This Editorial was jointly written by the Editorial Board of the Western Standard.As Canadians are sent to the polls more than two years before the fixed election date prescribes in legislation, voters must decide if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau deserves a third term, and if so, if he has earned a return to a majority government..The Western Standard believes that the answer to both of these questions is an emphatic “No”..But elections are supposed to be about more than simply judging the record of the incumbent government. They are supposed to be about judging who – if anyone – deserves to take the reins..To their credit, the Conservative Party of Canada laid out its entire platform for all to see on the first full day of the campaign. Rather than earn media coverage with dribs-and-drabs over four weeks, they presented the entire 160-page document in considerable detail. Voters don’t have to wait to see everything a Prime Minister Erin O’Toole says he would do..That is, everything except for how much it will cost..Balanced Budgets (D+).For the first time in the party’s modern history, it has declined to release any costing of their promises, nor any accounting as to how the two sides of the ledger will add up. Only a vague promise to “balancing the budget over the next decade.”.This should be more than disappointing for fiscal conservative voters. O’Toole’s promise to simply start spending less than the government brings in would require him to win three back-to-back majority governments. It is a political feat accomplished only once in Canadian history by a Conservative leader: Sir John A. MacDonald. Without a single poll showing the Conservatives even in minority government territory as yet, Mr. O’Toole’s optimism for his new dynasty is premature to say the least..No government at the federal level – and extraordinarily few at the provincial – has ever successfully executed a balanced budget plan across two terms in government, and certainly never across three..While the details of the Conservative platform costing are to be released soon by the Parliamentary Budget Officer, they will simply not hold any credibility in light of the political Act of God required to even attempt them..The platform itself is a mixed bag of good and bad that the Western Standard has analyzed in detail..Child Care (C).Alarmingly for parents that favour choice, the platform looks to Trudeau and Quebec’s $10/day government-run daycare plan for inspiration..“As the Quebec example has shown, increasing child care affordability increases the number of women who choose to work outside the home” it reads..The document itself is silent on if the Tories would scrap the hugely expensive $10/day program, and requests for clarification to the party have gone unanswered..Most mothers and fathers prefer choice in childcare, not a one-size-fits-all program run by a distant government. In the absence of any clarity on the issue, we fear O’Toole considers this program untouchable..Taxes (C-).The platform includes a nod to how overly complex Canada’s tax code has become and commits to reviewing it with an eye toward simplifying it. Unfortunately, the same platform contains at least 24 new complications to the tax code, many of them gimmicky vote-buying schemes..Speaking of taxes, the party is promising more of them. Big media laughed at Stephen Harper in 2015 when he warned of Trudeau imposing a “Netflix tax”, before Trudeau went ahead with just that. O’Toole has jumped on the bandwagon, promising to “[Make] foreign tech companies pay their fair share of taxes, including sales tax and a digital services tax representing 3% of the gross revenue in Canada if they don’t pay corporate income tax here.” These are costs that will get passed on to consumers relaxing with their favourite show..Carbon Tax (F-). EDITORIAL: O’Toole must goErin O’Toole signs the CTF’s “No Carbon Tax Pledge” .O’Toole also repeated his commitment to a large new carbon tax that he refers to as a “pricing mechanism.” This is a clear betrayal of the Conservative Party, its members, and its voters. While seeking the party’s leadership, he signed a written pledge in large blue ink promising to “immediately repeal the Trudeau carbon tax” and “Reject and future national carbon tax or cap-and-trade scheme.”.Once O’Toole was safely elected leader, he tore up this promise and devised a hyper-complex and expensive new carbon tax of his own. It is in many ways even worse than Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax..O’Toole’s carbon tax betrayal – repeated in the platform – should not be forgotten by conservatives or by Westerners..CBC (C+).Speaking of broken promises to Conservative members, O’Toole promised during the leadership campaign to defund the CBC. His platform commits to reviewing the mandate of English CBC, but won’t touch the French half, and certainly doesn’t mention anything about defunding it. All this is likely to do is provoke the CBC to continue acting as Trudeau’s media hitman, without any real gain..O’Toole says will also allow the Government of Quebec to directly appoint members to the board of the French CBC, although no such consideration is made for the governments of Alberta or Saskatchewan with English CBC..Quebec (D).The platform also commits to not challenging or intervening in the courts against Quebec’s Bill 21, a notoriously racist piece of legislation that would have the country up in arms if ever implemented in the West..The Conservatives seem intent on wooing La Belle Province at great cost. A word search of the platform finds the word “balanced budget” only once, where it promises not to cut any transfers to Quebec while it (slowly) attempts to do so..The platform goes to extremes to win favour with the Government of Québec, with a promise to apply the French Language Charter to federally regulated businesses operating in Québec. This will effectively ban the public use of English in Québec, even under federally regulated businesses..The platform also commits to “modernizing” the Official Languages Act, increasing the powers of the Official Languages Commissioner, and increasing francophone immigration outside of Québec..The West(C).On Western Canada, the platform rightly acknowledges the region – and Alberta in particular – has long paid disproportionately into confederation without getting much back..O’Toole would repeal Trudeau’s ‘no more pipelines’ and ‘no more tankers’ bill. He will also respect provincially-held Senate elections. This is good news for Westerners..But little is on the table for redressing the massive fiscal imbalance between what Alberta pays into confederation, and what it gets back. A commitment to amending the Fiscal Stabilization Fund is made, but that is a very short-term bandaid that will do nothing to address the longstanding fiscal imbalance..Not a word in the platform even hints at changes to the Equalization formula. Westerners – who overwhelmingly vote Conservative – deserve more for their political allegiance..Media Bailout (A+).While O’Toole is disappointing on the CBC, he comes out strong against Trudeau’s (permanent) media bailout. His platform commits to killing the $600 million in annual extortion money full stop. If implemented, this might go some way in forcing Canada’s aging legacy media to respond to the new reality..Firearms (B).Firearms owners also have cause for celebration in this platform as well, with a commitment to repealing Bill C-71 and the May 2020 cabinet decree that banned many otherwise legal firearms because the Liberals believed that they looked scary..Supply Management (F).Also in the good news category is a commitment to crack down on food price-fixing, even with jail times. Unfortunately, the Conservative commitment to competition in agribusiness does not extend to Canada’s Soviet-style system of “supply management”, which they promise to defend just as stridently as the Liberals or NDP..Immigration and Refugees (A+).With the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, refugees are sure to become a hot political issue again, as desperate people flee the slaughter of 21st-century barbarians..While not getting many pickups in the government-funded media, the platform proposes important and positive changes to Canada’s refugee system. It promises to “replace public, government-assisted refugee places with more private and joint sponsorship”..Across the board, privately sponsored refugees are extraordinarily more likely to succeed in Canada than those sponsored by the government, with higher rates of employment and more successful assimilation, and lower rates of criminal activity and less chronic government substance. This is common-sense policy that will save taxpayers money, and create a brighter future for those reaching our shores..Overall Platform (C).“It’s a plan. A very detailed plan” reads the opening words of the platform, personally signed by Erin O’Toole. And that it is. At 160 pages, the Conservatives have laid it out for voters..Unfortunately, the plan is much longer on details than it is on any real change from the essential policies of the Trudeau government..Conservative voters, and Westerners in particular need more than a change of management in Ottawa..This Editorial was jointly written by the Editorial Board of the Western Standard
