Harper promises he'll cut party subsidies - only if he gets a majority
By: The Canadian Press
Posted: 04/1/2011 10:27 AM
MONCTON, N.B. - Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he is committed to cutting per-vote subsidies to political parties if his party receives a majority.
But the Conservative leader is promising to provide a three-year transition period to ease the pain.
Harper has long been opposed to the funding Ottawa provides to political parties that is based on the number of votes they get.
The subsidy was brought in under a previous Liberal government after corporate and union donations were severely limited.
The Conservatives completely banned those kind of contributions and say parties should only rely on money given to them by private citizens.
Harper says the opposition parties are more apt to trigger elections because of the constant stream of funding they get from the public purse.
The other parties have severely criticized the idea.
The Liberals say Harper's political-financing ideas will lead to more U.S.-style attack politics; the Bloc Quebecois says the current subsidies help limit corruption in fundraising; and the NDP says Harper's move would return Canada to the bad old days where cash influenced politics.
Friday, April 1, 2011
A vote for Harper is a vote to diminish Canadian democracy
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3 comments:
A three year transition to ease the pain eh.
Us poor sot income trust investors have heard all about those ease-the-pain transition years alright when Jimmy Boy Flaherty gave us 4 years to try to recoup the cash he & his Buddy Steve Harper stole from us on Halloween 2006.
These people are a farce as they try to play into their fund raising strengths in their attempt to eliminate the competition.
I guess this is just one small way to let Power Corp back thru the front door.
Dr Mike Popovich
Gee, maybe we should start with eliminated the generous tax deductions for donations from private individuals.
The first $400 donation receives a 75% tax credit. Meaning it only cost the donor $100 and the taxpayers $300.
Railhound
In spite of my anger at Flaherty, for his income trust lies, if the Torys could manage to wage an election campaign without introducing new ways to tax and spend I would have voted for them. Instead, Harper only keeps his word to his corporate masters (can't reverse their tax cuts). Betraying income trust investors, you know, the little guy, is just fine they don't matter. I'll probably vote Green, because none of these lying, spendthrift, bums deserve to be re-elected.
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