I "heart" Joe Fiorito

I was a little stunned when I had heard that the federal finance finance minister, Jim Flaherty, had publicly endorsed a candidate for mayor in the Toronto municipal elections. What the hell is a federal political animal doing meddling in municipal politics?

Thankfully Joe Fiorito got in front of the story and laid it out. He masterfully guts Flaherty and then drives the blade right between the poison little prick's eyes.

If our financial house is not in order, why might that be? Could it be, perhaps, that Jim Flaherty has had a grip on Toronto’s neck for a very long time? 

Is it not — and I do not choose these words lightly — both hypocritical and cynical to criticize us because we have been unable to catch our breath?

More recently, Jim Flaherty is the finance minister in a federal government that every year takes billions more from this city in taxes than it sends us in return.

And most recently of all, Jim Flaherty helped to saddle this city with the costs associated with the G20 fiasco, and yet his government refuses to act quickly to compensate all those small businesses that lost money each and every day Toronto was turned into an armed camp.

And then the blade:

Rob Ford — he is Jim Flaherty’s man — says he doesn’t want any more immigrants in Toronto because we can’t take care of the people we have. 

You might not think that such a remark is code for something pale and nasty, but if I were a recent immigrant, I’d be offended.

Better to remember that Jim Flaherty is the finance minister in a federal government that has power over immigration matters, and yet the federal government is unwilling to provide the support Rob Ford says this city does not have.

Do you get it now?

Tail slap to Montreal Simon

Man of Steel vs. the Incredible Shrinking Mandate

One of the crowning glories of Steve's original Five Priorities Four Pillars Three Little Pigs Accountability Act was his paean to Canada's Gnu Government transparency - the creation of a Parliamentary Budget Office to provide independent analysis of the national economy and the government's fiscal position.

First budget officer Kevin Page, or "Man of Steel" as Jennifer calls him, has produced two reports since March, both critical of the government.
The first, released during the election, calculated that the cost of the Afghanistan mission not including military equipment will be about $18.1 billion by 2011.
The second, published shortly before Diamond Jim Flaherty vowed there would be absolutely no chance of a deficit next year, projected a deficit for next year.

"In his economic statement, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty projected a budget surplus of $100 million for 2009-10 based on the sale of about $2 billion in assets that he didn't identify."

Mr. Flatulence has since reluctantly come around to Kevin Page's assessment, predicting a $15-billion deficit, only to be promptly contradicted himself by Steve who is now calling for a $20 to $30-billion deficit.

So it won't come as much of a surprise to hear that in the matter of the Department of Finance vs the Parliamentary Budget Office, old Kev has had his budget frozen -( h/t Far and Wide ) - presumably because accurate financial forecasts are a dime a dozen lately in Steve's Fiscal Funhouse.

Actually it's a testament to Mr. Page's perseverence that he has got this far. Both Senate Speaker Noel Kinsella and House Speaker Peter Milliken want him reined in, arguing that the "budget office is simply an extension of the services the Library [of Parliament] already offers."

"The parliamentary library operates on a solicitor-client basis. This means any research the library collects for MPs and senators is "privileged" and can be withheld at their request. As an adjunct of the library, Mr. Page's reports would be done for MPs and committees who then can could use the information as they want."

Privileged. Witheld at their request. As they want.

In 2006 a document at the Library of Parliament outlined the various forms the Parliamentary Budget Office could take and decided it should not be granted the same independence enjoyed by the Auditor General. Evidently no one bothered to inform the Man of Steel.

Cross-posted at Creekside

Budget 2009 : the Contest!

Via Maxwell's House, we learn that Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finangling, has thrown open the doors to all Canadians to contribute to Budget 2009 at the ministry website! Really. What's your pleasure?
Sure there's a handy list of suggestions but also a page to write in your own.

Sven at Fish Eggs has an idea :

"Every Canadian Citizen, will, for the next twelve months, receive a $2000 monthly payment. If you make more than $35,000 per year, it will be progressively taxed to ensure it gets to those whom need it the most. Simple.

This programme will run for one year only. Short.

As the lower income earners all know, this money would enter the economy almost completely, as there is little or no room for most to squirrel away their money. People could spend this money to buy a car, thus bailing out the auto industry. Or they could choose to spend it on housing, thus bailing out the housing industry. Or they may decide to invest in more education and go back to school, thus bailing out the education sector. What matters here is that the PEOPLE would decide where to put OUR hard earned tax dollars. The politicians would then be able to see where we chose to put our money and they could then craft legislation to reflect these investment choices made by Canadians. Effective."

Go for it, Sven.

Cross-posted at Creekside