A No Era for British Columbia

The British Columbia Liberals promised a number of things when they aimed to form government in 2001. This is from page three of their 36-page campaign document A New Era for British Columbia.

Indeed, under more than a decade of Liberal rule, expenditures on education increased.

However, we need to put the numbers in context. Just as we compare provincial debt to GDP, we must compare the proportion of education spending to total public expenditures.

I won't add commentary much beyond saying the numbers speak for themselves. One interesting note though is that, while education expenditures rose 20% during the Campbell/Clark era, overall program spending rose 65% and the cost of running the Premier's office tripled.

The record of deception and duplicity continues.

Dishonourable and unscrupulous - but consistent

Currently, the internet is alive with discussion of public education in British Columbia and I've gathered a few elements from different sites to create a composite of opinions that reflect my view that an unnecessary dispute serves no good purpose.

Ian Reid wrote about Liberal maneuvering as they aim to provoke this fight over education. It's part of a game of divide and conquer through which strategists hope to arrest the party's free fall. Without reversal of fortunes, next year most Liberal MLAs will be resuming their regular, mostly less remunerative, careers. Luckily for them, unhappily for taxpayers, most defeated members depart with generous severance pay and pensions.

What caught my eye at Ian's The Real Story was a contribution by the always coherent commentator G. West. It included this statement of events in Victoria:

"My contacts in the bureaucracy confirm that there is little effective planning or consultation going on in any of the important ministries; that the legislative program is a pathetic mess and that the advice and experience of veteran civil servants is being ignored. Legislation is being presented before it has been properly vetted; new agencies and functions are being created without any thought to who will staff and run them; appointments are being made in a frightful and ad hoc fashion; professional advice about legality and constitutionality is being ignored."

Yikes. However, I too heard rumblings out of Victoria that Liberals consciously chose to proceed with Bill 22 in a form their legal advisers believe will not survive court challenges. However, the political aim is conflict, not good government.

Joel Bakan is a professor of law at the University of British Columbia. His award winning work examines the social, economic and political dimensions of law, and he has been widely published. The legal expert wrote Constitutional and international law at risk under Bill 22 in the Vancouver Sun:

"The B.C. Liberal government is poised, once again, to violate the legal rights of workers, this time with Bill 22, which, if it becomes law, will prohibit teachers from striking and limit their collective bargaining rights.

"In 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the government had violated the Canadian Charter by imposing legislative restrictions on the rights of health workers to bargain collectively. In April 2011, the British Columbia Supreme Court followed that decision to rule that legislation concerning teachers was unconstitutional, and thereby invalid, because it prohibited bargaining on class size, class composition and the ratios of teachers to students.

"It is those very same restrictions that the government now seeks to reinstate with Bill 22, a disturbing disregard for such a recent judicial declaration that they are constitutionally invalid.

"...[Bill 22] it almost certainly violates international law as well as constitutional law. Governments are obliged to govern according to law. That is what distinguishes democracies from tyrannies..."

While researching previous court action, I noted something that reflects devious behaviour of the education ministry. It may also explain why high level mandarins seem to have keys to the treasury. A cynic would suppose that people doing dirty work get to extract special rewards.

Rick Davis, a superintendent of achievement in the education ministry, had the highest expense account of any provincial employee in the last fiscal year. The amount: $77,657.

This is the same Rick Davis that Madam Justice Susan A. Griffin chided in her reasons for judgement in British Columbia Teachers’ Federation v. British Columbia. Examples:

"[141] ...Mr. Rick Davis, also set about to informally gather information from school administrators, designed to illustrate problems with class size and composition limits. ...The government filed his affidavit evidence in support of its position...

"[142] However, Mr. Davis’s knowledge of problems was collected from school administrators. Mr. Davis did not have any first-hand knowledge of the problems cited, all of which were based on hearsay.

"[143] I have approached Mr. Davis’s evidence cautiously, as his affidavit evidence tended to characterize the facts less than objectively...

