Weekly Bulletin #1

Okay, here is monkey loves to fight first bulletin. Since a lot has happened since the first week of September, this will tie in all the events since then with the emphasis on the past week.

Michael Ignatieff decided to no longer back the government after the first week of September. Since he promised the Liberals would vote against the Tories on all confidence matters, this meant they had to get the support of at least one other party. Since then, the Tories have gone from a tie with the Liberals to approaching majority territory. Clearly most Canadians are sick and tired of having elections every year, so no suprise in the change in numbers. He can still comeback, but it will require a real change in direction. The Tories meanwhile are doing well more because of the weakness of their opponents, not either of their strength. Monkey loves to fight is disappointed neither party is talking about what they plan to do to fight the large deficit. The deficit won't disappear on its own, it requires massive spending cuts or tax hikes. Monkey loves to fight thinks the GST should be raised back to 7% while keep income and corporate taxes at their current level and cut them once we return to surplus as they do more to promote economic growth than sales taxes do. All departments should undergo a major review and be slashed. Likewise when civil servants quit or retire, they should be replaced internally, not through new hires, thus cutting the size of civil servants. Also offering early retirement to all civil servants over 60 would help cut the size as well and cost too. Crown corporations should be reviewed and privatized if they can be and they are at the best value. Right now monkey loves to fight supports privatization of VIA Rail, while partial privatization of Canada Post (government would still hold 50% + 1 share).

Ontario also faces a similiarly large deficit and needs to make similiar difficult decisions. Monkey loves to fight believes Ontario should institute a hiring freeze in the civil service and fill all positions internally, while offer early retirement to those over 60. After that is complete, lay offs may be necessary, however this should be done only after the above two are done. Privatization should be done of the LCBO (and also we should allow sales in the grocery store for beer and wine as Quebec, most states, and pretty much every other developed country does), Ontario Power Generation, while for Hydro One, sell 49.9% of shares, while maintain majority ownership. This has been done in many European countries to raise cash without full privatization. All departments except education and health care should face cuts, while in education and health care a review should be done to find cost savings without leading to a decline in service. Monkey loves to fight supports the HST as this is good for the economy and although it will raise the price of some goods, it will lower for many others. The reason for this, is with the GST, the sales tax only applies to the final purchase, but the PST applies to each and every purchase, even if the good is being re-sold are used to make something else. Since most products go through several stages, before finally be sold, this can increase the price significantly. This also puts domestically produced goods at a disadvantage since duties charged on imports only take into account the GST, not the PST. It may be unpopular, but it is the right thing to do.

Going back to federal economic issues, there are a few other ones to discuss. The federal government is considering implementing a national securities regulator. Not surprisingly, Quebec and Alberta are dead set against it. Monkey loves to fight supports this, but believes participation should be mandatory, no opt outs. We are the only developed country to not have a national securities regulator and with talks about more coordination at an international level, it seems absolutely silly to have 13 different regulators. Ignatieff also outlined his economic plans. He talked about more trade with China and India which monkey loves to fight supports, although I also believe we should continue to negotiate one on one free trade agreements with Latin American countries after FTAA failed, since they are growing and due to geographic proximity, this seems like a good area to expand. Likewise, we should definitely pursue one with the European Union as this is the largest economy in terms of GDP in the world and having access to it could bring many benefits. While tariff and investment barriers are quite low in the EU, non-tariff barriers are quite high and this restricts Canada's ability to do business here. We need to negotiate an agreement to help bring those down. We should also in Asia, look at one with Japan and South Korea since although they are not growing as fast as China and India, they are more advanced and pay similiar wages to Canada, so we would not be put at the same disadvantage. In the case of India and China, an investment agreement makes the most sense as unlike most other developed countries who are more open to foreign investment than Canada, India and China are quite restrictive limiting the ability of Canadian firms to invest in those countries. Ignatieff also talked about supporting Canadian flagship companies. While monkey loves to fight would love to see more Canadian champions such as RIM, we should not be subsidizing them as this encourages mediocrity. One just has to look at Bombardier which is hugely subsidized. Likewise in the auto industry (although foreign owned) the one company, Ford, who got no bailout is doing better than the other two who did get bailouts. We need to stop rewarding failure and encourage success. In the case of Nortel Networks, it is unfortunate this company went under, but blocking any takeover should not be done, unless it is either state owned or it could be a national security risk. Likewise, if the country of the company doing the takeover would not allow a Canadian one to take it over, than it should also be blocked. In the case of Ericsson, the first two definitely don't apply, while the last one may have been the case 20 years ago, but not today as restrictions on foreign investment are largely non-existent in the EU, with only a few exceptions. Off course if RIM, was unfairly shut out, then a re-auction should be required since I would prefer it went to a Canadian firm and if RIM got to bid on it, it would probably would have won it fair and square.

Going to non-economic issues, two are seem to stick out. The first is the issue of climate change and the Copenhagen summit. After this unusually cool summer here in Toronto, some global warming would be nice, although I realize global warming doesn't benefit everyone. Canada should support efforts to deal with it, but our national interest must always come first. We should not cave into what the EU wants or other countries just to produce an agreement or look good. Our national interest must always supercede the global interest. After all, every other country does this, so we should do it too, and if they complain, they just look like hypocrits then. Finally the best way to deal with is population reduction. If the world's population was only 1 billion, every person could live like Westerners do without causing the environmental damage, so longer term, a smaller population is not something to dread, but something to look forward to.

There was also recently 76 Tamil refugees who arrived on the shores of BC. After slapping visas on Mexico and the Czech Republic this past summer, the issue of Canada's refugee policy has come to the forefront. Monkey loves to fight recognizes there are genuine refugees who Canada should assist, but our refugee policy is way too generous. We have an acceptance rate over 40% while most other countries are under 20%. Such generousity only encourages abuse. In addition, even those who are refused can tie up their case in courts for years and many just go AWOL. We should instead allow the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to screen people right at arrival. If their case seems bogus, they should be deported immediately. Only those with a legitimate case would proceed to the IRB (immigration and Refugee Board). Once rejected, a person must leave and those who do not leave will be forcefully removed. Individuals frome safe third countries (US, EU, all other Western European countries, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand) would be prohibited from making refugee claims in Canada. They can immigrate like anyone else if they want, but they need to stand in line, not jump the queue. Also, the Canadian Embassy in hot spots should be open for those fearing persecution to stay and they can stay there will their claim is processed as most who genuinely need Canada's help cannot afford to get over here. Unscrupulous immigration consultants should face a crackdown and there should be zero tolerance for human smuggling. Those involved in human smuggling should get stiff jail sentences (I am talking about those running the smuggling ring, not the victims).

Finally, turning south of the border, the health care debate is continuing to go on. I don't support a US style health care system, but believe the Canadian government and all parties should stay out of it. It is an internal issue and just as we would rightly be angry if the Americans stuck their nose into our health care debate, we should do the same. They are a sovereign country and what type of health care system they have is their problem, not ours.

With blogs now weekly, hopefully next week's one will be a bit shorter.