[picard102]

I find myself asking when it comes to almost every politician, is this the best we can do? But then I remember that it really is a crappy job, and talented people can get fantastic jobs elsewhere that offer higher salaries and less annoyance.

Yeah why would anyone want to have flags made about people wanting to f*ck them when I can have less responsibilities and make more doing something else. So we get people like PP who's not qualified to do anything outside of politics.

 

[kEiThZ]

I find myself asking, is this the best we can do for opposition to Trudeau? Maybe Trudeau will get lucky and take out Poilievre just as he did Harper, Scheer and O'Toole. But I think his lucky streak may be over.

I find myself asking when it comes to almost every politician, is this the best we can do? But then I remember that it really is a crappy job, and talented people can get fantastic jobs elsewhere that offer higher salaries and less annoyance.

If Erin O'Toole had been elected in 2021, we probably wouldn't have seen this. But we all rejected the actual progressive conservative because he had a slightly different plan and so now we're going to get the pandering populist we deserve. I was listening to Nate Erskine-Smith's interview with Erin O'Toole. I am convinced he's the best PM we never had. What a genuinely decent and honourable man.

Also something that strikes me about the current, "Burn it all down" mindset that was alluded to in that interview. I think a large part of it is because our institutions have failed people and those people are tired of listening to politicians insist it's all fine. I think the Liberals would actually go up in the polls, if they actually admitted that the housing situation is terrible and that they made mistakes. Instead, every year they come out and try to gaslight the public by arguing it's getting better, when it's not. So now they have zero credibility on this file. It's the same across so many domains. If we want people to reject populism and trust institutions, those institutions have to deliver and not just talk past people's concerns.

 

[evandyk]

If Erin O'Toole had been elected in 2021, we probably wouldn't have seen this. But we all rejected the actual progressive conservative because he had a slightly different plan and so now we're going to get the pandering populist we deserve. I was listening to Nate Erskine-Smith's interview with Erin O'Toole. I am convinced he's the best PM we never had. What a genuinely decent and honourable man.

This is very true (I have worked with him in the past) but he didn't act like it when running for the Conservative leadership, which hurt his credibility when it came to the general election.

 

[kEiThZ]

This is very true (I have worked with him in the past) but he didn't act like it when running for the Conservative leadership, which hurt his credibility when it came to the general election.

Running for leadership is always going to be hard. But if we set the bar at perfection for the Opposition during what is essentially a Primary, well, eventually you'll get Poilievre. Are we better off?

 

[afransen]

Poilievre comes across as an angry shady used car salesman. He's portraying himself as a friend of the working class, but his record shows he is not. In the past he supported American style union busting legislation. "workers freedom" ending forced unionism. Kill unions and drive down wages.

His angry little prick routine is going to get real old, real fast. And who will become the target of his anger and derision once the Liberals are defeated? It will be regular Canadians who disagree with him.

 

[PL1]

If Erin O'Toole had been elected in 2021, we probably wouldn't have seen this. But we all rejected the actual progressive conservative because he had a slightly different plan and so now we're going to get the pandering populist we deserve. I was listening to Nate Erskine-Smith's interview with Erin O'Toole. I am convinced he's the best PM we never had. What a genuinely decent and honourable man.

Also something that strikes me about the current, "Burn it all down" mindset that was alluded to in that interview. I think a large part of it is because our institutions have failed people and those people are tired of listening to politicians insist it's all fine. I think the Liberals would actually go up in the polls, if they actually admitted that the housing situation is terrible and that they made mistakes. Instead, every year they come out and try to gaslight the public by arguing it's getting better, when it's not. So now they have zero credibility on this file. It's the same across so many domains. If we want people to reject populism and trust institutions, those institutions have to deliver and not just talk past people's concerns.

Nate Erskine-Smith is an interesting and very capable guy. He committed to two terms and is honouring that (he's my MP). I'm not sure he will be popular enough to be a party leader, but he's a bit of a breath of fresh air

 

[evandyk]

He may be eying the provincial leadership in time for the election after next year's, when Ontario will probably be tired of Doug Ford.

 

[Richard White]

I have friends living in Halifax and we were discussing the recent election there.

With the Liberals all but decimated in Nova Scotia and the PC's having a supermajority I get the sense the Liberals are toast come the next Federal Election.

Think about it, the Provincial Liberals lost 12 seats in Nova Scotia going from 17 in the 2021 Election to 2 in the 2024 Election. At Dissolution they had 14 seats after losing some in the interim. If you extrapolate that, the Liberals are going to lose majorly across the country in the next election.

I am not the biggest fan of the Federal PC's but if Justin Trudeau was smart he would see the writing on the wall.

 

[evandyk]

I don't think the Liberals will be reduced to 2 seats like Mulroney did to the Conservatives, but they could easily be down to 20-30 unless they turn things around massively from recent polling (which they won't, because they have zero credibility any more when they say they will fix problems - having been in power for 10 years, they own Canada's problems, and any solutions presented now are viewed as too little, too late).

 

[Richard White]

I don't think the Liberals will be reduced to 2 seats like Mulroney did to the Conservatives, but they could easily be down to 20-30 unless they turn things around massively from recent polling (which they won't, because they have zero credibility any more when they say they will fix problems - having been in power for 10 years, they own Canada's problems, and any solutions presented now are viewed as too little, too late).