"[144] However, when Mr. Davis was pressed on this affidavit evidence in cross-examination, it became clear that it was not accurate...

 "[146] The evidence that the government relied on in the hearing before me, to support its assertion that class size limits were causing hardships to students and parents, was anecdotal hearsay. It was so vague and unsubstantiated that it was impossible for BCTF to challenge it meaningfully. It would be unfair to give it any weight for the truth of its contents..."

Clearly, the Liberals have not been playing an honest hand for some time.

In 2011, the courts slapped the government over unconstitutional legislation but Justice Griffin gave them until April 2012 to resolve the issues. Instead, the Liberals are bringing in new legislation that will certainly be found unconstitutional too. But, they stoke the fires of political confrontation and push issues down the road to shortly after next year's scheduled election.

It's a devious strategy, designed to produce conflict. If they succeed, they'll consider themselves brilliant strategists. If they don't, the next administration gets to deal with one more stinky mess.

Public education will suffer, children will be disadvantaged and respectable teachers will be disparaged. Liberals are ok with those effects if it gains them political advantage.They are dishonourable and unscrupulous - but consistent.

No more reprehensible MP than this guy

Veterans called NDP hacks, Jeff Davis, Postmedia News

"OTTAWA — Calgary MP Rob Anders — who embarrassed himself by falling asleep in the Veterans Affairs committee last week — offered an apology to veterans in the House of Commons Tuesday.

 "...After nodding off in a committee meeting held in Halifax, Anders denied falling asleep. He later went on the offensive, describing two Afghan war veterans, who volunteer their time to help homeless former soldiers, as "NDP hacks" and supporters of Russian strongman Vladimir Putin.

"Anders apologized for his comments about veterans advocates Jim Lowther and David MacLeod, both of whom are card-carrying Conservatives."

I wonder if Rob Anders believes the people pictured below were also "NDP hacks."

Canada's Fallen Veterans - Afghanistan

The following was reported in my February 2 article Uncomfortable Parallels:

"After Rob Anders called Nelson Mandela "a communist and terrorist," Harper said the Calgary MP was a true conservative and faithful supporter."

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Adventures in not net zero land

Unprecedented readership of this article first posted March 4 causes me to bring it back to the top. I encourage people among the thousands of new readers to return and look through almost 1,500 articles published during the past three years.

Helping manage the BC government's war on school teachers and public education is Deputy Minister of Education James Gorman. He is a long time senior bureaucrat.

Public accounts show his salary in fiscal 2006 was $164,085.  In fiscal 2011, it was $228,942, an increase of 40% in five years. During that period, Gorman's expenses were $136,616.

Gorman looks positively frugal compared to his colleague Rick Davis. The Education Ministry's Superintendent of Achievement incurred expenses of $432,234 from 2006 to 2011. Spending more than $6,000 a month on lunches and such can't leave much time for business but Davis is consistent, if nothing else.

John Dyble, Premier Photo-Op's Deputy Minister, has also done well in the land of not net zero. Public accounts show that Dyble's salary rose from $161,455 in fiscal 2006 to $239,121 in 2011. That was a 48% gain in five years but, the good news for Dyble is that his salary was bumped again in March 2011. His new rate is $310,000, about double what he earned five years ago.

Graham Whitmarsh, DM in the Health Ministry, had his salary go to $259,531 in fiscal 2010, 42% more than he earned in 2008. Whitmarsh charged additional personal expenses of $168,410 in the last four years.

Keith Miller, ADM for the Education Ministry's Resource Management division earned $106,172 in fiscal 2009 and $172,381 in 2011, a growth of 62%.

Renate Butterfield, ADM for Business, Technology & Online Services Division, saw her salary grow 42% from 2006 to 2011.

David Loukidelis, long a senior Liberal bureaucrat, got 11% this year, a raise that makes his salary 42% more than it was in 2006.

Cheryl Wenezenki-Yolland, DM Advanced Education, has enjoyed steady increases in each of the last few years, including 27% ($47,000) in 2012. Since 2006, her earning are up 115%.

