What do Liberals think of the Manitoba NDP?

Jack Layton and the NDP may keep using the Manitoba NDP as an example for party’s accomplishments for the rest of the country, but their claims don’t stand up - not on education, balanced budgets or democratic reform -  says Dr. Jon Gerrard, Leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party.

Gerrard says the NDP claims of balanced budgets in Manitoba are cherry picking from a time when the Federal Liberal government was steadily increasing transfer payments, and leave off the last two years - where the NDP has run deep deficits.

“The NDP's so-called balanced budgets in Manitoba were achieved by riding the coattails of a Federal Liberal government that increased funding for health, education and infrastructure, and they still couldn’t balance the budget, ” said Gerrard. “They've fudged the books by raiding Crown Corporations for their surpluses, or forcing crown corporations to take on debt and deliver programs."

In 2002, the NDP took over $200 million from the provincially owned electric utility, Manitoba Hydro, to balance the budget, claiming a “dividend” would pay for it. Ultimately, it only increased the corporation’s debt - which doubled under the NDP without a dam being completed.

The Manitoba NDP also:

       •       Used funding from the state-owned auto insurance, Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation, to pay for NDP political staffers and police officers
       •       Tried to use auto insurance profits to pay for programs for university students, until they reversed themselves after a public outcry.
       •       Broke their “tuition freeze” policy after starving post-secondary education institutions for years.
       •       The tuition policy only applied to undergraduate programs, and tuition in professional programs was allowed to increase to $10,000 a year for Law and over $20,000 a year for dentistry or medicine

Gerrard said the NDP in Manitoba “Conservative” budgets also came with a “Conservative” approach to social problems.

“The NDP under Gary Doer walked away from its progressive roots,” said Gerrard. “Manitoba has two of the poorest Federal ridings in Canada, but the NDP’s social assistance rates have been basically unchanged for 20 years.”

       •       After 12 years of NDP governments, Manitoba has the second worst high-school dropout rate in the country
       •       The number of children in the care of Child and Family Services has risen under the NDP, to over 9,000, many of them warehoused in downtown hotels.

Gerrard also said that the NDP’s promises of “democratic reform,” are nowhere to be seen in Manitoba. As an MLA, Kevin Lamoureux - now MP for Winnipeg North - presented a report recommending alternate voting options for the province, all of which were dismissed by the NDP.

“The NDP in Manitoba has totally rejected the idea of proportional representation in Manitoba, because it might actually make the legislature more democratic,” he said. “There’s a reason there is no NDP surge in Manitoba, and it’s because we’ve lived the reality. The rest of Canada should take heed.” 

Wither Liberals?, part 2

Nanos: CPC 38 % NDP 29.6 % LPC 23.3 % BQ 5.2 % GP 3.1 %
Angus: CPC 37 % NDP 33 % LPC 19 % BQ 6 % GP 4 %
Ipsos: CPC 38 % NDP 33 % LPC 18 % BQ 7 % GP 4 %

Nanos has the Libs coming back and the NDP sliding back a bit. Second thoughts? All the pollsters have teh Cons creeping up a bit - fear of a NDP minority?
One thing looks certain - Jack's going to get a new place to live - and not cheap social housing with his mother-in-law in Toronto. Zing!
Monday's sure to be fascinating. Who would have thunk it.

Wither, Liberals?

Nanos: CPC 37.8 % LPC 26.1 % NDP 23.7 % BQ 7.4 % GRN 3.5 %
Ipsos: CPC 43 % NDP 24 % LPC 21 % % BQ 6 % GRN 4 %
Forum: CPC 36 % NDP 25 % LPC 23 % BQ 6 % GRN 6 %


I don't generally comment on federal politics on this blog since it's not usually very interesting in Manitoba... not too many seats are generally up for grabs. But how about that Jack Layton? An "Orange Wave" is sweeping Canada, or so we're led to believe.
I think Jack Layton is just destroying Iggy and the Liberals. It's a no brainer. Iggy is too busy looking down his nose and lecturing Canadians to see just how out of touch he is.
Layton did well in the debates, and had the best line with his jab at Iggy about his attendance.
The best part? Outside of BC, when the NDP goes up, it's the Liberals who go down, not the Conservatives. If this trend keeps up, look for a Conservative majority, with the possibility of a NDP official opposition.
Liberals would just about die, but it's always been the NDP dream to replace the Liberals.
Federally, the Liberals are starting to look like what's happening in Manitoba - they're getting squeezed out.
Should be an interesting dash to the finish.

Why we need more prisons

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Knifepoint-rape-results-in-6-year-term-120132799.html
The left whine about wanting more prison space. Seems to me keeping a rapist in prison for more than 6 years is a great reason to build more prisons.
I'm sure Count Iggy feels this never would have happened if only he went to university...

Sask blowing past us

http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/columnists/tom_brodbeck/2011/04/12/17973791.html

That's a big difference in taxes. Probably explains why Sask is attracting people from across Canada, while Manitoba is bleeding people to other provinces.
The NDP will have a hard time defending this in the next election. Who would have ever thought Sask would blow past MB?

Brian Oakley needs to study if taxing the poor is a good idea

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/119533634.html?commentConfirmed=y#comments

The NDP's biggest cheerleader this side of Hi there and Orange isn't sure if lowering taxes for the poor is a good idea or not. Oh, and Hugh is bad.
Given a chance to answer a direct question, Oakley did what he always does - ducked for cover.
Here's the simple answer - lower taxes for the working poor is a great idea. More money in our pockets, more for the economy, less for the bottomless pit that is NDP social spending.
And the great property tax credit? Tell that to everyone who doesn't own a house.
Taxing the poor - the NDP's great legacy.

Awish Aslam a NDP insider?

http://leoknight.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/as-always-there%E2%80%99s-more-to-the-story/

Well, her email is sure included in a list of NDP insiders...
One wonders if she was just a mole send in by the NDP?
Feel free to speculate...

NDP supporter - people in general are stupid

http://theorangerod.blogspot.com/2011/03/polls-sigh.html

I can't make this stuff up. This is what the NDP think of the people of this province. They think you're stupid. They don't want you here if you don't vote NDP. They tell you to leave. They insult you.
Is that the kind of people you want running this province.
Oh, and apparently the best the PCs can do is a minority... yet the Liberals are likely to get wiped out.
That would leave only the PCs and NDP with seats. A minority with only two parties holding seats?
Hey Orange, if you can explain how that's possible, please let me know.
After all, I'm stupid, right?

Bribing us with our own money

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/its-time-to-audit-mpis-books-119048029.html

Shame on the NDP for trying to spin MPI ripping off Manitobans into a positive story. Their high rates amount to legalized theft, and the NDP trying to time the rebates for the election is just crass.