CBC Poll indicates that pension issue far more important than detainee issue

Canadians were asked by the CBC to select from a list of five questions to be put to Stephen Harper in an upcoming segment called "Question Period", now that Harper has canceled the reality version of that show.

This poll of 9,454 respondents indicates that for every Canadian who is concerned about the Afghan detainee issue (more like “whipped into a frenzy”), there are more than 2 Canadians who are concerned about the pension crisis issue in this country (which is going totally neglected, aside from the endless banal rhetoric spewing across the lips of ostensibly concerned politicians).

These results don’t surprise me in the least. I think Harper intuitively understands these results as well, as his current focus is on the economy, and yes evading accountability on the Afghan issue. But what else is new, since evading accountability is the constant theme of the Harper government, and the Afghan detainee issue is merely the current manifestation of that constant.

Therefore, if you were the Liberals and wanted to be responsive to the innate kitchen table concerns of Canadians revealed by these polls, as Harper is doing, WHILST ALSO demonstrating that Harper is an inveterate liar, not to be trusted, which issue would you be better off focusing your limited resources on as a party? Afghan detainees or the pension issue, an issue that directly subsumes Harper’s income trust/tax leakage lies and the massive loss of tax revenue to Ottawa and Canadians' pension savings and loss of retirement savings investment choice, that the income trust issue is uniquely emblematic of?

The answer is so obvious, politically speaking, as to not even merit being asked.

As such, the Liberals are very much running the risk of taking on Harper on some esoteric plain, that doesn’t resonate with Canadians. Meanwhile Harper will be waging his war on some entirely different battle field of public opinion using all the resources of the government to focus on the economy and his latest Con job, this time focused on jobs, jobs, jobs.

I have news for the Liberals. Try as they might, not every Canadian is as concerned about Human Rights as perhaps Michael Ignatieff is. I would hope that Michael Ignatieff is aware of the concept of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, as it pertains to explaining human psychology, and which recognizes the self evident truth that humans’ need for food and shelter rank ahead of humans’ needs for morality. It can't be denied.

Pensions and retirement savings and retirement income are a food and shelter issue, LITERALLY. Whereas the treatment of Afghan detainees is a morality issue. That’s a simple fact of life, as defined by Maslow’s universally accepted hierarchy of needs.

Please don't shoot the messenger.

Therefore, my advice to the Liberals, is the same advice that they have been ignoring from me for the better part of three years now, and that is to get back to the pocket book issues that resonate most with Canadians. The ones that Maslow’s needs hierarchy acknowledges as being of supreme importance, when push comes to shove and forming Government is concerned, Needs such as the most basic of needs that arise when Canadians summarily lose $35 billion of their life hard earned retirement savings based on Harper’s fraudulent tax leakage lie. But like the Afghan detainee issue, the income trust issue is also a morality issue, and therefore spans the entirety of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, as few issues seldom ever do.

Why does it appear from the Liberals’ apparent dead silence on income trusts and Harper’s tax leakage lie, as if the Liberals are going to give Harper a big “ get out of jail free” card on that massive pocket book issue, in the same way that Ignatieff gave Harper a get out of jail free card on HST, another massive pocket book issue that has been left to the NDP party to exploit politically and which will garner them with major political support in the raucous days ahead, post-HST implementation in July 2010. Could it be because the CEOs of large corporations who benefit from both the death of income trusts and the HST, matter more to the Liberals than do the average citizens of Canada? That would be the only conclusion that would follow from such a move.

There only are so many “get out of jail free cards” in any game of Monopoly. Ignatieff has already played one too many insofar as the policy actions of Harper are concerned, that he might find himself in a treahcerous game of snakes and ladders, instead.

So my advice to the Liberals is to get with the program of Canadians, especially in these hard economic times and times of economic uncertainty, namely by focusing on the pocket book issues that face Canadians in their every day lives.

It concerns me greatly that the Liberals seem to be tolerant of Harper’s lies about tax leakage, in a manner that would be completely unacceptable to me, if they were ever to form a government, as the matter of Afghan detainees seems to be of concern to Michael Ignatieff.

While Ignatieff may personally prefer to apply his sense of morality to the matter of the potential past abuses of Afghan detainees, which is his sole prerogative to do, however if Ignatieff wants to represent the people of Canada, he better conform himself to their priorities, rather than attempt to conform theirs to his. Meanwhile failure to conform himself to Canadians priorities, under these circumstances will result in double jeopardy for Ignatieff as he will be allowing himself to get out foxed by the ever-coy Stephen Harper who will be waging his battle for public opinion on issues where the public currently resides and not where Michael Ignatieff wishes they would reside, namely the economy, stupid.

As the wise proverb instructs us, "If the mountain won't come to Muhammad, Muhammad must go to the mountain."

This is very apt advice for Michael Ignatieff to take under these circumstance, and somewhat ironic, since Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs as drawn, is always depicted as a mountain-like pyramid . At the base of that mountain is where Ignatieff will find the greatest number of voters, not at the top, as indicated by the following CBC ranked results. Ignore them at your peril. Ignore income trust investors at your peril.

Dion’s dismal failure was foretold by polling results just like these, that he ignored at his peril and persisted in pursuit of his lofty and totally esoteric Green Shift plan. This is not me talking here, but rather Canadian voters talking. The only difference, is that I am listening, whereas it appears others may not be:


What will government do to protect the employees, pensioners and disabled workers who may be left without protection? 49% (5,700 votes)

What did the prime minister know about Afghan prisoners being transferred into unsafe Afghan prisons and when did he know it? 33% (2,359 votes)

How does my representation in Ottawa work when there is no Parliament? 12% (953 votes)

How is government listening to Canadians in advance of the new budget in March? 3% (244 votes)

With the government's new 'tough on crime' legislation what is the government's plan to house the influx of prisoners? 3% (198 votes)

How does my representation in Ottawa work when there is no Parliament? 12% (789 votes)

Total Votes: 9,454