Lynda Tarras, Associate Deputy Minister in Finance, scored healthy increases each year, moving her salary up by $86,459 or 78% from 2006 to 2011.

Paul Straszak from the Solicitor General's ministry got a $59,760 (42%) raise between 2007 and 2009.

Steve Munro, DM of Aboriginal Relations earned $180,605 in fiscal 2011 but his salary in 2012 is $225,000, a one year increase of 25%.

Valerie St. John, ADM, Technology Solutions had to make do with a 9% raise in 2011, a year of net-zero for non-mandarins.

Sarf Ahmed, ADM, Integrated Workplace Solutions took raises in 2010 and 2011 totalling 14%.

Brad Grundy, ADM/EFO, Corporate Services, did a little better, his 2011 raise was 29%.

Wes Shoemaker, DM of Agriculture, has had three straight years of non net zero, adding $54,385 (32%), making his 2011 salary $224,229.

Dana Hayden, Deputy Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation, scored 8% this year, a raise of almost $20,000.

Kim Henderson, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Labour, Citizens’ Services and Open Government got a raise of 6.5% in 2011, about $1,200 a month.

Stephen Brown, Deputy Minister, Children and Family Development, has a $2,000 a month raise in 2011, 13% in the Liberal government's world of not net zero.

Don Fast, DM in the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, has gained 18% over the last three years.

Kim Henderson, DM of Labour, got a $1,200 a month bump in 2011. Her 2011 salary of $235,000 is 55% more than the Liberal government paid her in 2009.

Pierrette Maranda, Associate Deputy Minister, Intergovernmental Relations Secretariat, earns 23% more in the current year than she earned in fiscal 2011.

Peter Milburn, DM in the Ministry of Finance, has had a particularly pleasant ride. This year, his salary rose 7% to $250,000, double what he was paid in 2006. Milburn also does better than most when it comes to expense accounts. Over a number of years, he averaged $3,000 a month. While that is not in Rick Davis territory, it is still an amount that shows remarkable disdain for taxpayers.

There is no austerity among the policy makers in Victoria. Keep in mind that their pensions and ancillary benefits are extravagant compared with those of ordinary public servants. Pensions for senior staff today are particularly extraordinary in relation to pensions paid a generation ago. There are few constraints because, among the mandarins, one person's gain quickly spreads to the rest. So, if the Finance Ministry decides that their Deputy Minister, Assistant Deputy Ministers and Associate Deputy Ministers are worth two, three or four hundred thousand a year, soon every ministry is paying like amounts.

Even cabinet ministers and MLA's start to think they should be paid as much or more than those they supposedly direct. There is no one willing to say no.

Sign an online petition if you support fair negotiations with BC's school teachers.

A very good year, for a few

The Rich Get Richer: 2010 Was a Very Good Year to Be in the 1%, Derek Thompson, senior editor at The Atlantic

"This recovery has been a luxury item. For the bottom 99%, real income growth over the first two years of the recovery was one-fifth of one percent. The richest percentile saw its income rebound by 11.6%. It is only slightly sensational to point out that the 1%'s income has outgained the rest of the economy by a factor of 58 in the recovery."

Feeding time ending

Alex Tsakumis has the slow cooker warmed. The hogs might soon be shredded pork.

Pigs at the trough will start to squeal. Don't miss the story of how British Columbia's government was hijacked by a handful of powerful insiders. Even the mainstream media - well, maybe the CBC - cannot ignore this.

Christy Clark Must Resign as Premier of British Columbia (Part I): The Case of the ‘Stolen’ PIN Numbers Finally Revealed.

Why government leaders deserve big bucks.

