I Am Entitled To My Entitlements …

 

Author Known:  The Honourable (former) Liberal Minister from Nova Scotia,  David Dingwall.

As we can all see across this country and the western world, there are numerous Dingwalls bitching and complaining about their loss of entitlements.

Some of them have a right to their complaints – others like the spoiled University Students in Quebec do not.

But the fact remains, many are complaining – some violently – and it will only get worse as Western Democracies try to get their debts and deficits under control in the face of their aging populations.  Fewer and Fewer will be working and paying taxes for more and more retirees.

Dear Reader – it is simply a fact of life and a fact of the times we now live in.

I truly wish it were otherwise.  I too like my entitlements – indeed if it could be, I would like to see us all ‘entitled’ from birth to grave – sounds heavenly as indeed it would be.  The trouble with this scenario is that only workaholics would be left to do the heavy lifting and they too would soon tire of supporting the rest.

So what is the answer?

Well that is the simple part – cut spending – but that should have started 20 years ago.  Sadly we have left it too late.  Certainly for the PIIG Countries of Europe. It will get done, but how much greater the pain.  When cutbacks would have worked years ago, we now face massive slashing.

Now this leads me to Prime Minister Harper – bless him.  He and his Government are doing many things right – despite the comments of the Liberal Media.  But he is also doing some things wrong – e.g. prison expansion.  There are already too many incarcerated that need not be.

But I also believe his reduction in the Civil Service is being done incorrectly too.  Not that it does not need to be drastically reduced – it does – but we here in Canada are still a little bit better off than many European Nations – we still have time – I think – to go about these reductions more humanely.

If I was Prime Minister for a day – here is what I would do:

1.  I would let attrition do its thing.  I am a boomer and am retired from the civil service – there are many, many like me who are about to call it a work day so to speak and if given a little time – there would be thousands leaving.

2.  Consultants – get rid of them – they are charging you and I on average $800 a day for work that a motivated bureaucracy could and should do.

3.  Term Employees – send them out the door – but send them with a number.  They will be needed once the boomers retire in great number.  Tell them they will come back if they still wanted to at that time.

4. If that does not balance the books – then impose an across the board wage reduction – say 10% starting with the Prime Minister’s salary and working down from there.  If that is not enough – set the rate of reduction to the point where it does the trick.

Bottom line – the civil service does not lose any permanent staff involuntarily.

The Unions will still bitch as their membership (power) decreases, but it is not only the most humane way to proceed – it is also the right way to proceed.

As I see it …

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

Four Letters In The Mail …

 

And by Snail Mail no less!!

“Mr. Smith, I have today’s mail for you”

“Thank you Diane”   “Only 4” ?

“That’s all today, sir”.

“Well let’s see what we have here – oh first a letter from the local Town Council”:

Attention:  Donald Smith, President of ACME Manufacturing – Dear Don:

Our Council would like to honour you and your company to celebrate your company’s presence in our community for the past 100 years.  We are most indebted to you, and to your late father and grandfather for the vision in choosing to come to our town.

As you know, ACME is our largest employer and over the past century has enabled millions upon millions of dollars to be spent in our fair community.  Moreover, for each of your 100 employees, another 2 to 3 jobs have been created in spin-off.

Given this we would like to host a dinner in your honour at a time suitable to yourself.  Please therefore let us know if you are agreeable to our suggestion, and if so, what date would be most suitable, to you, to hold the dinner.

Sincerely,

The Mayor

p.s.  As we do not have a budget for such dinners we are counting on you and your employees to purchase the tickets in advance and to arrange for their sale to the broader community.

“Well I was truly honoured until I read their p.s.”

“What’s next”?

“A letter from the Province of Ontario”

Dear Mr. Smith,

We regret to advise you that our recent budget provides a surcharge on your income tax since our records show, in the past year, you earned an income in the top 1% of Ontario Taxpayers.

We know that this is not particularly good news for you but trust you will realize what a patriotic thing you are doing on all our citizens’ behalf'.

Sincerely

Treasurer of Ontario

“You xxxxx, you’ve got a lot of nerve”.

“Oh I see my accountant has written – maybe I should have started with his letter first”

Hi Don,

Not much good news to report, indeed most of it is quite bleak.

ACME’s costs continue to climb especially due to the 300% hike in the hydro rates.  Since ACME is selling internationally, you are competing with numerous others who are not burdened by such radical increases and thus your ability to pass these increases along to your customers is greatly impaired. 

On the good news side, since costs are up, income will be down and I suspect, the new provincial surcharge on high income earners will not apply to you in the current year.

Should you wish to discuss this further, I am at your disposal.

Sincerely,

Your hard working accountant

“He is becoming far too jolly for my liking”

“So what’s next”?

“A foreign stamp”?

