liability insurance for the turbines on their property. They have a gag order in place that prohibits them from disclosing any medical problems that they have been experiencing. Many other issues the government “failed” to tell them about when they decided to lease the land-too voluminous to list here.
Please take some time to research these issues.
And no, I’m not a rural Ontarian.
And Dalton McGuinty bailed out the pension plans…
Posted by: manversgwtw at February 16, 2012 6:59 PM
No. Once agin, I did.
Me – the little guy with no political clout or pension bailing out the big arseholes who have both.
Noth of 60 @ 4:41, I do not have a link, but McGuinty has already blamed Harper for Ontario’s fiscal problems.
I suspect the ricardo @ 5:23 is right and there is a slight of hand occurring.
Jamie Mac:
Are you forgetting that many rural investors put up windmills or solar panels under microFIT, only to be told, in typical gov’t fashion, that there isn’t sufficient capacity on rural lines to carry the electricity they generate? Hence, they can’t hook up their systems, and are forced to pay for the capital investment while receiving zero income. That’s buyer remorse, in spades!
I haven’t read the entire Drummond report. I started going through the electricity section, but it’s too depressing. Amongst his recommendations: set up Request for Proposals for new “large scale” power generation plants. Er, like the plants that were to be built in Oakville and Mr. and Mrs. Saugua? That’s brilliant! Let’s scrap all the money invested in those two plants, restart the RFP process, costing millions of dollars and taking years (more work for Hydro employees, though!), and let’s not forget the cancellation of the two previous plants will force any private sector firm to put very generous cancellation clauses in their response. Then, when Dulltone wimps out again in face of concerted NIMBY challenges, we’ll be on the hook for even more dough!
And I agree with the posters who note that the media coverage has been all about tax increases, getting rid of all day JK, and of course, “cuts” to health funding. Note that Drummond does not recommend cutting health or education spending overall – just limiting them to 2.5% and 1%, respectively, annually. Once again, our innumerate MSM blast this out as scary “cuts“.
I’m glad I stopped drinking, else this would surely be a trigger…
Jamie Ralph:
The majority of rural Ontarians absolutely understand the economics of wind turbines and Green energy and have for some time. There were always far more residents negatively affected by IWTs then there were land owners benefiting from them. Many of these people are absentee owners,and corporations anyway. The defining issue in rural Ont last election was wind power, for many the only issue. The message was clear and a shock to McGuinty and the concensus media; he has exactly one seat left in rural Ont (don’t know what is wrong with Glengarry-Prescott-Russel).
There is one line in the report about making sure FIT subsidies meet some policy objective. When the objective is “saving the planet” how can one think of cutting? This is McGuinty’s policy period.
Are you forgetting that many rural investors put up windmills or solar panels under microFIT, only to be told, in typical gov’t fashion, that there isn’t sufficient capacity on rural lines to carry the electricity they generate? Hence, they can’t hook up their systems, and are forced to pay for the capital investment while receiving zero income. That’s buyer remorse, in spades!
Posted by: KevinB at February 16, 2012 7:28 PM
Nope, didn’t forget at all.
But remorse has to do with regrets of a personal nature that relate to a previous action that now causes shame.
Something totally different than mere regret over a financial decision that causes anger or frustration. The first one causes reflection and may build character – the second one, well, some people start drinking again. 😉
My concern is not with the micro solar pannels or windmills, but the gigantic Industrial turbines that affect whole neighbourhood. These are typically erected by large corporations, Suncor, Enridge,ProWind and now Samsung. It is this industrialization of prime cropland that is destroying the environment of whole townships.
In my case the beneficiary is one maybe 2 land owners, the affected residents are 350 homes.
This is what most rural residents understand.
McGuinty has no mandate to continue this policy but is determined to do it anyway.
Jamie:
Not to belabour a point (when do I ever do that?!) but I suspect you are conflating “remorse” in the ethical/religious sense with what Ralph called “lessor’s remorse” which is a synonym for the common term “buyer’s remorse”. The latter is defined as:
[Buyer’s remorse is] the person’s concern that they purchased a current model now rather than waiting for a newer model, purchased in an ethically unsound way, purchased on credit that will be difficult to repay, or purchased something that would not be acceptable to others.
I believe many rural farmers who participated in the windmill program feel one or more of the last three reasons.
Gold, silver, ammo, and maybe a helmet.
Rough ride coming. We just don’t know when.
dhl at 4:29 PM
A friend of mine has the same theory for the Americans. Says that 2012-2013, a lot of states get pooched, and basically go bankrupt.
No decent politician wants to take over that mess, hence the Republican lineup is what it is. Maybe Paul Ryan, Christie will go for 2016, but are willing to let someone else deal with the interim.
Dalton ain’t gonna stick around to sort out his mess. He will take the high jump just like Gordon Cambell did in BC. Maybe even land on his feet.
The voters of ON had their chance. They elected this guy 3 times.
When the black swan flies over Europe Ontario will look like one of those Mediterranean countries. My advice: buy ammunition.
“Wanna bet they’ll try to blame it all on Harper, Alberta, China, America….anyone but themselves.
It couldn’t have happened to a better group of arrogant lieberal asswholes.”
But-but-but- its Bush’s fault.
As a westerner all I can say is “Karmas a bitch”
I figure Mc Squishey and Katsmeat were once again too smart by half in the last election.
Yes, they did win, but what?..a one seat majority?
Mc Squishey is now trapped in his own crappulence…can ” Kicking Self-Ass in Canadian Politics” be far behind..?
