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It`s Election Day Today!

Ontario's party leaders were out on the

campaign trail for the last time on Thurs-

day, making key public appearances with

less than one day remaining before the

voters across the province cast a ballot.

The latest polls suggest Liberal

Leader Dalton McGuinty is poised to

form Ontario's next government, giving

opponents mere hours to drum up

enough support for a last-minute shift.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

started an ambitious schedule off with a

stop at a Toronto farmer's market, before

moving on to as many as seven other ap-

pearances across southern Ontario.

Horwath has embraced the buzz-

word "momentum" since her perform-

ance at the Sept. 27 leaders' debate and

said Wednesday was about "keeping the

troops motivated" and having fun.

"There was no way I was going

to take a day off or put my feet up," Hor-

wath told reporters at Nathan Phillips

Square on Wednesday. "I want to make

sure I end this campaign with the same

energy that we started with and with the

same positive attitude and great momen-

tum." Horwath said she was elated by the

news out of Manitoba – where the NDP

government was elected to its fourth-

straight majority Tuesday night – and

said she wanted to keep that momentum

going. "I think they made a smart choice

in Manitoba, and I hope the people in

Ontario make that same smart choice,"

she said.

Progressive Conservative Leader

Tim Hudak, meantime, had his own busy

day schedule and is set to make six stops

between Toronto and Brantford on the

final day of campaigning.

McGuinty, buoyed by the new

poll results, has just three stops planned,

in Windsor, Strathroy and Oakville.

An Ipsos survey released on

Tuesday suggests the Liberals have

seized 41 per cent support amongst de-

cided voters, with the Progressive Con-

servatives holding 31 per cent of the de-

cided vote.

The NDP has rallied 25 per cent

of the decided vote, the survey said,

while the Ontario Green Party holds

three per cent. A minority government

would likely be formed if the division

holds true on Election Day, giving Hor-

wath's party an opportunity to play king-

maker in a split legislature.

Horwath wouldn't say which op-

ponent she would prefer to see form gov-

ernment, stating the only "dance partner"

she was focused on were the voters.

"I don't know how many seats we

are going to win. For me it is not about

that at this point, it is still about making

sure our team continues on their momen-

tum and that we are ready to pull out the

vote tomorrow.

"Whatever choice the people

make, I will be ready to work for them."

Hudak started the day off by vis-

iting the construction site of a controver-

sial Mississauga power plant, which the

Liberals said would be cancelled. Con-

struction workers could be seen at the

site, prompting Hudak to suggest the

Liberals had no intention of moving the

plant to another location.

Hudak then promised to kill the

construction of the power plant should he

form government. He also dismissed the

recent polls suggesting the Liberals had

taken the lead, saying the only poll that

mattered would be taken on Thursday.

"Ultimately tomorrow voters are

going to decide, and I am confident vot-

ers want change; they can't afford four

more years of Dalton McGuinty," he told

reporters. McGuinty was also downplay-

ing the polls on Wednesday, saying the

final decision would be made at the polls

on Thursday.

"There is a lot of game time left

before the final buzzer, and no one

knows what the score it," he said during

a stop in Windsor.

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Courageous Journalism02 October 06, 2011

October 06, 2011 03 Courageous Journalism

Ottawa to replace Montreal Bridge

Hamilton Mayor BobBratina endorses Liberals

STRONG, STABLE LIBERAL GOVERNMENT WILL KEEP HALTON MOVING FORWARDOpposition Parties Voted Together 183 Times To Try To Block Progress

Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratinatook the unusual step todayof endorsing a party inThursday’s provincialelection.He is behindthe McGuinty Liberalparty.“The surest wayto continue theprogress of the lastfour years and ensurethe fulfillment ofcommitments to GOservice and the up-loading of social serv-ice costs is to returnthe McGunity govern-ment with a majority,”he said at a Stoney CreekChamber of Commercemeeting today.

“Neither Mr. Hudaknor Miss Horwath have had

any communication with myoffice” about their parties’

stance on uploading and GOservice, he said.“I’m con-vinced these initiatives willbe lost if this government isnot returned.”

OAKVILLE — Voting for Ontario Lib-eral candidates, like Indira Naidoo-Harrisand Kevin Flynn, is the only way to havea strong, stable government that will cre-ate and protect jobs in an uncertain globaleconomy while strengthening servicesfamilies rely on. “Only Ontario Liberalscan be counted on to keep what we'vebuilt together intact — our strong schools,hospitals and services — while movingOntario forward, together,” said PremierMcGuinty. Only the Ontario Liberals havea plan to: · Create jobs in the face of a tough globaleconomy · Prepare for the new economy by investingin clean energy and making sure all stu-dents can afford the cost of postsecondaryeducation· Stand up for Ontario to protect universal,publicly accessible health care and ensurefairness from the federal government· Continue progress in our schools, nowranked the best in the English-speakingworld· Ensure that today's seniors —and the coming generation of baby-boomer seniors — will be the healthiestand most-engaged seniors in Ontario's his-tory. “To continue making progress, weneed committed, compassionate and hard-working MPPs at Queen’s Park — like In-dira Naidoo-Harris and Kevin Flynn, whohave been strong advocates for tripling thesize of Milton District Hospital and build-ing the new Oakville hospital,” said Pre-mier McGuinty.

“The opposition parties havevoted together 183 times to block ourprogress. Both would take Ontario off

trackat the worst time,” said McGuinty. “OnlyOntario Liberals have the plan, the expe-

ri-ence and the leadership to keep Ontario ontrack in an uncertain global economy. The

onlyway to continue moving Ontario forwardis to vote Ontario Liberal on October 6.

Will Crack Down On Election Fraud, Protect Voters

Ontario Liberals set up hotline tohelp voters report illegal dirty tricks

TORONTO — The Ontario Liberal Party is settingup a new hotline to help voters report dirty electiontricks, Ontario Liberal Campaign Chair Greg Sor-bara said today.

“In the federal election we saw dirty trickspulled in the last hours of the campaign: robo callsmisleading voters and steering them to the wrongpolling stations and telephone smear campaigns,”said Sorbara.

“So we passed a new law earlier this springthat imposes fines of up to $25,000 and two yearsless a day in prison for anyone caught trying to stopOntarians from voting. Now we’re taking the next step.”

Voters who are subjected to fraudulent callsand misleading information are encouraged tophone 1-855-251-2549 for assistance.

In Ontario it is illegal to:

· Impede or attempt to stop a citizen from vot-ing by providing false information directly or indi-rectly, such as providing voters with incorrectinformation on the polling station where they wouldbe voting in a provincial election· Impersonate an agent or representative ofElections Ontario, a provincial candidate, or a rep-resentative of a candidate, political party or con-stituency association· Direct or hire someone or a company to com-mit the above offences.

“We’re asking voters to help us crack downor robo calls, drive-by smear campaigns and all theother kinds of dirty tricks we saw in the federalelection,” said Sorbara. “That has no place in ourdemocracy — it’s illegal, immoral and Ontarianswon’t stand for it. Now, they have a new resourceto defend against it.”

Transportation Minister DenisLebel announced a planWednesday to replaceCanada's busiest bridge, whichlinks Montreal commuters tothe downtown.

The decrepit bridgecrosses the St. LawrenceRiver, connecting the SouthShore and Brossard to theMontreal boroughs of Verdunand Le Sud-Ouest.

