Apolitical Staples

The long term strategy of Conservatives is to bring accountable levels of government to the taxpaying middle class. The method to get there is to decentralize and fix the fiscal imbalance.

Job 1 in de-centralization is to make sure the separatists don’t win in Quebec.

Job 2 is for this Budget to set the stage for a permanent fix to the fiscal imbalance with the Provinces so that they can deal with their big accountabilities in health , education and infrastructure.

So the question middle class Canadians need to ask themselves about this is: does the Budget help us save Quebec from the separatists and does it move us toward having a more de-centralized accountable government?

I think it’s the only strategy that would work and I would love to bang on doors in a campaign explaining why this will work for middle class voters and why the status quo approach of Liberals and Dippers won’t position us for a competitive global economy and those 2 parties would just exacerbate the Quebec problem.

The fact that the budget is not liked by Dipper whiners like Mayor Miller and Premier Calvert plus volatile Premier Williams, makes me think Flaherty must have struck the right balance. Because Charest and Dumont like it so well that Duceppe has to back it. Plus Queens Park is only upset that it takes until 2013 to completely make Ontario equitable but they admit this Budget gets them there eventually.

My thoughts on the Budget???

I think that Canada is one of the most difficult countries in the world to govern…..so many different regional interests for one thing.

A decent budget considering everything at play here.

my kids are over 18 - no tax cuts for me here. I guess i can save more for my rrsp to get a tax cut. All I wanted was a cross the board tax cut.

Mr. Nichols how does preventing Quebec leaving Canada save its middle class? I though quebec was sucking dollars out of our wallets and demanding we water down our culture in TROC? Who the hell are you shilling for I may ask? Not that I don’t already know…

And they didn’t even have the decency to classify the Canada Pension Plan as a “pension”, so senior could split for income tax purposes.

That’s it. I’m not voting CPC again. They lied to me re: IT’s, they take seniors for granted, and their “marketing thrust” is to Pete & Paula in the suburbs with 1.28376 kids. They are no different than the Liberals.

I will continue to support this government but this budget is terrible. We are massively overtaxed and unless you bark out a couple of kids you continue to get screwed.

This budget was written as an election campaign piece for Ontario and Quebec. This did nothing to advance the country as a whole.

And dont expect Danny Millions to quit his whining, its never enough for him. The man is a complete asshole.

Budget ‘07 is the “buy the Bloc” budget. This budget was designed to get passed with Bloc support. And it seems to be working. The Bloc can be relied now to keep the CPC in office indefinitely. Why go for a majority (with a dozen potential Garth Turners who become caucus malcontents when passed over for Cabinet jobs) when you can keep your keep government small and disciplined and focussed (because the Government could always fall) while at the same time rely on the Bloc’s Quebec MPs to keep you in office. And with incumbency Harper has the advantage over Dion in attracting the Bloc’s voters as they come into play when the Bloc weakens and fades.

Quebec is where the game is being played. Politically, Harper is after the Quebec middle-class “bleu” vote that supports the Bloc (for now). When they jump en masse, as they are wont to do, he wants them to jump to the Conservatives. In other words, Harper wants to be the default federalist option in Quebec. He is not there yet, that’s why there will be no election now if he can help it. And thanks to the Bloc, there won’t be.

Subsidies for kids are popular in QC - and they work too if the Census figures are any guide. At least with CHST Ontario is at last getting something!

As a conservative, I give this budget a D- for having no income tax reductions, a crappy debt payment, and increased spending. How long do we have to wait?

We might as well just bury Preston Manning and give him a funeral even though he’s still alive. We’ve completely undone everything he ever stood for, fiscal conservatism and fairness for the west. In just one budget the party that evolved from reform has ushered in the largest orgy of spending since Pearson, screwed the west to shovel money into Quebec and Ontario and flipped the bird to middle class taxpayers.