Dear Mr. Smith,

A letter from your neighbour to the south. 

Did you know we are only 60 miles apart as the crow flies?

We understand that costs are ever climbing for you especially as they relate to taxes and energy and we’d like to offer you a solution.

First, in regard to your increasing hydro costs.  Did you know that we obtain our hydro from another one of your neighbours – Quebec, for less than 6 cents per kwh?  That is a third to a quarter of what you are now paying commercially and, as you know, the differential will only worsen over time.

Plus our taxes are the lowest among industrial countries.  We can guarantee you that your taxes here will decline by at least 50% and that is before taking into account the new Ontario surtax on high income earners.

Finally, just to sweeten things even more for you; our municipality is prepared to build you a factory – all equipment in, and rent it to you at cost – with the first 10 years being entirely rent free.

Hopefully Mr. Smith you have not fallen off your chair.

I will telephone you within the next two days with a view to arranging a face to face meeting so we can explore this exciting possibility together.

Kindest regards,

Your Friendly Southern Neighbour

“Why didn’t I read this letter first”?

“Diane, get me my wife on the phone and then my accountant”.

Change is afoot in Ontario.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

Story Time; or should we say Stories ....

Now let me tell you a story about Little Red Riding Hood and Pinocchio; they have something in common and something quite different from one another, beside the red cloak and long nose.

In common, they are both big spenders and lovers of big government.  They differ in that Little Red Riding Hood is not afraid to tell the truth about her big spending ways.  Pinocchio, as his name implies, cannot bring himself to admit his failing.

Little Red Riding Hood won a spectacular victory last eve in Alberta while Pinocchio preserved his minority government by doing a deal with the Devil.  Both will end their careers one day with very healthy taxpayer funded pensions.  It is the rest of us who will be on our own.

They are similar in another respect - both lead left of centre parties - more like the NDP than the PC and Liberal Parties they pretend to lead.

Singularly and together they represent a failure for Canada.

Canada's debt, combined with Provincial debt and pension shortfalls, rival Europe and the United States in the race to declare bankruptcy first.  The two initiatives of yesterday, gives great boost to Canada's efforts to claim the prize first.

All Provinces east of, and including Ontario, are now classified as have-not.  Only two provinces now fund the rest - Alberta and Saskatchewan.  Yesterday's election will insure that Alberta's ability to continue its largess will become more and more impaired. 

For Ontario, we have already seen an out flow of manufacturing and entrepreneurs and this trend will only accelerate.  I suspect the prime beneficiary of this out flow will be the United States as it continues to move to recovery.

McGuinty and Alison 'the Red' Redford, are totally ignoring what is taking place in such states as Spain and Greece.  Both have unemployment rates in excess of 20% while those under 25 face a rate exceeding 50%.

The majority of Canadians continue to live in a dream world and seem to love stories like the two above.  In unemployment, they will have lots of reading time.

As I see it...

'K.D. Galagher'

Peter MacKay Still Number One …

 

At least in my books.

The Opposition and Liberal Press are now calling for MacKay’s resignation in light of the Auditor General’s criticism of DND in the F-35 procurement.

Indeed, I did a Blog way back when somewhat critical of this expenditure too but along the way have had to modify my position.

My main concern about this expenditure then centred on the fact that, as a middle power, Canada could not, nor should not, seek out such ‘Cadillac’ military hardware to begin with. I cannot recall if I said so at the time, but my concern was subject to what other NATO nations were doing in this area.  If collectively they had decided that this was the best military plane to buy then we here in Canada needed to be onside too and this turned out to be exactly what had occurred.  The Tories for some reason did not properly explain this.

I have said on countless occasions that the days of relying upon the USA for world protection are quickly coming to an end if for no other reason than they are broke.  If the world is to remain as safe as possible – it will not be the United Nations that steps up to the plate – it will be NATO.  And with NATO deciding that the best aircraft to buy is the F-35 – then Canada needs to acquire its fair share. We cannot go into battle with each member nation employing different machines.

And to build on that, Canada as well as the other NATO Nations need to be taking more of their marching orders from NATO rather than the UN which is now dominated by petty tyrants, megalomaniacs, crooks and thieves. 

But there is another reason why we need the very best in aircraft.  The days of the ground wars are also coming to an end. Vietnam, Iraq, and currently Afghanistan have taught the West the futility of sending in ‘boots on the ground’.  We need to Rule from the Skies.  If and when an enemy pokes his head out of his cave or wherever, blow it off from above.  We saw a good example of this in Libya where NATO did its thing in the air, led by a Canadian General no less, while the locals did the mop-up from below. 

So the future of warfare, dear reader, is in the air.  We’ll still need boats to transport and support the planes but the heavy lifting will be done by our piloted planes and pilotless drones. The huge casualties as sustained by young Americans over the years will be a thing of the past.  When ground action is required it will fall to the special forces to execute and then quickly get the hell out.