Wow, it took 8 years and an econimist before McGuinty – and hopefully his voters – realized he had to STOP SPENDING!!!!!!!!
If there is one ‘cup half full’ moment to this near obituary it is that it may be the near death experience that returns Ontario to the previously enjoyed handle ‘Toryland’. I doubt it will, but one can hope.
Funny how they don’t discuss the Total Sovereign Debt of Ontario, which is over 300B. Quebec’s is almost 500B. And everyone up the thread is right about Alberta. Canadians are all Thoroughbreds But We Are Led By Donkeys. Forty Years of Socialist Pipedreams is going to hit hard. One of the big drivers of the Debt is Free Healthcare For Anyone in the world who can make it to our shores. Legally or illegally. Health and Welfare for Immigrants and Refugees who have not contributed 10 cents costs the rest of us 24B each year and every year. It costs more than the Military, the Indians and Quebec each year and every year. Smarten Up Eh!
‘You broke it, voters of Ontario, you buy it.”
For decades the federal Liberals stuffed the Greater Toronto
Area with multicultural Liberal voters….on purpose.
They now have the votes to override the sane voting of most of the balance of Ontario.
The rest of Ontario now pays the price. At least the rest of Ontario gave enough seats to Steve to give him a majority.
But thanks. we never get enough of the snide remarks about our nightmare.
“I don’t give a sh@t about the people in ontario.”
Well a@c, why do I get the feeling your neighbours on both sides feel the same about you?
KevinB at February 16, 2012 8:42 PM
Aye, that’s it!
Martin at February 16, 2012 7:30 PM
The defining issue in farming communities was the commitment to maintain current supply management systems and to introduce risk management programs for croppers. And Hudak promised to do both.
And, as for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, let’s just say voters decided to stick with a tried-and-tested liar, rather than chancing a new one.
Jamie:
These may have contributed in certain ridings. In Kingston, Perth-Wellington and Huron-Bruce where the 3 Liberal cabinet ministers went down, it was wind turbines that decided the results. Liberal minister for agriculture in Huron-Bruce was a poster girl for wind companies and squandered a 5000 vote advantage in the previous election to take one for the McGuinty team. These are part of the province McGuinty plans to pave over with IWTs
RFB @ 3:40;
Where are you getting your provincial debt numbers from? I had read an article which I cannot remember where which stated Ontario debt was $500 billion and Quebec at $400 billion. Not seen these numbers repeated. This combined number agrees with yours to an extent. They exceed Canada’s national debt at $550 billion if we believe that number.
Of course the ‘elephant’ in the closet is who pays when the banker calls. Historically the West has always been exploited by Central Canada. Dion’s carbon credit scheme was simply the last attempt by central Canada to access a % of the energy cash flow over and above ‘equalization’. When the really big bills start coming in the question is whether Western Canada will dolly up or not.
The utter folly of Canada’s non-business plan is that we continue to draw down our reserve of natural resources and retain nothing of the income for future generations. While the Norges have a fund closing in on a trillion $s we simply rack up more debt. We all like to point fingers at our incompetent politicans but I suggest a closer reflection in the morning mirror.
ct/ Those numbers are from the various governments of Canadas own books and were published in 2008. The Federal Government Total Sovereign Debt is around 3T. The media and the government likes to confuse people with the term deficit. Deficit and Debt are two different things. The annual Deficit for Ontario this year as stated by the Liberals is 16B, yet just the Debt for Hydro One is almost 50B. These are just parts of the Total Sovereign Debt of Ontario, Provincial Sovereign Debt includes all of the Debts of the Leftwing Municipal Governments as well, it is the same for each Province. When you add all of Ontarios Total Sovereign Debt up it is around 300B-350B more than Greece. Quebec’s is 400-500B. Albertas is around 50B. etc. You mentioned Ottawa’s 500B, that number is only Ottawa’s Deficit. Ottawa’s Total Sovereign Debt is 3T, to which you must add the Total of all Provincial Debt. In our Confederation the debt always rolls upwards to the next level of government. The Municipal governments are creatures of the Provinces. In default the Province must pay the Municipal debt. Likewise Ottawa has to pay Provincial Debt in a default. Just like they did in the 1930’s. This makes Ottawa’s Total Sovereign Debt around 4plus Trillion. With a yearly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 1.2 Trillion our Debt is in reality almost 4 x the size of our economy.
“it pisses me off that we in the west have to pay for them.”
Until 2008 Ontario was the ONLY province to not be the beneficiary of federal equalization funds. http://tinyurl.com/7vjx7vt
After that McPinochio beggered Ontario. Ontario will turf him and return to adulthood soon. The western provinces including Alberta had numerous years recieving equalization, mainly from Ontario.
In actual dollars Ontario’s contributions dwarfs any other province since equalization’s inception in 1957.
I don’t remember any thank-you then.
As the link above to the figures presented to the Calgary Congress by the Frontier Centre show, all of Canada should actively promote Quebec’s separation.
As far as the last two years worth of net monies into Ontario, we’re working on it and thank the provinces who paid in.
I sure don’t remember any thank you from anyone in the west when the tables were turned.
Ingrates
“…In Kingston, Perth-Wellington and Huron-Bruce where the 3 Liberal cabinet ministers went down, it was wind turbines that decided the results…”
Posted by: Martin at February 17, 2012 10:15 AM
Glad to hear it. Must be a higher density of non-farming rural property owners in those parts. Something good to be said after all for urban-to-rural migrations.