"This is a major infra-structure project that will bringbenefits for years to come byensuring the safe and efficientmovement of people andgoods in this busy corridor,"Lebel said. Lebel said he is ex-ploring the possibility of a pri-vate-public partnership for theproject, which would likelymean a toll system would beput in place to recoup costsand fund the operation of thebridge. Lebel didn't put a time-line on completion of the proj-

ect, which past estimates havesaid would likely cost $2 bil-lion to complete.

Some critics of theproject have said it isn't fair tocharge tolls to residents of theSouth Shore who would haveto pay a daily fee to go towork, since no other optionsare available.

One day earlier, Mon-treal Mayor Gerald Tremblaytold CTV Montreal he hadspoken with Lebel about theneed for a new bridge and saidhe hoped the constructionprocess would begin "asquickly as possible." The fed-eral government earlier thissummer completed a safety re-port on the Champlain Bridge,which it runs. The bridge hasbeen a source of public con-cern in the Montreal area sincethe release this spring of an-other report that warned it's atrisk of collapse.

“Liberals best choice for Ontario’s future”Ontarians face a choice today, and only the OntarioLiberal Party will bring a strong team, an experi-enced leader, and a serious plan to grow the econ-omy, create jobs, and protect our schools and publichealthcare: · “Mr. McGuinty sees himself as the education pre-mier, with some justification. He has made good,incremental changes to education, improving stan-dards, with results that will enhance competitive-ness and productivity for Ontario.”

-Globe and Mail, October 3, 2011 · “As a country, as a province, as a community, wehave a long way to go to realize our economic po-tential, but we're on the right track. As we've al-ready said, a Liberal government is best for ourregion. Add to that a majority.”

-Windsor Star, October 5, 2011 · “Under the Liberals, more hospitals have beenbuilt...more doctors and nurses have been hired,emergency wait times are shorter and more surger-ies...are being performed. Ontario has become aleading jurisdiction worldwide for the early detec-tion and treatment of cancer, school marks are im-proving, there has been more investment inelectrical power generation…The Liberals have de-livered...and they're best positioned to deliver in the

future.”-Sudbury Star, October 5, 2010 ·

“McGuinty and the Liberals are the best choice forthe next four years. Their record is a strong one andthey are the only party with policies that try to cometo grips with the global issues we face.”-TorontoStar, September 30, 2011 · “...Dalton McGuinty’sLiberals offer the best bet for Ontario’s future...Moreover, we believe they are the most capable ofpreparing us for the economic hurricane blowingour way...we believe the Liberals bring the brightesthope.”-Waterloo Record, September 30, 2011 ·

“We believe that the Liberals are in the bestposition to help us retain the values that make On-tario one of the best places on earth to live.”

-Barrie Advance, September 30, 2011 · “All in all, the Liberals have done a credible

job managing the province through a tumultuousperiod...the Liberals are the best option to governOntario for the next four years.”

-Hamilton Spectator, October 5, 2011 · “He is trying to build a healthier, greener,

more prosperous and better educatedprovince...McGuinty's experience in governmentwill be needed in the coming years.”

-Ottawa Citizen, October 4, 2011

Courageous Journalism04 October 06, 2011

Sukhminder Singh Hansra

The Majority Ontario Deserves!

Are Ontarians showingsigns of voter fatigue?

by S JoshapOntarians are heading to the polls to elect a government for the third time in

12 months, but it appears election day isn't feeling like Groundhog Day for most

voters. If a recent public opinion poll, advance poll results and the moods of some

Torontonians are any indication, Ontario residents aren't showing any significant

signs of voter fatigue a day before they elect a new premier.

Of the people who spoke to CP24.com on the street Wednesday, most said

they aren't fatigued, although some admitted they're growing tired of the barrage of

attack ads on television and unfulfilled promises by politicians.

"I know (voter fatigue) won't be a factor for me," said student Mary

Stephens, who voted in the municipal and federal elections and plans to vote in the

provincial election. "You choose to pay attention or not, and you choose to vote or

not. I do both." If Stephens is weary of anything, it's the endless promises from

politicians of all stripes and levels of government during campaigns and after.

"I don't think they'll live up to half of them," Stephens said.

Third vote since last October

Thursday's provincial election will be the third time Ontarians have voted

since last October, when municipal campaigns were held across the province.

People returned to the polls last May in a snap federal election, making it a

rare trifecta. The onset of municipal and provincial campaigns weren't a surprise

because the dates were set in advance.

Toronto resident John Walker said elections should be purposely spread out

to avoid fatigue. "I would definitely say there's been too much voting (in the last 12

months)," Walker said. "I'm wondering if there's going to be some bias in the provin-

cial election because of the federal election outcomes, just as a carryover."

Walker, for the record, says he does intend to vote.

Any questions about whether the string of taxpayer-funded elections will

hurt voter turnout in Thursday's vote may have been quashed by the increased

turnout at advance polls.

According to preliminary figures, almost 625,000 ballots were cast at ad-

vance polls in September. That total is about 175,000 votes higher than advance poll

turnout in 2007, but people were given more days and more ways, including snail

mail, to cast their votes in advance last month.

Opinion poll finds few are fatigued

On September 15, a poll conducted for CP24, CTV and the Globe and Mail

found most voters don't have a case of voter fatigue.

Of 1,000 people who were polled, 52 per cent consider elections to be a

chance to renew their interest in political affairs, while 41 per cent found elections

to be a necessary nuisance. Seven per cent of respondents said they are unsure about

how they feel about the process.

The poll is considered accurate 19 times out of 20 with a margin of error of

3.1 per cent. Despite those numbers, at least one political observer believes voter

fatigue is difficult to measure in Canada because it's rare to have three major elec-

tions within a 12-month period. "You'd have to see patterns over time," said

Lawrence LeDuc, a University of Toronto political science professor.

Campaigns overlap in 2015

It appears people who are looking for a pattern may get some more evidence

to work with because the situation will repeat itself, starting with a municipal elec-

tion Oct. 27, 2014. A year later, federal and provincial campaigns will overlap be-

cause of fixed election laws passed by both levels of government.

In what may be a logistical nightmare and a confusing period for voters,

provincial and federal elections will be held within a three-week period in October

2015. Provincial elections are held every four years on the first Thursday in October,

while federal elections are held on the third Monday in October in the fourth calen-

dar year after the previous vote, unless the reigning prime minister calls an election

or a minority government falls.

Ontarians are worried about the

future of their province.

Minority government is

what has people shaking in their

boots. Lets just say for a second

that we elect a minority govern-

ment either Liberal party or Pro-

gressive party, the New

Democrats will hold the balance

of power. Wow, Imagine that

Andera Horwath and her absence

of a plan will hold the balance of

power.

No doubt, in a minority

situation, no political party can

push their agenda without other

options being considered or

debated. In majority, the leading

party almost always has a

traditional process of ignoring or

bypassing the views of the

opposition and or the public.

So, to showcase a true

democracy some may argue the

minority government is the best

way to go. The timing calls for

far more serious actions in

Queens Park, then bickering over

petty partisan politics. Some can

argue that if the New Democrats

are holding the balance of power,

they will push through their

agenda which is extreme socialist

ideology, is that such not a bad

thing after all the people do come

first. But lets face it, the idea of a

minority government is unset-

tling to the majority of residence

in Ontario.

Tim, Dalton, or Andera, all

want to see some magic numbers

and wish to have new upholstery

on the Premier`s chair, but

Dalton McGuinty’s rear end has

had some time to leave a mark on

that seat and look like the people

of Ontario agree that there is

really no other choice but a

majority government.