So there you have it.

Maybe DND did not procure properly, but it did the right thing.  The problem then is with respect to our Procurement Requirements so we need to get to work and update them so they work in everyone’s favour but the bad guys.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

Racial Tension in America

 

As many of you will know, I was most surprised at the deteriorating race relations in the US as was during Obama’s 2008 election campaign.  And it wasn’t being caused by the white side of the equation.  Blacks were and continue to be bitter as evidenced by Obama’s own pastor and even his wife – the latter being quoted that the only time she could recall being proud to be an American was with the election of her husband.  Here is a woman who has been educated on the dime of the American taxpayer and has reached professional heights that only a select few can aspire to.

I am not suggesting that Blacks do have reason to be bitter – but I also know, that as long as they wallow in that bitterness, their problems – and there are many, will not be resolved.  Unemployment, husbandless wives, addiction, crime and the list goes on.

Their Leaders like Reverend Wright, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and so on, use this bitterness to attack ‘the man’ to try to wrestle out more concessions and use it as an excuse to explain abhorrent Black behaviour.  Again I am not suggesting that all Blacks behave in this manner nor even a majority – but I am saying that a significant minority do.

So it takes us to Florida where a week ago a Black teenager was shot dead by a 50% White / 50% Hispanic neighbourhood watch chap.  The police investigated and determined that the Black teenager was the aggressor and no charges were laid.  When word got out, the Black community went wild. Even the President entered the fray speaking out on behalf of the teenager.

The anger of Black Americans has reached such heights that violence in the streets is now a most likely outcome.  So here is what I think.

I think the neighbourhood watch chap should have been arrested.  I will go even further, I think the guy is guilty of murder. The young black had been out that evening to a store to buy some candy.  On his way home he passed the neighbour watch at which point the watch called the police saying he had encountered a suspicious looking Black – and he was wearing a hoody to boot.  The police told him they’d handle it and ordered him to stay put and not to follow the teen.  The guy went ahead any was and subsequent a fight ensued which ended in the Black kid’s death.  There are some accounts that the Black had told his girlfriend he was being followed and that he was scared.  What is not in doubt is the fact that the neighbourhood watch guy had been told to stand fast and he did not so form my perspective as a former lawyer, he loses his right to shoot in self defence. But that is just my opinion.

So what is also clear is that this case begs for a trial.  The shooter needs to be charged and the case decided before the court.  After all that is our system of justice – innocent until proven guilty.

Black Leaders are not so magnanimous.  They view this as a racial killing and are going to great lengths to still up their community.

Obama too was wrong to get involved – and this is not the first time that he has done this.  As President, he represents all the people and must refrain from getting personally involved at least until all the facts are known. His actions too then simply reinforce the Black Community’s anger.

And in defence of the Neighbourhood Watch generally, they have seen far too much violence and robbery committed by members of this minority community.  Is it any wonder then that a nervous neighbourhood watch chap grew suspicious in the first place and when he called the cops, they took his information seriously. 

To add to this, a few days after the above killing, as Asian shopkeeper was killed by three blacks wearing hoodies and the liberal media paid it no mind. 

If I was a Black Leader hopefully I would have the courage to say the following:

Today a young black teenager was shot by a neighbourhood watch and all that kid was doing was returning home from a store where he bought some candy.  I believe the neighbourhood watch was wrong to have shot this young boy and he should be charged and a trial held to confirm the facts of what went down and I will not rest until this is done.  But in the broader picture this killing is a symptom of something even more terrible. Too many of our youth are engaged in criminal activity and America is frightened – Whites, Blacks and Hispanics in makes no difference.  And we must face the truth; there are more black kids killed by other blacks than there are by whites. 

As a Black Leader I look to other Black Leaders to work with me in finding a way to stop this spiral down.  We cannot rest until we make America safe for all its citizens regardless of race.

Until Black Leaders, and in Canada one could say Aboriginal Leaders, speak and act this way, things are more apt to get even worse.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

More Important Than Ontario’s Budget…

 

I was reading today’s papers regarding Ontario’s miserable attempt at reigning in its out of control debt / deficit with yesterday’s budget.  The papers were unanimous in saying the Grits missed an the opportunity to do things of significance and certainly it did not follow the advice given in its very own Don Drummond Report.

That said, I did not expect much more than was offered up.  It will be the next budget that will begin to seriously deal with the Province’s out of control spending.  But sadly, once again, the Dalton and boys have postponed the inevitable and by doing so ensures that the remedy, when it comes, will be much more severe than it needed to be had they acted sooner.

