"Heat and other essentials should be tax-free DARRELL DEXTER NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY THE NDP has worked hard to get the government to do the right thing and remove the HST from the essentials of life, starting with home heating. My point is a simple one: it is unethical to tax a necessity of life. Government should never have taxed home heating in the first place. Even during a mild winter like the one we just had, Nova Scotia has a cold climate. People must heat their homes. Skyrocketing fuel costs stretch family budgets. Families living on modest and fixed incomes are hit hardest. However, Conservative and Liberal governments have repeatedly told Nova Scotians that it is easier to amend the Ten Commandments than it is to change the HST deal. The NDP has always said that Nova Scotia can give today’s families this much-needed break. Last week, we gained an unusual ally in our efforts. In its provincial budget announced last week, the province of New Brunswick took the HST off home heating. They announced a series of energy initiatives that will help residents of that province manage their home heating costs. Among these proposals is the rebate of the provincial portion of the HST on home heating, regulation of the prices of gasoline and home heating oil, a cap on electricity rate increases and more focus on conservation efforts through energy-efficiency initiatives and the use of renewable energy sources. There is a lot Nova Scotia can glean from the New Brunswick program without having to start from scratch. Like the plan I proposed on behalf of the Nova Scotia NDP, the New Brunswick program addresses rising energy costs and balances that against the need to conserve energy and use more renewable energy sources. Nova Scotia has tremendous potential for renewable energy from wind and tidal power. I have urged the government to seize those opportunities and make our province more energy self-sufficient. Using existing incentives from the federal government and creating new incentives at the provincial level to encourage home retrofitting and conservation will make it easier for Nova Scotians to become more energy-efficient. While helping people save money by conserving energy, we also need to provide assistance with home heating costs for those on modest and fixed incomes. The current government plan to help with the rising costs of home heating, the Keep the Heat program, has just closed for another year. Assistance did not reach all of the people who needed it. For example, people living on fixed incomes who heat with electricity did not qualify for the program if they did not use 10,000 kilowatts of electricity. We have known for several months that the budget for the Keep the Heat program was not going to be spent. That is why the NDP MLAs urged that the surplus be used for a home insulation program that would have helped at least 7,500 households make their homes more energy-efficient. Using this surplus for insulation would save consumers money every year and was recently endorsed by the Affordable Energy Coalition. One of the reasons minority government has been so effective for Nova Scotians is because the government has shown that it is willing to be co-operative and adopt NDP proposals that make sense to Nova Scotians. Covering the health-care costs of people living in nursing homes and imposing a moratorium on school closures are just two examples of how NDP ideas improve life for today’s families. We are proposing constructive solutions to help people deal with skyrocketing energy costs. Nova Scotians expect clear, solid action in dealing with this problem. More than 32,000 people signed the NDP petition to oppose any electricity rate increase until people could achieve a 15 per cent savings in their electricity bills. Now that New Brunswick has taken an important step forward, I look forward to a positive response from the MacDonald government to the NDP’s energy plan. You can read the Nova Scotia NDP energy plan by using the link on our party web site: www.ns.ndp.ca.( ddexter@herald.ca)"Abolish now the tax on all of the personal home essentials Canada wide too, federal and provincial taxes, and what about abolishing taxes on death as well... but first of all what about getting more real governments that really care and work equally for all the good welfare of the people Canada wide and not mostly the ones who lie and pretend they too.
"Harper outlines crime-fighting efforts as Parliament looms Globe and Mail Prime Minister Stephen Harper, facing his first day in the new session of Parliament, again promised a crackdown on crime , vowing a broad range of efforts ranging from minimum sentences for serious offences and an end to governmental efforts to decriminalize marijuana. Speaking at a conference of the Canadian Professional Police Association, Mr. Harper said a rise in violent crime is threatening Canada's reputation as a safe and peaceful country. He said the Conservatives would work alongside other levels of government to put more police on the streets. " "If we are to protect our Canadian way of life, we need to crack down on gun, gang and drug crime." The Prime Minister has long said his government will focus on five key priorities, one of which is cracking down on crime. In Monday's address, Mr. Harper emphasized his government's plans for the area of public safety, drawing a positive response from a receptive audience. Those efforts, he said, would include making sure sentences match crimes and see mandatory minimum sentences introduced for drug traffickers, weapons offences, repeat offences and for crimes committed by people on parole. "This government will send a strong message to criminals," he said. "If you do a serious crime, you're going to start doing serious time." Mr. Harper also said his government will introduce mandatory minimum sentences and large fines for those running marijuana grow operations and for drug deals. He also said his government would not reintroduce measures aimed at decriminalizing marijuana. The Conservatives will also raise the age of consent to 16 from 14 for sexual relations between adults and youths and establish a "zero tolerance" policy for child pornography, Mr. Harper said."
If we all as Canadians are to protect our democratic Canadian way of life, we firstly all really do need to crack down on the abusive, dictatorial, unacceptable behaviors of the Conservative Premiers, PM, MPs, MLAs, Albertan rednecks as well now.I would be rightfully still more impressed if he Stephen Harper had personally now had already practiced himself what he preaches to others, and if he had already dealt firstly with the logs in his own eyes, in his own party, such as the undeniably perverse Alberta rednecks that I have fully already detailed that promote hatred against Canada and eastern Canadians on the Internet(Mat 7:3 KJV) And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?4 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
Old habits do die hard, and zebras will not change their political stripes colors on their own. So it is undeniable that this new Conservative government will show us all next not only their true self serving and hidden agenda, their true colors, goals and also cause a minority federal election again within a year, even because still none of the political parties really do care about the good welfare of all Canadians, they mostly only pretend they do. Especially like my really useless MP Paul Martin who does not even bother to pretend to acknowledge my emails, concerns. Recall him now please, please, please, pelase. The Conservatives also had said elected us and we will show you what we can do.. and what a disappointed letdown that has been so far too ehh.. Yeah the Liberals and the Conservatives are also still very much alike, they lie and do not keep all of their promises once elected, including the open and a fully accountable government. Here also is the ironic thing I got 2 really useless acknowledgments from this federal government, cabinet so far on one of them was asking me not to write my complaints to them anymore.Great ehh. Citizens in Canada are generally still allowed to be heard only on election days ehh? That is why we are having more of them and more often too?The news media's classical annual distorted lie to push homes to be listed on the market... "Canadian home prices rose in virtually all markets in the first quarter, defying predictions that they would cool, as a mild winter boosted demand, Royal LePage Real Estate Services said Tuesday." The annual distorted, not fully honest positive spin to push homes to be listed on the market so the real estate listers can get can their income fails always to mention the whole truth. Most homes only sell at the peak which is the spring, for 3 months of the year. If you miss this selling peak you missed the most busiest selling peak and the best selling price of the home, with the most number of home buyers. If you missed the peak your home will sit on the market likley unsold for many more months too. The peak coincides with the 3 months needed to get legal possession and a summer, after school is over, move in. There is a generally up to a 30 percent fluctuation of the home price even within the same year. After decades of such false misleading Real Estate advertising you would have thought the non honest consumer affairs minister would have caught on and had postively dealt with it too. I at least try to tell the whole truth. PS the lowest home prices are generally in December when there are the last number of home sellers and customers and the best time to buy a home too.