Prime Minister Stephen Harper has approved the CNOOC-Nexen takeover deal and Canada is now trapped in a 31 year deal where China will almost always get the final say. The Chinese government does not believe in our free and capitalist society, remaining totalitarian with a communist system that has one of the worst standards for human rights in the world. This was once a concern for Harper whom slammed the door on China but now, out of virtually nowhere, not only is China an important trade partner, it is trusted enough to own, for 31 years, one of Canada’s most strategic resources that is in very high demand and low supply around the world. In other words, Canada got royally ripped off with its flat rate $15 billion in one-time revenue.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation claims that 21% of the price of gas is tax and is calling on the federal government to eliminate its additional layer to provincial taxes. The tax effects the daily commute, the price of transportation and the price of goods.

Harper announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland that his Conservative government would be bringing in “major transformations” to the retirement pension system, immigration, science funding, and the energy sector but left no concrete plans on how these changes would take place. The opposition charged that his retirement changes would financially cripple millions of Canadian seniors.

On April 25, a 500 page document was allegedly handed to the Liberal Party of Canada by Conservative insiders that contained an organized inventory of all of Stephen Harper’s controversial quotes ranging from abortion to western alienation.

The election results are barely a week old and the Globe and Mail Reports that the revised 2011 budget that will be presented next month will not show a surplus by 2014-15 as promised in the Conservative platform. This is the same platform that Flaherty tweaked publically and announced $11 billion in cuts to make the surplus appear a year sooner than that. 

There are a few pieces of irony that accompany this week’s news stories… These ironies consist of the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision to keep government documents secret, the promised surplus that won’t be seen in the upcoming budget, and the American mocking of Harper behind closed doors – as exposed by WikiLeaks – while publically supporting him. An ironic week indeed; let’s get started.

The Liberal Party of Canada released their five point plan to get the Canadian economy back on track while investing in Canadians. The five point plan includes changing directions with the economy, helping families, cleaning up the environment, bringing Canadians together, and creating a new image for Canada on the world stage. The full platform can be downloaded at: http://cdn.liberal.ca/files/2011/04/liberal_platform.pdf

The exploration drills have already touched the ground but Quebecers are uneasy. The Quebec government aspires for energy independence within the coming years. What is expected to be a large economic boom might very well be an environmental bust.