Many are clamouring for an election but not your humble servant.  McGuinty has spent 9 years digging himself into this hole and it behoves him to be the one to dig himself out.  Moreover Ontarians have elected this bozo on three separate occasions so I am not too to sympathetic with their plight either. 

But that is not why I am writing this column.  In the scheme of things, McGuinty and Company really do not matter when compared to the following story.

Yesterday a British Student, Liam Stacey, was sentenced to 56 days in jail for ‘tweeting’.  A Black Footballer had suffered a heart attack on the field and Stacey reprehensibly wrote the following: “LOL F*** Muamba.  He’s dead!!!” 

The Footballer is recovering in hospital.

The issue here is not whether or not the statement tweeted by Stacey is obnoxious – rather, it is whether or not in a free society the right exists to make such an obnoxious statement and not be fined or go to jail for doing so.

I am a regular viewer of Fox News and many times they have shown clips of militant blacks calling for death to whites even to the point of declaring that this should include “their white babies.”  I would say these types of statements do cross the line since they appear to actively promote the killing of white citizens and in that sense go beyond what Liam Stacey was saying.  But in another sense, I am glad in a free society to be able to hear such things said since it shows that relations between the races are in serious trouble.  As citizens, we not only have the right to know this, but steps to improve relations between the races are unlikely to improve unless we do know the extent of the alienation.

Note too, other than for Fox News, you would never hear what the Black Militants are saying since the main stream media avoids the issue entirely.

But going back to the British Student and his 56 day jail sentence.  If he is not free to say what he wants, when he wants, then we are not free to say what we want, when we want and democracy withers and dies.

Democracy does not come about freely, a heavy price has been and will continue to be paid for it.  It is not without pain and to be truly free means having to hear others say things we would rather not be exposed to and yet must be.

In the scheme of things, it makes McGuinty’s situation seem small.  He is simply bankrupting us, jailing the Stacey’s of the world is taking our freedom away.  As for me, I would rather be poor and free than rich and forced silent.

As I see it ..

‘K.D. Galagher’

I Have Done It Again…

 

I picked Mulcair to win yesterday’s NDP Leadership vote.

How is it that I am always correct?

“You, in the back, with your hand up…what is it?”

Oh yes, I did also say that ‘in the end, common sense would prevail and he’d not get elected’.

“Thank you so much for pointing out that little inconsistency”.

So I hedged my bets…

That said, it was Mulcair’s to lose and in the end, he didn’t.  But to me, the big losers in all of this are the NDP itself, and more importantly, Canada.

Permit me to explain:

First let’s look at what the NDP has gained with Mulcair as its new Leader.

Until very recently, Mulcair was a Liberal having served in Jean Charest’s Cabinet in Quebec.

He then toyed with the idea of joining the Tories but finally decided to go with the NDP – a reverse of what Pierre Elliott did, that stalwart Liberal, going from the Dippers to the Libs.

And he so loved his newly adopted Party that he donated not one red cent to its coffers.  You cannot put a price on love.

Add to this the fact of his being the only Federal MP who sees 9/11 as an inside job by the USA and its Jewish friends. The guy has astounding insight.

And I haven’t even dealt with his pettiness and quick temper but as you can readily see, the NDP has inherited a real gem.

Now what about Canada?

I mean in addition to inheriting this most principled of men.

Well first off, he is on record as wanting Quebec’s infamous Bill 101 extended to Federal Institutions in that Province.  You’ll remember Bill 101 – it is the one that the United Nations called discriminatory and asked for its repeal in that it provides for French Only in our supposed bilingual nation.  Bourassa, then Premier, had to use the Not Withstanding Clause to implement and retain it. 

Mulcair is also a strong opponent of Alberta’s “dirty oil”.  You know – the oil that is paying for Quebec’s outrageous annual Federal Transfer payments.  He would be far more principled, if at the same time he was condemning this ‘dirty oil,’ he came out against receiving monies that stemmed from it.  Maybe now as Leader he will do just that.  (Only kidding)

And, despite the fact that he hails from Quebec, one of his first actions was to install a Quebec Deputy Leader.  Redundant, n’est pas?

The greatest danger though, I see here, is that Mulcair is now the Leader of a Party mostly based in Quebec – 58 of its 102 members.  The Bloc is coming back to life and I can see that he will do his damnedest to try to out bloc the Bloc.  They are his real opponents in Quebec and will be so at the time of the next election; it will be neither the Liberals or the Conservatives.

Okay so his loyalties are split between Quebec and Canada but at least they are confined to the geography of North America resting above the United States.

“What’s that?”

Oh yes, I had forgotten – Mulcair is also a citizen of France.

Oh well how can you criticize someone who is loyal to everyone – to the Liberals, to the Tories, to the NDP, to Quebec, to Canada, to France … the guy just has loyalty to burn.

As I see it..

‘K.D. Galagher’