Michael and me
July 15, 2010
As a guest on the Liberal Express I got first interview of the day.
I was rather surprised when Leeds Liberal candidate Marjory Loveys invited me for a ride from Brockville to Kingston on the Liberal Express, Michael Ignatieff’s ambitious summer march through all of the provinces and territories of Canada.
Marjory Loveys is a terrific interview because she knows politics and has a nimble mind. I use her whenever I can for columns because they always turn out interesting. Whatever she told the crew, they treated me with considerable deference, and maybe a little fear.
While we were waiting through the media scrum for a chance to board the bus a pleasant blonde woman beside me started to chat. I explained that scrums were of no use to me: I’m too deaf, so I prefer a one-on-one interview, and that this was the first time I had left home to do one. “Normally they come to me.” She smiled, amused, and we talked about the freedom which comes when one reaches a certain age. The kids are grown up, and one can start off on a major endeavour.
I introduced myself. She shook my hand, “I’m Zsuzsanna.” Ulp! Embarrassed. She quickly put me at ease and bade me welcome aboard the bus. Good start: I hadn’t recognized Ignatieff’s wife! Sweet lady, though. If I were a puppy I’d curl up at her feet.
The first available seat was with a young man in red t-shirt, one of the crew of interns with the Liberal headquarters in Ottawa. He’s from a town near St. John’s, Newfoundland, majoring in economics at Western. When the guy in charge warned me I was first up for an interview, I left my seat-mate my camera and made sure he knew how to use it.
The bus is set up with a number of seats facing tables. All except the leader’s are loaded with cookie bags, stacks of newspapers, and surprisingly large young men in dress shirts typing steadily on laptops. The bus has Internet. Somebody told me the password so I logged on and dashed off emails until my time came up.
With pen and pad in hand I moved up to join the trio at the table. Marjory beamed from the other side and Ottawa-Orleans candidate David Bertschi looked pleasant, if a bit detached. Mr. Ignatieff shook my hand and introduced himself as “Michael.”
“I’d like to begin with a question from political science, if you will.” Michael nodded. “It concerns the political spectrum. In the early sixties the Liberal Party could be comfortably described as slightly left-of-centre, but does the left-right distinction apply any more when people vote their wealth, their ethnicity, their religion, even their xenophobia? Is there a better way to distinguish between points of view?”
Silence. The Ottawa guy’s jaw dropped. Marjory grinned knowingly. She’s faced my questions before. Michael collected his thoughts for several agonizing seconds, then began:
“Since the time of Mike Pearson, Liberals have been a centrist party, a party of fiscal responsibility, strong defense, pensions, Medicare, and federalism with attention to the rights of Quebec. That was the centre. Some suggest we should move to the left or the right. We have many ideas in common with the NDP, but we are not the NDP. We can get it done.
“Stephen Harper pretends to be centrist, but he wants to move the political centre ten degrees to the right, and the people of Canada can’t let that happen.”
O.K., he’s just affirmed the basic assumption of Canadian politics. Nothing radical there. Time for the follow-up:
“I once wrote in a column that Michael Ignatieff is a better conservative than Stephen Harper. What do you have to offer to the Progressive Conservative who feels queasy these days?”
He’d fouled the first one back, but Michael watched this pitch drift across the plate, then knocked it out of the park.
“My uncle was George Grant, an ardent Red Tory and Canadian nationalist. He wrote Lament for a Nation. I grew up in a family where Red Tories and Liberals mixed freely. Moderate conservatives and Liberals are part of the same family.
“I don’t think Stephen Harper is a Red Tory. The Conservative campaign playbook is lifted from the playbook of the American Republican Party. Red Tories have always been ardent Canadian nationalists. While his tactics come from the United States, Harper’s ideas come from those of the Reform Party and the Canadian Alliance. They are no mystery.
“And there is definitely room in the Big Red Tent for Progressive Conservatives.”
I had my interview and time was running, so I closed with a general question about Leeds-Grenville Liberal candidate Marjory Loveys.
“What I like about Marjory Loveys is that she has put down roots here. She knows Ottawa and is unimpressed and unintimidated by it. She can get things done there.
“Marjory cares about ideas. I have talked with her in detail about economic development in Leeds-Grenville. We need for our young people to stay in the community. They shouldn’t have to leave for schooling, or for jobs. People shouldn’t have to travel away from their community for medical care. Marjory should make an excellent MP.”
From what I could see on the bus and in the interview, Michael Ignatieff takes a traditional approach to politics. He’s going about this tour the methodical way, stop by stop, talking with Canadians and picking up ideas and believers as he goes. For example, Michael commented with a smile at the end of our interview: “In four years in this business nobody has ever asked me an initial question like that.” But have you noticed how he slips “Progressive Conservative” into every speech now?
An Interview with Stephen Mazurek, Liberal Candidate
February 22, 2010
Property values in Westport are higher than in Smiths Falls. What’s going on in North Leeds?
