As of January 1, 2012,  you will be making less money as Harper’s Employment Insurance Premium Hikes take effect. Workers will see their EI premiums rise 5% of insurable earnings to $1.83 while the maximum insurable pay has been raised to $45,900 from $44,200.

The Conservatives have announced that cuts will be made to healthcare and let’s face it, it had to happen sooner or later. While the Conservative approach may be against that of the Canadian will and may also align with a stern ideological aspect, the economic logic makes sense.

Regular users of the Canadian Healthcare system know that something isn’t right. The system is broken, inefficient and mismanaged. It has become expensive and for the causes that it has received greater funding, it has not improved. Our healthcare system still easily deserves a failing grade for wait times, understaffing and overall performance but while some believe that it is due to a lack of funds, the reality remains that the funds are mismanaged and that regardless how much money you throw in the system, it will be wasted and your healthcare won’t improve.

The election of 2006 was an election where the Conservatives placed repeated attacks against the Liberal Party for something called ad scam. The attacks were effective enough to get them into power and to slowly finish off the party. While many Canadians who bought the propaganda have declared and condemned the Liberal party as corrupt, evidence suggests that there was no link to Jean Chretien or even the Liberal Party.

Helena Guergis is suing Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada over defamation and an alleged conspiracy plan to keep her out of Parliament.

Canadians pay a lot of money every year. They pay a GST and PST or HST, they pay income taxes, they pay payroll taxes, they pay municipal property taxes and there is a tax for almost everything in Canada. These taxes overlap and soon we all find ourselves struggling to balance our budgets and wondering why money disappears so fast. Meanwhile, government officials tell us that they are doing their best to manage budgets which in most cases are in deep deficits and are leading up to huge debts and budget run offs. The money that we pay is supposed to go toward infrastructure and the services we count on and every time our taxes are raised, there is a promise for better service. Ironically, as taxes increase throughout the country, the quality of our roads and infrastructure, our education and healthcare, and the safety net that we are obliged to fund are all deteriorating.  As we speak, public servants with inflated salaries and perks are going on spending sprees and having their unions try to hold taxpayers as hostages. As we speak, government officials are wasting our money and in some cases, even allegedly funding organized crime. Government and bureaucracy in Canada: hand in hand, putting their hands in the public piggy bank, it is time for change.

Peter Mackay came under fire again this week as his hotel spending came to light and it isn’t pretty.  Mackay wasn’t alone, information has surfaced that a bureaucrat in charge of managing Aboriginal finances has been taking tax payers for a ride as well.

There is a $10 billion average difference between estimated structural budget balance forecasts between the Conservatives and budget watchdog Kevin Page.

Former Liberal PM Jean Chretien is warning Liberals that the Gun Registry, Kyoto Accord, and Wheat Board may just be the beginning in a Conservative ideological rampage which would change the face of Canada.

Chretien’s warning included a list of policies that may be next on the Conservative to-do list. These policies included the scrapping of abortion rights and same sex marriage, and the return of the death penalty.

A lot of speculation has been put into the way that Harper is going to deal with the upcoming healthcare accord. If there is one thing we know, he won’t make a repeat of Paul Martin, he won’t make each province sign a separate deal (which is what most commentators thought he would so) and he won’t make a big summit where everyone must agree to one blueprint (like what Paul Martin did). However, despite, however Harper approaches this, there is one certainty: a new approach to healthcare will be taken – and frankly must be taken.