Requiescat in pace

Today in British Columbia's Legislative Assembly, Leonard Krog, Opposition Critic For The Attorney General, said this:

"I rise today to ask the House to pay its respects to the passing of one of British Columbia's most courageous citizen journalists, a woman who was a harsh critic of the B.C. government, particularly around the sale of B.C. Rail, and also critical of yours truly, in the role that I played in criticizing the government. She was a well-known blogger. A defender of democracy, she feared no power. I'd ask the House to pay its respect to the passing of B.C. Mary — Mary Mackie."

I'm sure readers will thank MLA's who shared in this tribute. Another member of the Legislature reminded me that Leonard Krog is a person who "Mary whacked with zeal on occasion." True, but Mary didn't do that with any sense of personal malice intended and Leonard Krog understood.

In common with so many citizens, she was frustrated with a judicial system designed and operated to prevent full and conscientious examination of malfeasance surrounding the sale of BC Rail.

Mary and I would exchange occasional messages and, in recent months, she demonstrated much courage about her own situation and certainly never complained. I think she'd excuse me offering this little example from a recent electronic conversation. I think it demonstrates much about the strength of her spirit.

She talked about a person who was important,

"I first met him when we were both 20 years of age, and he was a veteran of First Canadian Parachute Battalion. Strongest, smartest, healthiest man imaginable.

"He was stricken first with Prostate cancer, then with Parkinson's. It's a mystery why we've both been smitten when we've lived the cleanest, healthiest outdoor life. Well, no matter now: we've resolved to see this last chapter through together. I'm grateful for that."

What do YOU want from education?

A young woman, for whom I have unlimited regard, sent this message to me. She is a very experienced school teacher with a Masters degree in education. She knows more about teaching youngsters than nearly all of us could aspire to know. Beyond that, she cares deeply about empowering children who have little opportunity. She lives on the North Shore and could teach anywhere but has chosen to spend her career on Vancouver's east side where many children are poorly fed, badly clothed and struggling without family supports and resources.

"If you are a parent with a child in the public school system, you will want to watch this video. As a parent, the future of my child’s education is at risk. I’ve been teaching for 20 years and Bill 22 makes me terrified. If the government wanted to simply deny the teachers a wage increase they could have mandated that, but this bill includes so much more that it makes my stomach turn in disgust. Watch the video for a child’s insight into what happened today in the BC Legislature and make your own decision about the current contract dispute."

Recommended reading about teaching in BC.

Vancouver Sun - shilling for dollars

REPLAY: First published Jan 2, 2012

Gordon Hoekstra and Postmedia's Vancouver Sun present another episode in the ongoing series, Shilling for Corporate Canada:

Enbridge is a Canadian success story:

"Patrick Daniel, its president and CEO... earned $8 million in 2010 in salary, bonuses, stock options and other compensation, ... self-proclaimed environmentalist, he proudly boasts of owning a single car - a somewhat beat-up 2006 Toyota Prius."

Admirable, eh? No doubt, he's saving for retirement because departing Encana executives are pushed out on the streets with barely more than token payments.

However, while Mr. Daniel gained $22.5 million in the value of his Enbridge shares in 2011 alone, the Sun wants us to think this ordinary man owns a beater for personal transportation. No mention of the limos and company owned luxury vehicles at his disposal. Nor does the Sun bother to relate that Daniel's more usual transportation is this 19-seat twin-jet Dassault FALCON 2000EX, worth something over $20 million.

How fortunate we are to have Postmedia to keep us informed of the Canadian aristocrats and their wonderful works. Aljazeera presents a report with a somewhat different look at the company run by this uber-rich "self-described environmentalist."

Enbridge's CV

"Enbridge has a long history of spills throughout both the US and Canada.

"According to Ottawa-based advocacy group the Polaris Institute, Enbridge is responsible for 610 spills - involving more than 22 million litres of oil - between 1999 and 2008. This is approximately half the amount of oil spilled during the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska in 1989.

"Less than two months after the 6B rupture, an Enbridge pipeline leak near Chicago brought on a civil suit against the company by the state of Illinois, which alleged that Enbridge endangered public health and created a public nuisance.