With a looming threat of another

recession and the fragile state of

the economy, Our province just

can't afford a minority. Ontario

needs a powerful government

that can implement an agenda

that will focus on getting

Ontario's fiscal house in order

and creating an environment for

job creation while simultane-

ously maintaining aspects of

green energy and high tech sec-

tors.

Ontario the choices are clear a

Stable majority government, or a

unpredictable “pourogable” mi-

nority government.

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05 October 06, 2011 Courageous Journalism

by Dr. Amarjeet Singh

It is ironic (nay amazing, nay disgusting)that when the Indian ‘demoNcracy’ isfaced with the disgrace (and nationalshame) of topping the recently releasedUNICEF global list of countries wherethe majority of the population engages inopen defecation, because of lack of la-trines/ sanitation, India’s Planning Com-mission (under deputy chairman MontekSingh Ahluwalia) has in an affidavit,filed in the Indian Supreme Court, saidthat persons consuming items worthmore than Rs. 32 a day in urban areas andRs 26 a day in rural areas, (U.S.$ 1 =Rs.49) were not poor, which has stirredup a controversy over how poverty isbeing defined and manipulated; and hownumbers are being juggled by the rulingBrahmin/Bania elite in India ever since itinherited the instruments of state powerfrom the British Colonials who quitSouth Asia in August 1947.

Last Sunday, the 2nd of October2011, India’s leading mass circulationEnglish language newspaper, The Timesof India, carried a New Delhi-datelinedreport headlined, “With 58% figures,India tops in open defecation”. The reportsaid that, “According to a UNICEF sur-vey, 58% of the world’s population prac-ticing open defecation lives in Indiawhile China and Indonesia come a distantsecond by accounting for just 5% of theworld numbers. Pakistan is down to thirdwith 4.5%, and is tied with Ethiopia alsoat 4.5%. As per national population fig-ures, 54% of India’s population practicesopen defecation against China’s muchimproved figure of 4%. Sri Lanka for ex-ample, despite its bloody civil war, hasonly 1% of its population defecating inthe open. The above mentioned Times ofIndia report further said that, the nationalfigures do push up numbers in smaller

and poor countries. The % number forEthiopia, who deficate in public, is closeto India’s at 60%. The figure for Nepal is50% while Pakistan is doing slightly bet-ter with 28% defecating in the open. In-donesia has 26% of its populationpracticing open defecation. The numbersfor India are astounding as the prosperityof liberalized India does not seem totranslate into better sanitation.

Last Sunday the Washington Postalso carried a New Delhi-datelined Asso-ciate Press story headlined, “Ministersays India’s rank as No. 1 country foropen defecation a source of nationalshame”. The Washington Post report saidthat, “India’s rural development ministeris pushing a campaign on public hygiene,after a recent survey revealed that Indiaaccounts for 58 percent of the world’spopulation practicing open defecation.Jairam Ramesh says the revelation is asource of national shame and a “sad com-mentary” on society’s failure to addressthe issue through education and bettersanitation. The government says it spends$350 million a year to build rural toilets,but some 638 million still rely on fieldsor quiet corners. Hot Air! $. 350 millionis a drop in the ocean – one MIG 29 air-craft costs five times that amount.Afterslumbering for 64 long years, and everybody having had the ‘pleasant’ experi-ence of seeing miles of bare bottoms(which line up every morning along therailway lines built by the British) the In-dian rulers, have realized that India isfacing the slur of topping the global listin public defecation. The Indian rulersare keen to put the sanitation programback on the centre stage by sensitizingthe population about public hygiene. Asis their wont, India’s Union rural devel-opment ministry along with states has

promised to organize a month-long cam-paign from October 2, the birth anniver-sary of Mahatma Gandhi, the foundingfather who was murdered in January1948, to create awareness for its flagshipscheme of Total Sanitation Campaign.Rural Development minister JairamRamesh is reported to have said that, “Iconsider these numbers a matter of greatanguish and shame. We must make sani-tation a political campaign like Gandhijidid. Kerala, Sikkim, Maharashtra,Haryana and Himachal are doing well butother states have to pick up signifi-cantly.” Ramesh said, “We are going tofocus now on `nirmal gram abhiyan’ —today 25,000 nirmal grams are a tinyfraction of 6 lakh villages. These nirmalgrams are in Maharashtra and Haryana.Maharashtra is a success of social move-ments while Haryana an example of de-termined state government action.” Aspart of the awareness drive, the states willbe asked to take active interest with chiefsecretaries issuing directions for theawareness drive up to the panchayatlevel. It may include household contactprogramme and gram sabha meetings tohighlight the benefits of an environmentfree of open defecation. The panchayatswould also train masons to construct toi-lets. Lot of hot air, and loud promiseswhich will result in zilch!

Meanwhile the affidavit filed bythe Planning Commission in the SupremeCourt had skirted the two major issuesthat were raised by the highest court inthe country as to why there should be apoverty line that determines the Belowthe Poverty Line (BPL) ‘caps’. The courthad requested a relook into the matterand had asked the Planning Commissionto re-consider the poverty line. That theaffidavit chose to skirt these two major

issues, and chose instead to repeat thestand taken by the Planning Commissionin its last affidavit in May 2011 seems tobe an affront to the Supreme Court andseven hundred million unwashed poorstarving Indians who are mainly effected.Critics of the Planning Commission’ssubmission to the court had said that ithad been an attempt by the governmentto reduce India’s official number of poor.

Last month, the Planning Com-mission had told the Supreme Court thatthose with a daily income of 25 rupees orU.S. 50 cents in villages rising to 65cents in cities, were above the povertyline. Widespread public criticism andUPA’s political compulsions forced thePlanning Commission, on Monday 3 Oc-tober, to distance itself from the contro-versial Rs 32 and Rs 26 cut-offs for urbanand rural poor as the poverty line meas-ure is used to help determine governmentwelfare benefit entitlements.

Reports say that Prime MinisterManmohan Singh specifically askedPlanning Commission Deputy ChairmanMontek Singh Ahluwalia, on Sunday, toresolve the matter at the earliest, espe-cially after Congress scion Rahul Gandhisought a re-look into the matter. Accord-ing to other media reports the povertybenchmark had been condemned by so-cial activists as unrealistic, especiallywith India’s soaring inflation. Accordingto media reports India’s Planning Com-mission backed away on Monday fromthe controversial definition that any vil-lager earning around 50 cents a day wasnot poor following a storm of protest.While India boasts a burgeoning class ofurban rich thanks to a rapidly expandingeconomy, hundreds of millions of people(over seven hundred million) still face a

(Cont.. to next page)

Recent UNICEF reportMusings on the recent UNICEF report in which INDIA – to its’ eternal shame – tops the global list of countries where a majority of the popula-tion (58% or over 700 million Indians) engage in open defecation, due to lack of sanitation/latrines, sixty four years after independence In arelated development the Indian Supreme Court zeroes in on the Indian Planning Commissions’ efforts to juggle the numbers of India’s poor

06 October 06, 2011 Courageous Journalism

lack of food, clean water and properhousing. Ahluwalia’s statements cameafter India’s Rural Development Min-ister Jairam Ramesh and several im-poverished states where tens ofmillions of poor are dependent on stateentitlements criticized the new povertybenchmarks.

