Author: Stephen Taylor

The NDP claims to be working for the average Canadian, yet their policies are way out of touch. Furthermore, their plans for dealing with Canada’s growing dependence on gas and Canada’s management of this resource are ill-conceived.

Consider this statement attributed to NDP MP Yvon Godin today. According to the Globe and Mail, “Godin said it is time for Canada to act like a federation by sharing energy resources internally at lower prices”.

Godin mused “Are we a country or are we not? Maybe Alberta is upset about it, but right now the whole country is upset that the price of oil is too high … When we have a province that has a problem, we ask the federal government to help. When a province is doing good, they say we want to be alone and leave us to all our money. Then what is a country?”

Are Mr. Godin and the NDP advocating for the creation of NEP 2?

So, what is the NDP’s stance on lowering the price at the pumps?

According to a policy document on the NDP website, the NDP wants to “Stop tilting the marketplace towards unsustainable fuel and, over four years, shift government subsidies away from unsustainable fuels towards renewable ones”.

While idealists might agree that this is a good idea, the technology isn’t there yet in practical terms for all Canadians. The NDP fixation on implementing the Kyoto protocol (an environmental accord with a wealth transfer program hidden underneath) will do no more than the Conservative environmental plan than transfer billions to developing countries in “hot air” credits. This annual loss will translate to a significant added cost at the pumps and will increase the cost of living for average working Canadians and their families. Now, depending on who you are, you might think that this is a fantastic idea. But then you’d be out of touch with the average working Canadian.

Justice John Gomery has said today that his final report will be delayed by six weeks due to the number of briefs received. The second report is expected in late February with the preliminary report expected November 1st.

The first report will detail who’s at fault and the second report will detail suggestions for the future prevention of corruption.

In my opinion, this may translate into good luck for the Liberals as an early April election would be more temperate for uneasy Liberals to go vote for Paul Martin’s embattled party. If the election had been held in late February instead, Liberal voters would have been less likely to make the trek to the polls, while Conservatives should be able to count on their determined base no matter the season.

I envision three scenarios: the government could fall before or after the report to straddle possible election dates around November 1st or the election will happen when Paul Martin calls it in late February after Gomery’s second report. Of course, the Liberals would prefer an apparent Tory/Bloc collapse of the government for an election before the first Gomery report is released. The Conservative’s ideal election date is about three weeks after November 1st (time enough for the Gomery details to sink in).

While the parties are sure to detail their plans for implementing Gomery’s recommendations if an election is called for early April, a building issue will be energy no matter when the election is called. One major fight will be whether tax cuts on fuel (Conservative plan), or nationalization of the oil/gas industry (Liberal plan) is more appropriate for providing relief to the Canadian energy consumer. This will add to the acerbic nature of what is sure to be an intensely vicious election campaign. Of course, nationalization is merely conjecture at this point but we’ve already seen evidence of Liberal trial balloons (with the Leger Leger poll for example).

However, the Gomery report is going to be the central issue, whenever the election is called. The Liberals and Conservatives will try to sell themselves to the public as the best equipped to implement change. However, even if I try to form a non-partisan view, I cannot imagine how the Liberals will appear better suited for the task.

One thing is for sure as a result of today’s announcement. Gomery’s delay will have Liberal and Tory strategists adjusting their long- and short-term plans.

As for the NDP, their decision will come down to whether they want to be Liberal liters or whether they want to increase their seat total in the 39th Parliament.

Dr. Mark Mullins is the executive director of the Fraser Institute and he showed up to give a great speech at Peter Jaworski’s Liberty Summer Seminar. Mullins speaks about the independence of the institute and its importance on advancing the research that the Fraser institute provides for the Canadian public.

The Institute measures a myriad of topics that are important in the current national discussion from healthcare to school report cards to trade and globalization. The Fraser Institute website itself is full of valuable information as many of the thinktank’s studies are available free online.

The Institute is an unequivocal cornerstone of the conservative movement in Canada and if you want to get a good idea about what makes your fellow conservatives (or your ideological opponents) tick, then give this podcast a listen.

Remember, you don’t need an iPod to listen to the Blogging Tories podcasts. Just turn up your computer speakers and download the MP3 using podcast aggregator software (can be download here).

This podcast is available on the Blogging Tories podcasting feed (podcasting instructions are here)

Or, you can download the MP3 directly.

A Blogging Tories programming note: Be sure to check out the podcast feed for interviews with three Conservative Party of Canada MPs that I added to the feed yesterday. The interviews were conducted by CPC Energy. The three MPs are Bradley Trost, Michael Chong and James Moore.