"Around this same time, the Wisconsin Department of Justice announced that Enbridge had agreed to settle another lawsuit for $1m over air pollution violations at a storage terminal in the city of Superior. The firm had already pledged to pay $1,100,000 to the state of Wisconsin to settle environmental claims regarding its failure to obtain and abide by permits governing its construction of pipelines through wetlands and waterways.

"That a semblance of justice is often more difficult to come by is clear, however, from testimony by citizens whose lives and livelihoods have been harmed by Enbridge's activities.

"Consider, for example, the Kalamazoo corn and soybean farmer who described the aftermath of the spill to Al Jazeera as follows: "I would be in my fields and could taste the chemicals, and I began to feel nauseous and shortness of breath...

"As for Enbridge's cleanup efforts in the area, Dr Stephen Hamilton - professor of Ecosystem Ecology and Biogeochemistry at Michigan State University and president of the board of the Kalamazoo River Watershed Council - criticised the company's cosmetic approach and its focus on merely disappearing the most visible effects of the disaster, like sheen.

"At a meeting with Watershed Council members, Hamilton told Al Jazeera:

"Public involvement and transparency has been lacking, and we know this because we [the Council] were an environmental advisor in the cleanup effort. We can't tell you who [at Enbridge] is making the decisions, and what information they have, because they only tell us what they want us to know."

"Noting that the Kalamazoo spill "has totally fouled the river environment and floodplain, as the river was out of its bank and flooding when the spill occurred", Hamilton also expressed frustration at how Enbridge's lack of transparency is impeding a clear assessment of the disaster's impact on area wildlife.

'Mike Murray, staff scientist for the Great Lakes Regional Centre of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), meanwhile warned of oil's chronic effects on ecosystems:

"I have a big concern with longer term impacts from the chemicals in the oil, like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, [which] tend to be larger molecules and more persistent and can bio-accumulate in the food web and cause harmful effects to fish and wildlife, reproduction, and other problems."

"Al Jazeera asked Enbridge if the company would comment on safety concerns many people have about their operating practices, as well as for additional information (beyond what has already been provided to the public) about what the company is doing to prevent future spills.

"Enbridge refused to be interviewed..."

Kalamazoo River Michigan after Enbridge pipeline spill

Kalamazoo River Still Closed 15 Months After Oil Spill

"A rash of sicknesses, especially among children still plague Kalamazoo residents almost a year and a half after one of the worst inland tar sands oil spills in history. The river is still toxic and portions remain closed. Enbridge, the company whose ruptured oil pipeline caused the spill, is ducking interviews and comments on this Michigan disaster, one of 610 such spills since 1999."

Enbridge’s profits rise as revenues soar, Toronto Star

"CALGARY—Second-quarter profits at major oil and gas pipeline company Enbridge Inc. (TSX: ENB) nearly doubled as earnings from its liquids pipelines and gas distribution showed substantial improvements, and the firm predicted it will hit the upper range of its own expectations this year..."

Elsewhere, the world of news reporting evolves

Guardian open journalism: Three Little Pigs advert - video

"This advert for the Guardian's open journalism, screened for the first time on 29 February 2012, imagines how we might cover the story of the Three Little Pigs in print and online. Follow the story from the paper's front page headline, through a social media discussion and finally to an unexpected conclusion"

The Guardian is not a Rupert Murdoch property. Nor is it owned by the very Tory Barclays, Russian criminal oligarch Alexander Lebedev, porn baron Richard Desmond or Viscount Harold Jonathan Esmond Vere Harmsworth. It is owned by the Scott Trust, which aims:

"To secure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity: as a quality national newspaper without party affiliation..."

Calling a spade a spade

CBC Legislative Bureau Chief Stephen Smart reports fully and fairly when his wife's employer deserves to be in the news. Well, at least that is what CBC says.

As intelligent skeptics, we should ignore their words and judge their actions. Consider a current example.