Indian social activists had alsochallenged Ahluwalia to live on 50cents a day and prove that it wasenough money on which to survive.According to a Tribune report a youthfrom Bhagote village of the Jammu di-vision had sent demand drafts of Rs 26each to Prime Minister ManmohanSingh, Finance Minister PranabMukherjee and Deputy Chairman ofPlanning Commission Montek SinghAhluwalia, asking them to spend a daywith that money. Critics of the Plan-ning Commission’s submission to thecourt had said it had been attempt bythe government to reduce India’s offi-cial number of poor which numberover seven hundred million.

Around 37 percent of India’s1.2 billion population (around 444 mil-lion) are currently deemed to livebelow the poverty line and are said tobe receiving subsidized food and cook-ing fuel through state-owned storeswhile they engage in open defecationmentioned in paragraph one above asthey have no latrines or clean drinking water.

It is obvious that India’s Plan-ning Commission does not want to rec-ognize the remaining 256 unwashedhungry millions (700 million minus444 million) whose poverty forcesthem to defecate in public which is thesubject of this column.

Obviously it was an attempt bythe Manmohan Singh government toreduce India’s official number of poorto save face in the comity of nations.“People always overdo the matterwhen they attempt deception”.

Khalistan Zindabad

RecentUNICEF report

Ontario Election Results are in: Debt by a LandslideOntario voters face a perplex-ing set of choices on ElectionDay, between a premier whopromised never to raise taxesor run a deficit and two chal-lengers who promise newspending when the province isrunning its worst deficits inhistory.

It’s not clear who thebig winner will be on Thurs-day night. But it’s easy to pre-dict the loser: themulti-million dollar cabal ofgovernment employees unionsbanded together with thebuilding trades unions and asmattering of other labourgroups under the charmingbanner of the Working Fami-lies Coalition.The unions,both public and private, aregambling between $5 millionand $8 million of their mem-bers’ money that they can ex-tend their winning streak byreturning Dalton McGuinty tooffice. Unfortunately forthem, the luck on their invest-ment is about to run out,whether McGuinty is electedor not. If you look at any adfor an investment, the samefine print always appears atthe bottom: “past performanceis no guarantee of future re-turns.”Premier McGuinty’sescape tunnel from the finan-cial meltdown led to the bondmarket: by next year he willhave issued more debt than allOntario’s previous premierscombined.As Bob Rae discov-ered, there comes a pointwhere more borrowing simplyisn’t an option. The longer youpostpone the day of reckon-ing, the bigger the disappoint-ment for your friends ingovernment employee unionswhen the layoffs, pay cuts and“Rae days” arrive. Anybody

making vacation plans forAthens?Ontario governmentemployees have been weath-ering the economic slowdownquite well. Consider the plightof teachers: in 2007 an expe-rienced teacher working in aToronto high school was earn-ing just over $82,000 a year.Then came the financial melt-down of 2008, the ensuing re-cession and the biggest budget

deficits in the province’s his-tory. Thanks to an arbitrationsystem engineered to cave inat the first sign of a union de-mand, teacher wages havesoared 15.4 per cent. Thatsame Toronto teacher is nowearning $94,968.But the tax-payer’s exposure toMcGuinty-ism doesn’t endthere. The government alsopays $10,520 to the OntarioTeachers Pension Plan – anumber that will rise in eachof the next three years as theplan struggles to close a $17.2billion shortfall. And thenthere’s $2,217.60 to cover theemployer’s contribution to theCanada Pension Plan,$1,101.46 for employment in-surance and $750.25 for the

Workplace Safety and Insur-ance Board.We’re already at$110,000 before we start talk-ing about dental, contactlenses, laser eye surgery, pre-scription drugs, wellnesscounselling and the host ofperks the McGuinty govern-ment offers its chosenones.Teachers are only onesubset of the culture. Arbitra-tion awards have worked sim-

ilar magic for firefighters. TheOntario Provincial Police con-tract has lifted law enforce-ment costs to the same kind ofunaffordable levels.For now,the spigots of the Ontariotreasury are open all the way,financed by $110 billion inborrowing – a mountain ofnew debt that will earnMcGuinty the distinction ofactually doubling theprovince’s total debt in histerm in office, should he be re-elected on Thursday.In 2003,as Ontario Liberal leader, Dal-ton McGuinty met with theCanadian Taxpayers Federa-tion and signed our TaxpayerProtection Promise, vowingnot to raise taxes or run adeficit. Understandably, he

didn’t bother calling us thiselection.McGuinty’s promisesto government employeeunions are only achievablewith $40 billion in additionalborrowing over his next termof office, on top of the $110billion he’ already added tothe public debt, according tohis own budgetprojections.It’s not going tohappen. McGuinty has already

hired former TD bank econo-mist Don Drummond to pro-vide him with a cost-cuttingplan, to be delivered, natu-rally, after the votes arecounted. Drummond has al-ready told the media he thinks$10 billion of Ontario’s $40billion health budget iswasted. And that’s just one ex-ample. Tory leader Tim Hudakand NDP leader Andrea Hor-wath will also soon realizetheir expensive promises willbe tough to implement if theyare given keys to the bare cup-boards.So send not for whomthe bell tolls, Working Fami-lies Coalition. It tolls forthee.And no, take it from us,Dalton won’t call you in themorning.

Courageous JournalismOctober 06, 2011 07

Ontario Liberals Poised for Historic Three-Peat MajorityOntario Liberals Poised for Historic Three-Peat MajorityLiberals (41%)

Open Ten-Point Lead over PCs (31%), NDP (25%) and Green Party Trail (3%)

Ontario Election Resultsare in: Debt by a Landslide

Ontario Liberal Plan Would CreateWorld’s Best-Educated Workforce, Jobs

Toronto, ON – With less than two days

left before Ontario voters head to the

polls, a new Ipsos Reid poll conducted

exclusively for Global News, CFRB

NewsTalk 1010 and the Ottawa Citizen

suggests that the Ontario Liberals are

headed back into government at Queen’s

Park with an assured minority and poised

for a potential historic three-peat Major-

ity.Regardless of what transpires over the

next 48 hours, the McGuinty Liberals

will govern the province after a third

straight election.The Liberal Party, led by

incumbent Premier Dalton McGuinty,

would receive 41% among decided vot-

ers if the election were held tomorrow, up

3 points since the start of the campaign

one month ago.

The Progressive Conservatives

under Tim Hudak would receive 31% of

the vote, down 6 points since the cam-

paign started. Andrea Horwath and the

NDP would garner 25% of the vote (up 1

point), while Mike Schreiner’s Green

Party would receive just 3% of the vote

(up 2 points). One percent (1%) of voters

are voting for some other party, and 6%

remain undecided in the final days of

the campaign.