North Leeds is a wonderful place to live. It is an absolutely beautiful part of the riding. I know people from all over Ontario love the wonderful waterfront, fantastic shops and great dining in Westport. It’s no wonder many people, especially seniors and young families, are choosing to move to this community. I suspect this increased demand is what has driven up the property values in that area.
Smiths Falls has been through a challenging couple of years; there is no doubt about that. We need to bring good-paying jobs back to that community and I believe we have the right economic plan and the right tax package to do it.
Mr. Harper and Mr. McGuinty have jointly created the 13% Harmonized Sales Tax. Would you explain a bit about what the HST will mean to voters in Leeds-Grenville?
The HST is just one element of the Liberal government’s comprehensive tax package that, taken together, will create 600,000 new jobs, increase business investment and leave more money in people’s pockets.
We are beginning to see signs of economic recovery, so governments have a choice. They can either choose to act, helping businesses create new jobs — or choose to do nothing, stand back and hope for the best. I am proud to say the Liberal government has chosen to act.
Moving to a single, value-added tax like the HST allows businesses, large and small, to be reimbursed for the PST they pay on the items they buy every day to run their business. Decreased costs for business will mean lower prices for consumers. In fact, a study by TD Bank showed that 95% of business cost savings will be passed on to the consumer within 3 years.
While businesses start hiring as their tax burden shrinks, people in Leeds-Grenville will also benefit from the $10.6 billion in permanent, personal tax relief which accompanies the HST legislation. We have already lowered the personal income tax rate on January 1st, cutting income taxes for 93% of Ontario taxpayers. Ontario now has the lowest income tax rate in all of Canada on the first $37,000 of income.
And while it is true that some prices on some items will go up, it is nowhere near what’s being suggested by some of my opponents. In fact, 83% of the things we buy will have no additional tax after July 1st.
Things exempt from cost increases because of the HST include basic groceries, prescriptions, clothing, children’s clothing and footwear, books, home cable and telephone service, cell phone charges, municipal water bills, your morning coffee and newspaper, restaurant meals, furniture and appliances, movie tickets, mortgage interest charges, prepared food under $4 and automobiles, to name just a few.
And finally, the people of Leeds-Grenville will also benefit from permanent, targeted tax cuts offsetting the increases on the remaining 17% of purchases.
Starting this July, and an integral part of the HST legislation, the new, permanent Ontario Sales Tax Credit will provide up to $260 for every low and middle-income Ontarian, paid out quarterly like the current GST credit. We are also doubling the Seniors’ Property Tax Credit to $500, helping seniors stay in their homes longer. And finally we also created a new, permanent Ontario Property Tax Credit that provides up to $950 for residents of homes, whether they rent or own.
We need a strong economy to support the high quality public services like hospitals and schools that we’ve all worked so hard to build. The government’s plan adds up to more jobs, greater prosperity and a brighter future for Leeds-Grenville.
In a recent article Mr. Runciman ripped Mr. McGuinty for his green plan, claiming that Hydro will have to pay out astronomical amounts to homeowners with solar panels. He claimed McGuinty’s numbers are “the stuff of fantasy”. Can you provide a more balanced look at the Green Initiative?
I think we can all agree that the days of cheap energy are over. Whether because of the economic or environmental impacts, we must turn to new sources of energy, harnessing the natural gifts of the planet – the sun, the wind, and our crops.
It is always amusing to listen to the Tories discuss things like climate change and energy production. Runciman is now part of a government that seems to deny that climate change is even a fact, and was part of a government, under Harris, that fought to keep coal plants open. This attitude was wrong then and is even worse now.
The Liberal government knows how critical this issue is, and has responded. We have already reduced Ontario’s use of dirty coal by one-third and will reduce it by another third next year. This will clean the air we breathe and improve our quality of life.
We also recently announced that we are protecting an area in Northern Ontario larger than Prince Edward Island from logging, which in addition to the Green Belt and our 50 Million Trees Program, will go a long way to turning back the clock on environmental destruction.
Putting the environmental reasons aside, I believe Leeds-Grenville is uniquely positioned to harness our natural elements to create the highly-skilled jobs we want right here at home.
While solar and wind power are seen by some as a pipe dream, the reality is the green energy revolution is happening right now and it is happening all around us. I was pleased to visit Upper Canada Generation Limited with the Premier just last week. That is a great example of a company that is creating the kinds of jobs we want by using leading-edge technology to turn the natural bounty of this riding into usable energy.
We must remember that leading-edge technologies often have upfront costs. I remember how much more computers cost 10 years ago compared to what they cost today. Wind turbines, solar panels and ethanol processing plants are no different. I think it’s important that we look at the overall cost, both environmental and economic, rather than just the specific rate for generation of a new energy source. While an initial feed-in tariff is needed to encourage investment in these right kinds of technology, I am confident that over time we will see wind turbines and solar panels dotting our landscape and benefitting both the environment and our pocket books.
the Walnut Diary 