The employer of Mr. Smart's wife, known here as Premier Photo-Op,  is indisputably embarrassed by connections to Jaspal Atwal, a man convicted of attempted murder in a crime planned to achieve political purposes - a crime shockingly at odds with Canadian tradition.

Well read pundits and reporters in British Columbia — Michael Smyth, Alex Tsakumis, Les Leyne, Kim Bolan, Bill Tieleman, Ian Reid, etc. — had much to say about Christy Clark and Jaspal Atwal.

The CBC? Not a word. Here is the result of a Sunday morning search at CBC News.

I filed another complaint with CBC Ombudsman, this time alleging a specific example of bias in reporting on BC politics. Kirk LaPointe has already determined that Stephen Smart's involvement as primary political reporter on the BC Government, while his wife works as a politically appointed media officer for the Premier, is problematic. CBC executives rejected that position and told LaPointe to take a hike.

Our earlier complaints were based on the broad situation. Now, we require the CBC to answer to a specific instance of bias. Readers can initiate their own complaints by following the link in the preceding paragraph.

Rivers: "Run of" or "Ruin of" - a choice

Message from Gwen Barlee, one of this province's most honourable preservationists:

"The Kokish is a wild river on Vancouver Island that is home to Dolly Varden, cutthroat trout, 5 species of wild salmon, and 2 endangered runs of steelhead.

"DFO will be making a decision about whether to allow a private power project on the river very likely in the next 10 days and we need to make sure they keep the Kokish wild.

"Look for the full page ad in tomorrow's Vancouver Province featuring Willie Mitchell - NHL player, LA Kings."

Please visit SAVE THE KOKISH

The power project on this pristine north-island river is brought to us by Brookfield Asset Management, a company known to older folks as Edward and Peter Bronfman's Brascan. It is one of those organizations that puts families and communities first, a small business with world assets worth about $150 BILLION, located mostly in the USA.

Brookfield owns or once controlled Noranda Inc., Falconbridge Limited, Labatt, Royal Trust, MacMillan Bloedel, London Life and numerous other corporate brands.

A few years ago, they tried to log old-growth heritage timber on Vancouver Island. Instead of ancient trees, they wanted 2 by 4's. Do they care a damn about British Columbia today?

Probably, about as much as when, through Noranda, they guided a significant British Columbia employer into the corporate toilet. The boys from Bay Street wasted it, then sold MacBlo to Weyerhaeuser - a deal that produced fortunes for a few executives (Hello, Tom Stephens) and less than nothing for pensioners, investors and workers.

Brookfield has done the deal that is au courant. They partnered with a few important people from the Namgis First Nation. A familiar script, is it not? We're left to wonder if the contract will benefit the nation or a few families leading the nation.

Regardless, the real issue is about preserving parts of British Columbia that have not yet been scarred by humans and their careless endeavours. For the Kokish River, perhaps the die is cast but citizens still have opportunity to express opinions.

Write Now!

Political Minister for BC, James Moore 604-937-5650 james.moore@parl.gc.ca

Local MP and Cabinet Minister John Duncan 250-338-9381 john.duncan@parl.gc.ca

Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Keith Ashfield 613-992-1067 keith.ashfield@parl.gc.ca

DFO Regional Director General Susan Farlinger 604-666-6098 susan.farlinger@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Here are some points to you should add to your email:

• The amount and quality of fish habitat will be severely reduced as a result of decreased stream flow.
• Adult fish migrating upstream will be blocked or delayed.
• Juvenile fish migrating downstream will encounter blockage or delay when migrating downstream by the water intake, and further delay in the reduced-flow diversion reach.
• Rapid changes in water flow during project operations can damage fish and habitat by dewatering habitat and stranding fish.
• The trapping of bed load behind the dam can prevent gravel from moving downstream and negatively impact fish rearing, spawning and incubation.
• The intake weir will create an obstacle to migrating fish and the technology to mitigate this obstacle has not been proven on a river like the Kokish which has high flows and large volumes of debris.
• Operational failure is a big concern at river diversion projects. When combined with reduced instream flows, delayed or blocked fish migration and reduced fish habitat the results can be significant.