While the campaign officially

began in September, the parties have

been actively campaigning since before

the summer began. In July, an Ipsos Reid

poll showed Hudak with an eleven-point

lead, saying that it was Hudak’s election

to lose. Over the course of the last three

months, Hudak’s Tories have dropped 11

points, while McGuinty’s Liberals have

gained 10 points, a complete reversal in

fortunes. It is now the incumbent Liberals

who are poised for a third-straight major-

ity government. Examining the vote by

region reveals underlying Liberal

strength in many areas of the province,

including the seat-rich GTA: In Toronto

proper, the Liberals (47%) hold a com-

manding lead over the second-place NDP

(29%), while the PCs (23%) are running

third. The Green Party (1%) trails.In the

905 GTA area code

surrounding the city,

the Liberals (42%)

lead the Tories (32%)

and the NDP (21%),

while the Green Party

(4%) lags behind.In

Central Ontario, the

Liberals (36%) and the

Progressive Conserva-

tives (35%) are tied,

with the NDP (24%)

and Green Party (4%)

behind.In Eastern On-

tario, the Grits (50%)

lead the Tories (35%),

NDP (13%) and Green

Party (2%).In South-

western Ontario, the

Liberals (36%), NDP

(34%) and PCs (28%)

are in a tight three-way

race, with the Green

Party (1%) trailing.In

Northern Ontario, the

NDP (40%) have the

lead with the Liberals

(28%) and PCs (28%)

tied for second place

and the Green Party (2%) behind.The

Liberals are in reach of a majority gov-

ernment, but the deciding factor on Elec-

tion Day will be the ability of each party

to mobilize its supporters and get out and

vote. While the majority (59%) of de-

cided voters, overall, are ‘absolutely cer-

tain’ that the party they currently support

will be the one they support on election

day, Tory voters appear most committed

to their choice with 66% indicating

they’re absolutely certain that this is the

party they will support, compared with

fewer Liberal (62%), NDP (50%), and

Green Party (54%) supporters who say

they’re locked in. However, the gap in

overall support is likely too large for the

PCs to close, even with the most commit-

ted voters in the electorate compared with

a less enthusiastic Liberal base. Four in

ten (39%) Ontarians say that ‘the Liberal

government under Premier Dalton

McGuinty has done a good job and de-

serves to be re-elected’ (up 1 point since

the start of the campaign), a number that

typically closely mirrors the proportion

of the popular vote for the incumbent

government. However, in August of last

year, just 30% thought that the Govern-

ment deserved re-election, meaning that

the Premier has convinced enough Ontar-

ians in the last year that his government

has done a good job and deserves another

term.

Conversely, half (53%) currently

say that ‘it is time for another provincial

political party to take over and run the

province’ (down 4 points), but this vote

will be split among all the other parties.

One in ten (7%) don’t know with which

statement they most closely identify (up

2 points). Likely explaining why the Lib-

erals are poised for their third straight

victory, a majority (54%) of Ontarians

believe that Ontario is ‘on the right track’

(down 4 points), compared to just four in

ten (39%) who say its ‘headed in the

wrong direction’ (up 5 points). One in ten

(7%) aren’t sure either way (down 1

point). By comparison, last year, most

(68%) Ontarians thought the province

was headed in the wrong direction, and

few (32%) thought it was headed on the

right track.Absent any major issue that

dominated the campaign, this contest was

often framed around leadership, and Dal-

ton McGuinty (37%, -2 points) bests his

rivals Tim Hudak (27%, -4 points) and

Andrea Horwath (25%, +5 points) when

it comes to the person Ontarians believe

would make the best Premier of the

province. One in ten (11%) aren’t sure

which of the leaders would make the best

Premier of Ontario (up 1 point).

By comparison, in 2010, Ipsos

Reid polling showed Hudak (37%) in the

lead over McGuinty (29%) and

Horwath (21%).

CAMBRIDGE, ONT. — File this

one under "the benefits of cam-

paigning with your wife."Liberal

Leader Dalton McGuinty and Terri,

a kindergarten teacher were prepar-

ing to read "Born to Read" to a

Grade 2 class Tuesday at Our Lady

of Fatima School in Cambridge, a

riding up for grabs after the retire-

ment of Progressive Conservative

MPP Gerry Martiniuk."We've got

room for one more right here,"

McGuinty said to the kids, patting

a space between himself and Terri,

who will celebrate their 31st an-

niversary Oct. 25."Any volun-

teers?"Hands shoot up and he picks

a girl in a pink top and ponytail

from the back.When McGuinty

quickly realizes the children al-

ready at the front of the class with

him are all girls, he momentarily

muses about picking a boy instead

but sees the girl coming up and re-

alizes the best course is to stick

with her.“You'll have to," Terri

prompts gently."I'll have to, I made

a decision, I gotta stick with the de-

cision," nods McGuinty, who has

been nailed by critics for promising

not to raise taxes and then raising

them, such as the 2004 health pre-

mium.Terri then asked, sweetly:

"Have you got your glasses on?"

CAMBRIDGE — Only Ontario Liberals have a jobs plan built on strong

schools, Premier Dalton McGuinty said today. “In schools all over On-

tario, test scores are up, class sizes are down, more students are graduating

and there’s been eight years of peace and stability. We have the best

schools in the English-speaking world,” said McGuinty. “But there’s

more to do. We know that a strong education system is key to creating

jobs and a stronger economy — so we need to keep moving forward and

build the world’s best-educated workforce.” McGuinty made his com-

ments following a visit to Our Lady of Fatima school with Ontario Liberal

Candidate for Cambridge Kathryn McGarry.

08 October 06, 2011 Courageous Journalism

Ford accused again of using cell phone while driving

McGuinty ‘born toread’ to Grade 2 class

$2.2 billion in Libyan assets out ofdeep freeze; thawing slowly: official

Hudak raises spectre of Grit-NDP coalition

CAMBRIDGE, ONT. — Filethis one under "the benefits ofcampaigning with yourwife."Liberal Leader DaltonMcGuinty and Terri, a kinder-garten teacher were preparing toread "Born to Read" to a Grade 2class Tuesday at Our Lady of Fa-tima School in Cambridge, a rid-ing up for grabs after theretirement of Progressive Con-servative MPP Gerry Mar-tiniuk."We've got room for onemore right here," McGuinty saidto the kids, patting a space be-tween himself and Terri, whowill celebrate their 31st anniver-sary Oct. 25."Any volunteers?"Hands shoot up and he picks a

girl in a pink top and ponytailfrom the back.When McGuintyquickly realizes the children al-ready at the front of the classwith him are all girls, he momen-tarily muses about picking a boyinstead but sees the girl comingup and realizes the best course isto stick with her.

“You'll have to," Terriprompts gently."I'll have to, Imade a decision, I gotta stickwith the decision," nodsMcGuinty, who has been nailedby critics for promising not toraise taxes and then raising them,such as the 2004 health pre-mium.Terri then asked, sweetly:"Have you got your glasses on?"

OTTAWA - Canadian officials have yet to entirelythaw Libyan assets, more than three weeks afterForeign Affairs Minister John Baird ordered themfreed for use by the country's transitional coun-cil.Barbara Martin, a senior official in the ForeignAffairs Department, has told a Commons com-mittee that getting access to the $2.2 billion infunds is complicated and still the subject of ne-gotiation.The U.S.-denominated funds are heldby Canadian branches of British banks.Martin, di-rector general of the department's Middle East bu-

reau, says the process of accessing the funds is"largely complete," and Libya's interim govern-ment needs to decide where to direct thecash.Canada sought a special exemption from theUnited Nations to free the cash for humanitarian purposes.

The federal government imposed the assetfreeze and a ban on financial transactions with thegovernment of Libya soon after the uprisingagainst dictator Moammar Gadhafi began last March.

Mayor Rob Ford has again been accused of usinghis cell phone while driving in Toronto.

Ford's press secretary Adrienne Batrasaid the mayor was aware that "this informationhas come to light," but would neither confirm nordeny the allegations in a phone interview.

"The mayor has been quite diligent aboutusing his OnStar," she said.

The Globe and Mail reported Tuesdaythat Ford was spotted in his minivan by semi-re-tired business owner Sarah Barrett near DundasStreet West and Spadina Avenue Monday, talkingand then later dialling on his cell phone.

In July, a Toronto woman alleged themayor gave her the finger after she asked him tohang up the phone.

