Today, Prime Minister Stephen Harper unveiled his “Here for Canada” Conservative policy platform. The platform provides Canadians with a prudent low-tax plan to protect and create jobs by completing our recovery from the global economic recession. “Here for Canada” commits to eliminating the deficit by the 2014-2015 fiscal year without cutting transfer payments to individuals or to the provinces. And it contains concrete measures to secure Canada’s borders and keep our streets and neighbourhoods safe.
[…]The “Here for Canada” plan focuses on five key priorities:
Creating jobs through training, trade and low taxes.
Supporting families through our Family Tax Cut and more support for seniors and caregivers.
Eliminating the deficit by 2014-2015 by controlling spending and cutting waste.
Making our streets safe through new laws to protect children and the elderly.
Standing on guard for Canada by investing in the development of Canada’s North, cracking down on human smuggling and strengthening the Canadian Armed Forces.
Canada is emerging from the global recession as one of the world’s top-performing advanced economies. Throughout the global crisis of the past two years, the world has looked to Canada as a model and an inspiration. Through the Economic Action Plan, Stephen Harper’s Government is making the necessary investments to protect Canadians and create jobs now, while laying a strong foundation for long-term economic growth. Our low-tax plan is helping businesses create jobs. And we’re reducing taxes on hard-working Canadian families, because we understand that household budgets are tight.
The Conservatives need to get over 40% support to get a majority, so they can enact their 5-point platform. The latest Canadian federal election poll has the Conservatives leading the socialist Liberals 41 to 31, while the communist NDP party trails at 15%.
Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have soared into majority government territory in B.C. with more than double the support of the Liberals, a new poll says.
As the federal election campaign enters week two, The Nanos poll, conducted for The Globe and Mail and CTV, indicates 49.7 per cent support for the Conservatives here and 23.4 per cent for the Liberals, with the NDP garnering 20.6 per cent support.
The daily tracking poll has Stephen Harper’s Conservatives winning over 40-per cent support across Canada — seen as the key level of support for forming a majority government — with a commanding 14-point lead over Michael Ignatieff’s Liberals.
Harper’s party is only trailing in Quebec to the Bloc, with Canada-wide support of 42.3 per cent, compared to 28.4 per cent for the Liberals, 16.4 per cent for Jack Layton’s NDP and 3.8 per cent for the Greens.
“We stand with farmers and hunters and we will scrap the long-gun registry,” said Harper, adding that a Tory majority would prevent the opposition from blocking those efforts again.
He also tried to counter the image of rural residents as out of step with the rest of the country.
“I have not found in rural Canada a general opposition to gun control,” said Harper. “There’s not a general opposition to the idea that a gun owner should get a licence. We’ve had a handgun registry for years.”
He sees wide acceptance of those measures as well as restrictions on powerful weapons.
“What people don’t accept is going out and registering millions and millions and millions of long guns when we already have all this other information.”
My previous post on Harper’s plan to ban political contributions from unions and big corporations, as well as federal subsidies for political parties.
My previous post on Harper’s initiative to win over social conservatives as much as he can given the circumstances.
On the campaign trail Monday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced a family income-splitting plan that pro-family groups are saying would correct a tax system that unjustly discriminates against single-income families or those where one spouse earns significantly more than the other.
Harper said the current tax system treats married couples like “roommates,” because spouses are taxed individually. He is proposing a Family Tax Cut that would allow families with children under 18 to share up to $50,000 of their household income for federal tax purposes.
But the catch is that the change won’t take effect until the budget is balanced, which the Conservatives aren’t promising until at least 2015-2016.
Speaking in Saanich, B.C., the Prime Minister said the proposal will make the income tax system fairer for families and will provide tax relief to about 1.8 million families who will save, on average, $1,300 per year.
The plan is projected to cost $2.5 billion per year.
“There’s a tax unfairness that exists right now. This will move towards a more fair analysis,” said Dave Quist, executive director of the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, which has been pushing the income-splitting idea for five years.
Under the current tax system, two families with the same household income can end up paying different amounts of tax. For example, a family with parents earning $60,000 and $20,000 would pay $1,292 more in tax than where each spouse earns $40,000. And a family with one parent earning $70,000 and the other staying at home will pay $1,992 more than a family where each spouse earns $35,000.
Quist pointed out that when families seek a loan or mortgage, the lender’s decision will be based on household income, not individual, so the tax system should operate the same way. “It’s only fair that when we’re looking at income tax levels, that we look at household incomes and household tax levels as well. That’s the real benefit,” he said.
Some are complaining that the move encourages women to stay at home, but Quist says his organization’s research consistently shows that most families want one parent to stay home with the kids. In fact, child care always comes up as their last option.
“Why don’t we afford the tax breaks to families so they can choose how to best use the money to suit their unique family needs?” he said.
Read the rest here. This policy is directly targeting single-earner families for tax benefits, while families with two working parents get nothing. That is a clear message being sent to couples. Being a stay-at-home mother and wife is a valuable contribution to society.
Let me be clear. My candidate for president in 2012 is Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. But there was a time when Congresswoman Michele Bachmann stopped her career in order to homeschool her five children. She didn’t think that the public schools were doing a good enough job. She also took in 23 foster children into her home at various times. And all I am saying is this: Michele Bachmann did not make a mistake by putting her family first. And what we need is a government that recognizes the high calling of wife and mother. Yes, I hope that Michele Bachmann will be President in 2012. But I don’t want her to feel guilty about staying home to raise and educate her own children. We need to put in place financial incentives for all women to raise and educate their own children if they choose to. And then they can go on from there to run for President (or Prime Minister) – just like Michele Bachmann.
Back to Harper’s policy. There are policies that have nothing to do with abortion and same-sex marriage that are socially conservative. The more money that families keep away from government, the better off the children will be. This plan by Harper, a social conservative who does what he can do, will strengthen marriages and encourage mothers to stay home with their young children during the crucial early years. It makes marriage an even better deal financially, and will encourage couples to get married and stay married. There are policies that incentivize social liberalism, like government-run day care, taxpayer-funded abortion or single mother welfare. And then there are policies like Stephen Harper’s policies which incentivize stronger families and healthier, happier children. This is what you get when you elect a socially conservative economist. Pro-family policy. Pro-marriage policy. Pro-child policy.
Do you know what he should tackle next? A federal right-to-work law (or a federal law making the payment of union dues voluntary), and a federal choice in education law, (i.e. – vouchers). But maybe he’ll need a majority to do that.
WINTERY KNIGHT 