And So It Begins...

The new session of Parliament is just gearing up and it promises to be interesting. Just how fast can the Conservatives deliver on their platform? The key is to get as much in as possible before the Libs, NDP and Bloc decide to pull the plug or the Conservatives decide they've done as much as they can and dissolve parliament on their own.

The following is what Conservative House Leader Rob Nicholson said to the CTV about the priorities of the Government:

He said it will focus on the five main priorities outlined by the Conservative party -- a GST cut, a child-care allowance, a new federal Accountability Act, a crackdown on crime and a health-care wait times guarantee.

Pretty simple. The sooner they get that done the better. They'll no doubt call an election as soon as they implement or pass these measures. IF the opposition thwarts their plans, they'll take it to the Canadian people and blame the opposition for forcing an election so soon after the last one. The last time no one wanted to take the heat for having an election. It will only be more difficult this time to do so for the opposition. Canadians will rightly feel the Libs, Bloc or NDP are only playing pure petty politics if they press the issue and bring the government down over something not seen to be "make or break" for the average Canadian.

Most people want to remove the GST (something the Libs promised, but never delivered and Sheila Copps had to resign over), help on child-care (money, plus corp. tax breaks for daycare spaces), real penalties for politicians who rip off Canadians (see the Liberal insiders in Quebec and Liberal party), tough on crime policies (esp. in Toronto due to the idiots shooting it up on the streets), and a health care wait time reduction (forced onto the national agenda by the Supremes).

Something I'd like to see get done asap is funding for the military in terms of new equipment. The troops in Afghanistan need better equipment and we also need some new naval power to patrol and exert our sovereignty over our northern waterways ie: the northwest passage.

Personally, I agree on one point with the opposition, the income tax cuts should stay (and increase) along with the GST cut. This will no doubt result in the Feds giving up tax revenue and force a reduction in services or, better yet, efficiency in the Public Sector delivery of services. Here's my vote for automating half the stuff the Feds do and reducing the size of the bureaucrat workforce and ministries to cover the revenue shortfall. I think they can do a more efficient job delivering the services we get at a lower cost. How about outsourcing all of the delivery or the back end processing to the private sector? Corporations do it, why not the Feds?

That however, is another topic for another day. Today is about the Throne speech and the start of a new parliament. I for one am looking forward to some needed reforms and the Conservatives keeping it simple and delivering on their five point plan.