OTTAWA—Using ominous tones, Pro-gressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudakwarned Ontarians Tuesday that a Liberalminority government propped up by theNDP will most assuredly raisetaxes.Hudak told reporters he’s convincedthe two parties are already cooking up adeal to wrest power in light of a TorontoStar poll published Tuesday that showsthe Liberals and Progressive Conserva-tives in a dead heat with less than twodays left in the election campaign.“Onething I am worried about is that the Lib-erals and the NDP get together in somekind of coalition and what that’s going tomean for tax hikes,” he said.“I think fam-ilies have every right to be concernedabout the Liberals being propped up bythe NDP.

We know where that is going toend up: higher taxes, more big govern-

ment spending, and as a result, fewer goodjobs in the province.”While the campaignappears close, Hudak’s hyper rhetoricseemed to suggest a growing resignationto the fact the Liberals have the momen-tum, while his appears to beflagging.Hudak challenged LiberalLeader Dalton McGuinty and NDPLeader Andrea Horwath to sign, as he has,the “Taxpayers Protection Act” pledgingnot to raise taxes of any sort.“I bet DaltonMcGuinty won’t sign that because heplans to use the NDP as an excuse to saythey forced his hand and then bring in an-other tax increase on families,” hesaid.Hudak was visiting the Mooney’sBay Bistro where co-owner Karole Hillsaid she could not understand how eachelection McGuinty can look into the cam-era and “lie” when he says he won’t raisetaxes.“A PC government will not raise

taxes nor will we support any tax increaseproposed by any other party,” Hudaksaid.“I wouldn’t be surprised if DaltonMcGuinty’s team is currently in negotia-tions with the NDP because DaltonMcGuinty is looking for any excuse in thebook to raise taxes and he will say ‘theNDP made me do it.’”Hudak also said hehas no intention whatsoever to open theabortion debate, despite suggestions fromspecial interest groups to the contrary.Andhe also noted that if elected, protesting na-tives will not be treated differently fromthe rest of Ontarians, referring to the con-tinuing native unrest of Caledonia “that’storn a community apart.”

“I expect the police to do theirjobs,” Hudak said.Horwath, speakingfrom a packed Sudbury rally, absolutelydenied there is any deal in the works withthe Liberals to form government and raise

taxes.“It’s interesting,” she said. “This isall about attack and accusations. Mr.Hudak knows my platform well, he hasborrowed pieces of it. I think it is clear theonly tax changes I am making are to stopthe blank checks to corporations. Rewardthe companies that are creating jobs andtraining workers.”Horwath wants to raisecorporate taxes back to 14 per cent andshe plans to offer tax credits for compa-nies that create new jobs.

There are a couple of days left inthe campaign, she said, and if the Torieswant to cling to negativity, “best of luckto them.”Horwath said she’ll let the peo-ple decide who governs on Thursday.“The campaign is still on, people are stillmaking their decisions,” she said. “We’llwait and see what they give us in terms ofa legislature and we’ll work with the leg-islature to get results for them.”

October 06, 2011 10 Courageous Journalism

Flaherty rejects new stimulus spending unless new recession happens

Ontario teen newest member of Canada's World Cup squad

OTTAWA - Finance Minister Jim Flaherty

laid out what it would take him to intro-

duce new stimulus to support the econ-

omy and jobs — a new recession.But

Flaherty said he's "relatively confident"

that will not happen.The minister's state-

ments Tuesday came minutes before the

Toronto Stock Exchange opened with an-

other big selloff, the dollar tumbled below

95 cents US and more dark news out of

Europe that Greece was edging closer to

a debt default.Tak-

ing a cue from Eu-

ropean markets,

the TSE index was

down almost 300

points by mid-

morning, after

shedding 372

points Monday."If

we had some sort

of world recession,

that would change

the picture dramat-

ically," Flaherty

said of the govern-

ment's approach."But I'm relatively con-

fident that what we're going to see in

Canada is modest economic growth over

the next little while. I'm comfortable ...

with that anticipation for the next little

while."Flaherty said he was willing to

throw overboard plans to balance the

budget in four years if a slump hit Canada

and more stimulus spending is needed.He

also said he believed the loonie's plunge

was a temporary phenomenon due to

flight to the "perceived safe haven" of the

U.S. dollar.With the global economy

slowing, demand is falling for Canadian

oil, copper, grain, chemicals, wood and

other resources that have underpinned the

export sector for years.That will likely

lead to weaker job growth, making it more

difficult for Canada's 1.4 million unem-

ployed to get jobs and pushing up the 7.3

per cent unemployment rate.The federal

government is coming under daily pres-

sure from opposition parties, particularly

the NDP, to abandon the budget scenario

it put in place in March when the econ-

omy appeared set for a full recovery.NDP

finance critic Peggy Nash has been hold-

ing almost daily press conferences argu-

ing that the situation has dramatically

changed for the worst since March, and a

new approach is needed. Liberal leader

Bob Rae said last week he believes the

Canada may be headed to a

recession.Both critics say the Harper Con-

servatives are running the risk of being

caught unprepared as they were in late

2008 when they refused to acknowledge

that a recession had begun until all three

opposition parties threatened to topple the

then minority government. They said pre-

cious time was wasted when the prime

minister prorogued Parliament for almost

two months to avoid defeat.Flaherty said

at a news conference to tout a previously

announced program to encourage small

business hiring that he is sticking to his

guns on his plans to

eliminate the deficit

in four years unless

something major

happens.Economists

so far have mostly

sided with Flaherty's

approach, saying Ot-

tawa should hold

back on new stimu-

lus until the down-

turn is confirmed.

But they also say the

likelihood of addi-

tional stimulus being

needed has risen."In

the absence of an ex-

ternal shock to the

Canadian economy,

we're on the right

track, we'll stay on

track," Flaherty said.

"The lesson of

Greece and some

other countries in Eu-

rope is that accumu-

lating deficits and

creating a large pub-

lic debt over time is

the worst thing you

can to an economy

and to the people of a

country and we have

no intention in going

that direction."Fiscal

rectitude is also a key

reason he said he

chose to publicly en-

dorse the Conserva-

tives in the upcoming

Ontario election,

suggesting that the

Liberal government

of Dalton McGuinty is too lax with the

province's finances.

Flaherty also said there are no

"emergency" plans among the G20 group

of nations to deal with the situation, say-

ing the power and decision to calm mar-

kets rest with European leaders.Global

policy-makers have been meeting regu-

larly on the European debt issue, but have

failed to produce the kind of consensus on

action to satisfy markets fearful that

Greece and other debt-burdened European

nations will trigger a financial crisis and

a second global slump.

Meet the newest member of the Canadian

men's soccer team.

Just 19, Joseph Di Chiara was a

virtual unknown to most before coach

Stephen Hart included the midfielder

from Thornhill, Ont., in his squad for

Canada's next two World Cup qualifiers.

Di Chiara, in his first year with

FC Krylia Sovetov Samara of the Russ-

ian premier league, was taken aback by

the senior team invitation. He had never

previously been in a Canadian camp at

any level.

"Yeah, I actually was kind of sur-

prised to get the call," he said. "I thought

maybe I'd play with some of the younger

teams but I was surprised to get the call

to the men's team."

Di Chiara is currently training

with the Canadian team in Sunrise, Fla.,

ahead of games Friday in St. Lucia and

Tuesday in Toronto against Puerto Rico.

So far so good.

