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.

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

The Liberal rebuilding process will be an interesting one to watch. While media commentators have written them off, membership has soared. In my riding, which went from Bloc Quebecois to NDP the last time around, the Liberals had the second biggest burst of membership in the country and doubled what they had before – with more people coming in.

There has been a lot of speculation around Liberal-NDP merger and while the Liberal Party has swiftly stopped its main proponent Bob Rae from being able to discuss the topic, the NDP kept itself open by rejecting an internal proposal to prevent future talks of merger. While many people have different takes on a proposed merger, what would be the consequence if they chose to or not to merge in the near future?

If you take the results of this election – percentage-wise and compare the actual seat count with the hypothetical based on proportional representation, you will see that the Canadian people have been cheated. With a governing majority based off of 40% of the votes, it doesn’t require much knowledge to realize that 60% of the population that voted – 61% – are not represented in this equation. This scenario means significantly less seats for the Conservatives, and a Green Party that meets the official party status with 12 seats. Maybe it is time that Canadians considered electoral reform to ensure their voices get heard. It is democracy, isn’t it?

Stephen Harper is making the pitch that he is the best suited leader and has the best suited party to guide our economy out of the pit that he put it in. His Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, the man who destroyed Ontario’s economy under Mike Harris, has left his mark on the Canadian economy and it is now weaker than ever. Here are just a few of the Conservative’s many flops concerning the economy – and their campaigning of it.

It is clear that Stephen Harper doesn’t value Canadian healthcare – among other social programs that makes us the caring people we are. In the past, Harper and his pals have tried to reform healthcare to match it up to American standards. As Michael Ignatieff’s Liberals hammer away at the Tory misfortune in such an important campaign issue, they ask for pardon after all of their ads against Ignatieff. Harper is making a big deal about a Liberal misrepresentation of the Conservatives when the Conservatives have spent years misrepresenting the Liberals.
From the iPod tax to the fact that Ignatieff has traveled the world to abusing Ignatieff’s caucus rally, the Conservatives have a lot to be ashamed of. For instance, below are two ads that the Conservatives released and were forced to pull after 24 hours due to its class act at taking Michael Ignatieff out of context and using his own words to attack his character.

It is always good to be prepared in a campaign. As Stephen Harper noted in his campaign sheet back in his Reform days, “most voters are uninformed and apathetic.” The key strategy was to dodge policy debates, ignore external questions and always distract the opposition and keep them on the defensive before they can comment or introduce their campaign and their agenda.