McGuinty and the HST

One might wonder why Dalton McGuinty, who seems adept at trying political self-preservation, would implement the unpopular HST. I think it must be because he believes it will create jobs by the time of the next election and he can point to the HST being tax neutral. On the related question of why the HST is so much more unpopular in BC than Ontario I would guess it is because in BC the HST is not at all tax neutral because all of the federal exemptions are being applied to fuel so that the HST will not be charged on top of BC’s carbon tax.

Audits and private members bill

I cannot help but take MPs sides on this dispute on parliamentary expenses. I see it the way Chantal Hebert recently put it, MPs don’t want to be lynched by the media for their expenses. As NDP MP Yvon Godin put it, “Who is she to tell me the value of the money that I will spend”. I think MPs fear such an audit would not treat them fairly and end many political careers due to sensationalism. It is for this reason that I believe an alternative to an audit by the auditor general ought to be found to uphold accountability of the House of Commons internal economy.

Ontario Liberal backbench MPP Mario Sergio introduced a sweeping private members bill to amend the City of Toronto Act into the Ontario legislature on Thursday. I strongly disagree with the bill and it is unlikely to pass because it goes foursquare against the government’s policy on the City of Toronto. The bill would make sweeping changes. It would limit the total number of wards to the city to 31 from the current 44. This goes against current government policy of allowing the City of Toronto to draw its own wards in a way it sees fit. It would impose greater outside financial control over the City of Toronto through some new board created by this bill and presumably appointed by the province. This goes against current government policy of allowing the City of Toronto greater financial control of itself. It also imposes a term limit of two consecutive terms on all Toronto City Councilors. This is very much not a government policy and it would be wrong to impose term limits on the City of Toronto and only the City of Toronto while leaving other municipalities in Ontario without term limits. I oppose term limits. However, term limits are something Toronto mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi has in his platform. But to impose term limits on the City of Toronto without even a request from the City of Toronto to do so would be wrong. I am unsure of Sergio’s motivation for introducing this bill but I am strongly opposed to it.