CPC: Deceivers, deluders, dissimulators

"Losers lose, winners win, cheaters cheat, and sinners sin;

Dreamers dream, cryers cry, fools believe, and Liars Lie."

Conservative MPs used U.S.-based telemarketers, Greg Weston, CBC News

The prime minister and his parliamentary secretary, Peterborough MP Dean Del Mastro, claimed in the Commons that the Liberals were the only party that used American calling firms.

“We’ve done some checking,” the PM said, and “we’ve only found that it was the Liberal Party that did source its phone calls from the United States.”

But documents show 14 Conservative campaigns enlisted the telephone services of an Ohio company called Front Porch Strategies.

During the election, the company made thousands of calls into each of those Canadian ridings from its headquarters in Columbus.

Note: More than 31,000 complaints have been made to Elections Canada about misleading robo-calls. Was the 2011 federal election hijacked? Clearly, American style anti-democratic campaign techniques were employed by Stephen Harper's Conservative Party. The results:

Time away is temporary

Posting of new items will be light for the next short while as I focus my time on others things. Typical of one person blogs, output occasionally suffers because life interferes.

One thing I've been doing is spending time with grandkids and, oh my, have I had my fill of The Wiggles, even with Rolf Harris.

No matter how much I try, 3-year old Odie or his little brother just won't discuss politics in a meaningful way. He'd rather play with Lego or build new tracks for Thomas the Train.

Recent good news in the Farrell household is that grandchild number six is on the way.

Wow. When the baby of our family is having a baby, that reminds me that time is inexorable. We tend not to think about that in our young and middle years. Oh well.

Implicit promises from Canada's leaders:

Robert Borosage wrote about Mitch Romney's objectives at Campaign for America's Future. The words were for Romney but, with a few changes, they are relevent to the few people who set Canada's public policy.

I believe that the rich have too little money.

And so, rich people deserve tax cuts, especially  those at the top.

I believe that Warren Buffett’s secretary should pay a higher tax rate than the wealthy

And so, rich people deserve low rates of taxes on wealth (capital gains, dividends, tax protected savings accounts, off shore earnings) while the country taxes middle income workers at much higher rates.

I believe that those blessed by being born to the wealthy few should inherit the earth

And so, eliminate estate taxes that only apply to the top 1% of families, insuring, if nothing else, that they won’t have to waste money on estate planning or be forced to move their money to offshore tax havens.

I believe that the world should be the oyster of corporations seeking tax havens

So would move to a “territorial” tax system, ending any taxation for profits earned abroad, giving corporations a staggering incentive to cook their books – or in CFO speak, do “transfer pricing” – to show profits abroad rather than here. Many companies are famed for aggressive use of tax havens.

I believe that Wall Street should be free to gamble with other people’s money, and you rubes are on your own

So forget about bank reform, consumer protection and other regulation that ensures competition.

I believe that the military has too little money

Military spending is now at record levels even though the Soviet Union is no more, Bin Laden is dead, and forces are down to chasing Internet pirates and bloggers. However, Lockeed Martin's financial needs are greater than ever so Canada should treat them generously by committing $25 billion or so for F35 fighter planes.

I believe that elderly workers have too much security and too much leisure

And so, while insuring that the heirs to the wealthy can remain idle, workers should labor for more years before they can retire.

I believe that our schools, water systems, roads, bridges, airports and transit systems, nutrition programs for children and community police get too much money and can do with much less.

And so, committed to balancing the budget while cutting taxes on the wealthy and shoveling money at needy corporations, we must embrace cuts in all domestic investment for over the next decade, insuring that core infrastructure will continue to decline, and pose an increasing threat to public health and to lives.

I believe children must play the hand that fate dealt them.

If they are the heirs to the rich, they live charmed lives. If they are born to the poor, they must rise above it. If born poor, that remains your lot in life. Accept it. Get over it. T.S.