(*with thanks to Itsik Romano and apologies to Dr. Strangelove)
In my previous piece, I outlined how a recent propagandist pamphlet made its insidious way into the mailboxes of Pierrefonds-Dollard residents, and all the things that were wrong with it.
Now I would like to point out everything that was right with the pamphlet: Stephen Harper.
How can that be? An NDP Member of Parliament promoting the Conservative Party? She sure did!
See, Ms. Blanchette-Lamothe's deceptions didn't end with her outright falsehoods attempting to discredit the government. They continued with the long list of tax credits and deductions Canadians are lucky enough to count among our entitlements.
Here's the punchline: most of those tax credits and deductions are Harper initiatives! Yes, the NDP seems to be embracing Prime Minister Harper's love for families and taxpayers with the love shown in this pamphlet for his initiatives.
For example: the "Children's Fitness Tax Credit was recently increased from $500 to $1000 effective for 2014 and subsequent tax years." I put that in quotation marks because it is a direct citation from the pamphlet circulated by the NDP rep in my riding. She seems to like this, wouldn't you agree? She should - it is a bold initiative, amounting to $3,000,000,000 (that's 3 BILLION dollars) set aside by the Harper government for this purpose. I'd say that's a very positive and beneficial initiative our Prime Minister's administration has instituted. I'd also say Ms. Blanchette-Lamothe is a fan.
Let's take Child care expenses - also in this pamphlet. The deductions allowable by the Canadian government have now been increased from $7,000 to $8,000 for each child under the age of 7, from $4,000 to $5,000 for each child aged 7 to 16 (or for infirm dependent children over the age of 16), and from $10,000 to $11,000 for children eligible for the Disability Tax Credit. For families who have dependents, this is a huge benefit, and again, the Harper government put this in place.
How about valuing the arts? If you've paid for a child to participate in an arts program, there is a $500 tax credit coming your way. How can this be bad? Well, for the NDP it is; they didn't come up with it.
Harper's income-splitting program is a controversial one, as it benefits two-parent families. Much has been written in favor and against it. Ms. Blanchette-Lamothe's pamphlet skewers the government for the program, but in the very next paragraph, she discusses helping families - by raising the minimum wage. As I discussed in Part 1 of this piece, that makes no sense. Most two-parent families do not subsist on minimum-wage jobs and would likely end up being single-income families if that were the case and the NDP got its way.
Instead, helping families is what the income-splitting program does, and while it doesn't benefit every Canadian, what program does?
In short, do the research. Prime Minister Harper has already done an extremely good job of helping the Canadian economy to flourish, and he is dedicated to continuing that job. Ms. Blanchette-Lamothe's
If we allow this kind of spin to dictate our votes in the fall, we are giving into deception and outright lies. Do you want a government that lies to you and smiles from the pages of a booklet? Or do you want a government that will keep helping this economy to thrive and citizens to grow in all walks of life?
I think you know the answer to that. Remember: knowledge is power. Arm yourself with information.
As you all know, Valérie Assouline is our Conservative Party candidate for this riding, and I urge you all to get to know her. Talk to me - we can hold meaningful dialogue if you're willing to think for yourselves, and if you're willing to listen to the issues, not the reputation, deceit or misleading words that form an inaccurate opinion.
We thank Ms. Blanchette-Lamothe for her loving treatment of Mr. Harper's initiatives for Canadians. We just wish she'd given credit where credit is due.
No comments:
Post a Comment