Is Canada Going Awry

Almost everyday there seems to be yet another example of our country going awry. Campaign funding, the price of gasoline, price of beef, promises of no tax increases and no deficits are some of the latest examples that come to mind.

A recent ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada, upholding the limiting of third party spending in election campaigns, gives weight to the concept that money can and does influence voting, i.e. money buys votes.

Fair enough. But, why then, is it reasonable that the Bill C24 amendments to the Canada Elections Act calls for the major portion of campaign funding to come from the public coffers, which will be allocated to the political parties based on the number of votes received in the previous election. In other words, it favours the majority party, if money does indeed buy votes.

I object to this bias. I believe any election funding derived from our tax money must establish a level playing field for all official parties trying to get their message to eligible voters; i.e. in every riding, each party should get the same amount per voter.

I wonder why there hasn't been an unholy uproar over the C24 self-serving funding formula from the other political parties, their supporters and the media.

Gasoline pricing raises the inevitable question of; who's gouging us now? The universal answer is "not us". Well, whoever it is appears to be sharing 30-35 cents/litre and neither the federal nor provincial governments seem able or willing to identify the culprits.

In 1991, the last time a barrel of oil cost $40, the price of gasoline in our nation's capital was 58.9 cents/litre (the product cost 33.5 plus 25.4 tax). This Monday, gas was over 92 cents/litre at some Ottawa stations. Since the cost of a barrel is relatively the same now as in 1991, it isn't the oil producers gouging us. Most agree, it also isn't the retailers.

This leaves two groups; the refiners/distributors and the taxing authorities. I'd think with these two clues our federal and provincial governments just might get a hint about who is ripping us off. Another hint for them, just look in the mirror to find one of the two.

The pricing that really angers me is the price of beef, and not because steak is my favourite food. Not long ago a farmer told me of having to sell some cattle, getting just slightly more than $100/animal, a significant loss. Last week, we purchased a complete steak piece for $10/lb for a total of $168.

Surely, someone in the morass of government ministries and agencies could ensure that our cattle producers get their fair share of the money consumers are paying for beef.

Then, there is the debacle of the Liberal budget announced last week with its increased taxes called Health levies, increased fees, increased hydro costs plus a whopping deficit, all contrary to election promises. Although these promises were not met, it did not deter the promise-breakers from promising a balanced in budget in four years.

The Mike Harris experience taught voters the need to carefully evaluate campaign promises because of what their implementation might entail. Unfortunately for Premier McGuinty, a side effect of the Harris lesson is that voters are more aware of what is promised and more critical and angered by non-delivery and/or unexpected impacts.

On Sunday, Paul Martin, arguably the man most responsible for the funding crisis in health care due his funding cuts, promised during the opening salvo of the election to be its saviour by now pouring our money into health care.

Apparently, not only does the Premier seem reluctant to buy into Martin's health care promises (maybe he is worried that birds of a feather really do flock together), he seems determined to implement his health tax whether Martin's promises go the way of his or not.