"It's different from playing in

Russia so it will take a few days to get

used to but it's going well so far," he said

of training.

The six-foot-one midfielder

worked his way up the soccer ladder via

the Toronto-area Spartacus Soccer Club,

trying out in Germany and Russia before

landing with the so-called Soviet Wings

team. He has seen limited action with the

Samara-based side, having survived a

sports hernia, a fired coach and a team

struggling to escape the relegation zone.

But he has no regrets.

"I wanted to play over in Europe

and I figured Russia was a good place to

start," he explained. "It's a strong league

and I wasn't really thinking too much

about the (Canadian) national team. I was

thinking more about trying to start my

professional career and if I did well over

in Russia, I kind of figured Canada would

notice."

It just took a little time.

"I wasn't disappointed. Maybe I

just figured they just didn't think I was

good enough," he said. "Before Russia, I

hadn't really played on any big teams on

(done) anything to get Canada to really

notice to me.

"Coming to Russia, I guess the

national team, noticed."

Playing in Russia is a challenge,

especially for a teen far from home.

"Being on your own all the time,

having to always focus on your training.

Everything's about football," he said.

"You don't have much time to do other

things. "That's probably the No. 1 thing

young players have to really work on to

play over in Europe. And it's very diffi-

cult. You're away from your family,

you're thousands of miles away from

home. You have to really adapt for a dif-

ferent lifestyle."

Language is a major issue. While

his team also features players from Serbia

and France, he is taking Russian lessons

to ease the transition and makes use of an

interpreter.

On the field, Di Chiara describes

himself as a hard-working, tenacious and

comfortable on the ball.

"I thought he did very well in the

bits and pieces of the games that I saw

him playing in," said Hart. "He looked

composed, he looked technically sound.

He kept the ball moving through mid-

field." Should he make an appearance,

he will be the first teenager to appear for

Canada in a World Cup qualifier since

Jaime Peters played in a 1-0 win over

Guatemala in 2004.

Canada is 2-0 after winning its

opening two matches in the second stage

of CONCACAF qualifying.

The Canadian men, ranked 87th

in the world, play at No. 185 St. Lucia

before hosting No. 145 Puerto Rico at

BMO Field.

The winner of the four-team pool,

which also includes No. 123 St. Kitts and

Nevis, advances to the next stage of qual-

ifying in the region covering North and

Central America and the Caribbean.

10 October 06, 2011 Courageous Journalism

Hudak promises to stopMississauga power plant MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — ProgressiveConservative Leader Tim Hudakpledged Wednesday to get rid of a gas-fired power plant west of Toronto, justone day before Ontario voters head tothe polls. The Tory leader has repeatedlyderided Premier Dalton McGuinty forpromising to pull the plug on the 280-

megawatt facility midway through thecampaign, calling it a crass attempt tograb votes.

Asked if he'd scrap the Missis-sauga plant if he formed the next govern-ment, Hudak replied: "That's right.Done. Done, done, done."

The plant's site is also located ina key battleground in the provincial elec-tion -- the so-called 905 area outsideToronto that was painted Tory blue inMay's federal election.

And with recent polls indicatingthat the Liberals have a healthy leadgoing into Thursday's vote, the Tories arepulling out all the stops to convince vot-ers to support them.

On Wednesday, Hudak took re-porters and supporters to a parking lotnear the plant site to show that construc-tion is still going on despite the Liberalleader's pledge. "Look behind me. Imean, this is a living, breathing exampleof a broken Dalton McGuinty promise,"

he said. "How much money are taxpay-ers going to have to shovel into theground? And he said the project was can-celled, well then why is work still con-tinuing to this day?"

The Tories never supported theplant, which the Liberals tried to foist ona community that didn't want it, he said.

"To make mattersworse, for six years hesays it's the right thing,and then 11 days beforeelection day, he does aflip-flop?" Hudak said."We need a change inour province."

A PC governmentwould go to willingcommunities like Nanti-coke and Lambton,which already havetransmission lines and aworkforce at power pro-

duction facilities, he said. Some localresidents who oppose the plant saythey're not impressed with Hudak's last-minute pledge, and aren't thrilled withMcGuinty's either. Lori Anastacio, whoopposes the plant, said seeing construc-tion at the site is "very frustrating" giventhat the Liberals promised to stop theplant. "Yes, it's very odd that theybrought it up at the last minute beforeelections, when they could have can-celled it before," she said. "It's clearlyobvious they're using it. But also the PCsare using it as a card right now. Theproblem is, it's at the expense of the peo-ple." Residents have long opposed theGreenfield South plant, which straddlesthe Toronto-Mississauga border, sayingit was too close to homes, schools, a hos-pital, a hospice and a large mall.McGuinty said the community hadchanged significantly since the plant wasproposed in 2005, which was why hisparty had changed tack.

Ontario should followManitoba's lead: HorwathTORONTO — Ontario's New Democ-rats are hoping voters will follow Mani-toba's lead and make the "smart choice"of electing the party to lead theirprovince.

Buoyed by her party's win of afourth straight majority government inManitoba on Tuesday night, Ontarioleader Andrea Horwath setoff on an eight-stop tour ofsouthern Ontario onWednesday.

"We saw the elec-tion last night in Manitobawhere the NDP won, Ithink they made a smartchoice in Manitoba," Hor-wath said during a stop ata farmers market inToronto. "I'm hoping thepeople of Ontario willmake that same kind ofsmart choice." The NDPhave placed third in the polls so far butwith support sitting at around 25 percent, Horwath could be leading the partyinto its biggest gains in years. Somepolls also suggest the province could beheaded for a minority government, giv-ing the New Democrats the balance ofpower. A lot will depend on which partyis most successful at getting support onthe ballots, but Horwath said she wasn'tworried the lack of one big issue duringthe campaign would keep voters away,pointing to the high turnout at the ad-vance polls. The energetic leader, whohad planned stops in Mississauga, Niag-ara Falls, Kitchener, Guelph and Os-hawa, as well as Toronto, said that unlikesome of her rivals, she wasn't about toslow down with one day to go.

"For me, the whole campaign hasbeen about our momentum so there's noway that I was going to take a day offtoday or put my feet up," said Horwathwhen asked about Premier Dalton

McGuinty's three stops Wednesday.New polling suggests the Liberal

leader may be inching ahead, and whileMcGuinty downplayed the new numbersWednesday, he did appear to be keepinga low profile in the home stretch.

The Liberals did, however, takeissue with Horwath's comparison of her

party to Manitoba's NDP, saying thatwhile she planned to raise corporatetaxes, the Manitoba NDP cut corporatetaxes seven times.

"While defending her job-killing$9-billion corporate tax hike this morn-ing on CBC's Metro Morning, AndreaHorwath pretended the Manitoba NDPgovernment 'didn't reduce their corporatetaxes,"' the Liberals said in a release.

"In fact, the Manitoba NDP cutcorporate taxes seven times over sevenyears from 16.5 per cent to 12 per cent."

Progressive Conservative LeaderTim Hudak, who was making severalstops between Toronto and Brantford,also stopped in Mississauga. As a back-ground, he chose a controversial gas-fired power plant, which McGuinty haspromised to move. Hudak, who hasderided McGuinty for promising to scrapthe plant less than two weeks before theelection, made that same promiseWednesday.

Federal government moves to kill per-vote party subsidy

Canadians donate $70M to East Africa drought reliefOttawa says Canadians have donated $70million for East African famine relief,and the federal government will keep itspromise to match that amount.