I too don't think they will drop to 2 seats.

I merely think they will be decimated in the next election.

 

[evandyk]

By the book, true decimation would only reduce them to 138 seats

 

[jje1000]

Two issues with the tax holiday already being raised:

1. The impact on small businesses that need to now rework their inventory lists. Why it wasn't a blanket holiday boggles the mind.

2. The depressive effect it will have on early December sales since people making purchases will instead wait for the tax holiday to start.

Liberals’ tax-holiday plan divides business owners as reality of preparing for it sinks in​

Susan Krashinsky RobertsonRetailing reporter
Chris Hannay

If you work with yarn and need some guidance, Sharon Hudemka has got you sorted. Along with spinning wheels, needles and other supplies, the owner of Knitting Time in Lethbridge, Alta., carries more than 2,000 instructional pamphlets, pattern books and other printed materials that cover fibre crafts such as knitting, crochet and cross-stitch.

But as a recently announced moratorium on the goods and services tax approaches, for two months starting on Dec. 14, Ms. Hudemka has a problem. In the complex details of the federal government’s plan for the tax holiday, printed books and newspapers will be tax-exempt, but plenty of other printed materials will not – including magazines, brochures or pamphlets, and collections “of blueprints, patterns or stencils.” Ms. Hudemka carries all kinds.

“There’s only so much filtering you can do in a point-of-sale system without it being very cumbersome. Everything in our machine is set as ‘books,’” she said. To go into the system and individually categorize which items will be GST-free, Ms. Hudemka added, “It’s going to take days.”

On Thursday, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business released a survey it conducted this week with more than 3,500 small business owners. Three-quarters reported that implementing the tax break would not only be “complicated,” but would also impose added costs on their operations. The CFIB called on the Department of Finance to provide a minimum $1,000 credit in small firms’ GST/HST accounts as compensation.

Not all industry associations agree. The Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers, for example, applauded the government’s move, even though “the administrative challenges on this tax change are significant and real,” Gary Sands, CFIG’s vice-president of government relations, wrote in an e-mail.

Many stores are facing varying tax rules for similar items once the moratorium takes effect. Buying your child a picture book for the holidays? That’s tax-free. A colouring book? No such luck. Bringing a bottle of wine to a holiday dinner? After Dec. 14, that will be GST-exempt, but if you pick up a nice whisky for your host, it will be taxed. Kids’ clothing won’t be taxed, but if it’s “used exclusively in sports or recreational activities,” GST applies.

Katherine Cuplinskas, spokesperson for Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, said the government drew up its list of affected items by, first, wanting to capture groceries and other essentials that are a pressure point for many Canadians. She said many food items are already exempt from the GST, so officials targeted items that aren’t, such as prepared foods. As well, because the holidays can be an expensive time for families, they included children’s clothes and toys, and Christmas trees.

She said the tax break extends through January because that tends to be a lull time for many businesses, such as restaurants.

But the timing of the break, for some businesses, means simply that their holiday rush has been delayed.

Michelle Wasylyshen, president and chief executive officer of industry association Ontario Craft Wineries, heard from one of her members that a corporate client called to say they would be placing a $10,000 order after Dec. 14. The client would usually submit that order in late November.

“They’re going to have to hustle at the last minute,” Ms. Wasylyshen said, adding that she’s heard similar stories from other wineries. For orders that need to be delivered outside of the wineries’ local areas, getting those purchases to customers in time for the holidays will mean added costs for rush shipping.

For businesses that sell a varied assortment of items, systems will have to be changed on a product-by-product or category basis. Lightspeed Commerce Inc., a Montreal-based point-of-sale software provider, said its system is configured to allow merchants to adjust tax rates on individual items. Spokesperson Ryan Tessier said the company plans to send out guides to merchants soon to help them make the changes.

Greg Toner, a London, Ont.,-based tax adviser who works with small businesses, said implementing the GST exemption is adding extra work for his clients now, and will do so again in February, when changes need to be reversed.

As well, because the changes will come midmonth, monthly revenue analysis will need to be done carefully to account for the different levels of tax collection.

Adding to the stress is the question of how forgiving the Canada Revenue Agency may be of any errors, and whether mistakes could lead to audits down the line.

“I am all for helping out the public and people that need some help with these things,” Mr. Owens said. But he added that small business owners also face affordability challenges and need relief. “We’re the ones that are trying to sort this policy out, figure it out and we’re paying for it in the long run.”

Liberals’ tax-holiday plan divides business owners as reality of preparing for it sinks in

Figuring out what’s taxed and what isn’t, and the time-consuming bother of changing payments systems are just two of the headaches that have many wondering whether the tax break is worth it

www.theglobeandmail.com

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

It was the dumbest idea to start off with, driven purely by politics (and the NDP didn't look great coming out of it either).

AoD

 

[picard102]

No tears here for businesses having to do a few extra clicks.

 

[Admiral Beez]

You have to know when it is your time to go. Let someone like Melanie Joly.. take the reins and set their own agenda.

Joly is a disaster of a foreign minister.

Justin Ling: For Mélanie Joly’s sake and ours, Canada needs a new foreign minister

Despite obvious political chops, it's becoming increasingly clear she is not up to the task of foreign affairs.

www.thestar.com

Paywall free: https://archive.is/WpNyh

Time to go before Canada tackles Trump.