International Co-operation Min-ister Bev Oda said the $70-million totalis a preliminary estimate of the donationsmade by Canadians between July 6 andSept. 16 of this year.

"Canadians have once againdemonstrated their compassion and gen-erosity by continuing to support the peo-ple of East Africa suffering from thiscatastrophic drought," Oda said Wednes-day when speaking at a conference inMontreal.

The total aid sent to East Africawill actually be twice that figure, as Ot-tawa has agreed to match each dollar that

Canadians donated to the cause over the July-September period. "The Canadian

gov-ernment is proud to partner with Canadi-ans to help those affected by the drought.

We continue to work with partners on theground to ensure Canadian aid is helpingthose who need it the most, includingwomen and children," said Oda.

Ottawa has already providedmore than $72 million this year to sup-port humanitarian operations in EastAfrica, where it is estimated that morethan 13 million people are being affectedby the ongoing drought.

The donation matching brings theCanadian government's spending ondrought relief to $142 million.

Oda said the Canadian Interna-tional Development Agency will distrib-ute the forthcoming donated-and-matched funds to humanitarian organiza-tions that will deliver aid to the people in need.

OTTAWA — It was a day of giving andtaking away for Canada's registered fed-eral political parties, but its impact will befelt for years.

The Conservative government in-troduced a bill Tuesday that, among otherthings, makes good on a campaign prom-ise to phase out the per-vote subsidy pro-vided to parties since 2004.

The legislation arrived at the sametime as quarterly cheques from ElectionsCanada based on the results of the May 2vote, a $7.4-million quarterly bonanzathat has become the mother's milk ofCanadian federal politics.

"Political parties should do theirown fundraising and not live off of tax-payer-funded handouts," Tim Uppal, theConservative minister of state for demo-cratic reform, said in an interview.

The subsidy, currently worth justmore than $2 per vote, will fall to $1.50in three months, to $1 in 2013 and to 50cents in 2014. By the time Canadians re-turn to the polls for a federal election in

2015, the subsidy will be gone altogether. The move will save Canadian tax-

payers about $30 million annually. That'sjust a fraction of the overall public cashthat benefits political parties, but the per-vote subsidy is easily the most visible.

Uppal said the government has nointention of reducing another $80 millionor so in taxpayer giveaways that politicalparties may receive in a year from fat re-bates and gold-plated donor tax breaks.

"The prime minister has said andits our view that there is a role for somepublic financing," explained Uppal. "Butit has to be tied to a party's own efforts, orthe willingness of voters to actually con-tribute money."

The Conservatives had 95,000donors who gave $20 or more in 2010, ac-cording to Elections Canada figures, mak-ing them by far the most successfulfundraising machine in Canadian politics.The party's $17.4-million take was $5 mil-lion more than the next four parties com-bined. About 70,000 Canadians made a

donation to the Liberal, New Democratic,Bloc Quebecois and Green parties com-bined last year.

So in total, some 165,000 peopleout of a population of 31 million con-tributed to a federal political party. Theper-vote subsidy in 2010 was based on thevoting preferences of 13.9 million Cana-dians in the 2008 election.

The quarterly per-vote subsidy de-livered Tuesday to each party reflected thevoting preferences of 14.8 million Cana-dians on May 2.

Detractors and proponents alike ofthe per-vote subsidy say its removal willhave a profound influence on federal pol-itics. In Uppal's estimation, "the result willbe that parties will spend more time en-gaging with Canadians."

Put another way: Don't answeryour phone, and you'd better buy a secondblue box.

The Conservative fundraising ma-chine spends about $7 million a yeardrumming up donations, according to

Tom Flanagan, a political scientist at theUniversity of Calgary who served as oneof Prime Minister Stephen Harper's topadvisers. "It's an expensive program,"said Flanagan. "It uses a lot of direct mailand a lot of telephoning, which is reallyexpensive."

Gerry Nicholls, a conservative,libertarian political commentator withfreedomforum.ca, took part in a U.S. stateprimary for a Republican candidate lastyear and saw the exacting toll of fundrais-ing first hand.

"One thing it does: it makesmoney much more valuable," Nichollssaid. "Politicians are going to be spendinga lot more time raising money."

That pushes politicians to "doshady things to get money," said Nicholls,adding "the only people that can afford torun are independently wealthy."

He thinks the current $1,000 do-nation limit should be raised to offset theloss of the subsidy.

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October 06, 2011 11Courageous Journalism

McGuinty says "lots of time left" in campaignWINDSOR, Ont. — Only the Ontario

Liberals will have people's backs in the

event of another economic downturn,

Premier Dalton McGuinty said Wednes-

day, the last full day of campaigning be-

fore voters cast their ballots.

It's the same theme that helped

propel Prime Minister Stephen Harper's

Conservatives to a majority government

May 2, and one McGuinty has stressed

throughout the Ontario campaign.

"There's only one party that has

got your back in good times and in not so

good times," McGuinty said after touring

an industrial shop at St. Clair College in

Windsor.

"There are some clouds forming

on the economic horizon. Who do you

want in your corner? Who do you want

on your side? Who do you know is going

to cover your back?"

Canadian Auto Workers president

Ken Lewenza joined McGuinty for the

campaign event, saying the Liberal

leader had done "an incredible job"

working closely with labour, bailing out

the auto companies in the last recession.

The union leader praised

McGuinty for investing taxpayers'

money to attract new businesses and

bring jobs to Ontario, and noted it was

something the Conservatives call corpo-

rate welfare.

"We have an opposition party in

the Hudak Tories that would suggest the

government plays no role in enticing in-

dustry to come to the province," said

Lewenza. "The reality today is they play

a significant role, and Premier McGuinty

has played a leading role in the auto in-

dustry." The Tories opposed Ontario's

move to join the federal government and

invest billions in the auto sector and

"would have cut those workers loose,"

said McGuinty.

"We did that in the context of the

last recession, and throughout that course

protected our schools, our health care, re-

trained

workers," he said.

"That's the kind of approach we

bring to these kind of things."

McGuinty was at the college to

talk about the Liberals' promise to reduce

tuition fees by 30 per cent for post-sec-

ondary students, and its Second Careers

retraining program for older workers. But

he clearly did not want to appear over-

confident, despite polls showing he could

win a third straight majority government

Thursday. "There's a lot of game time

left, so to speak, before the buzzer

sounds, and our shared responsibility is

to work as hard as we can, keep knocking

on those doors, keep making those calls,

keep

engaging people," he said.

"Who knows what the score is?

We'll have to wait and see."

The Liberal leader also declined

to say how he thinks his campaign has

gone, invoking the McGuinty family

motto: never look back.

While McGuinty was doing his

best to avoid being overtly partisan, Fi-

nance Minister Dwight Duncan said vot-

ers were "turned off by how negative"

Hudak's campaign has been.

The economy has people wor-

ried, added Duncan, and they like

McGuinty's positive message about how

to deal with an economic downturn.

"Who do we want running the show for

the next few years," asked Duncan? "Do

we want a guy who is more interested in

chain gangs than talking seriously about

the economy?"

Even though Lewenza was at

McGuinty's side for the Liberal cam-

paign event in Windsor, the New Democ-

rats point out the Windsor Labour

Council is backing the NDP in Windsor

West and Essex.

McGuinty's final day of the cam-

paign focused on communities along

Highway 401 from Windsor to Toronto,

the same areas he's concentrated on for

much of the past month.

12 October 06, 2011 Courageous Journalism