THIS MAGAZINE: BECAUSE EVERTHING IS POLITICAL

Search for:

• FEATURES
• THIS & THAT
• ARTS & IDEAS
• FICTION & POETRY
• LETTERS
• BLOG THIS
•  
• SUBSCRIBE
• BACK ISSUES
• SUPPORT THIS
•  
• ABOUT THIS
• CONTRIBUTORS
• CONTACT THIS
• ADVERTISE
• SITE MAP

Home » Blog This

October 06, 2008

What have you got up your sleeve, Steve?

Posted by Melissa Wilson at 09:39 AM ET

After being mercilessly ridiculed at last week's leadership debates for not having released a party platform, Stephen Harper is apparently planning to unveil his master plan tomorrow.

Based on the past four-odd weeks of campaigning, here are my predictions for what the Tory 2008 Platform will promise:

For families
- Parents will continue to receive $100 monthly cheques for their little ones, which will come in handy when they have to quit their jobs to take care of their children due to a lack of available day care space.
- Parents will receive a tax credit for putting their children in artistic activities, which will be awesome until those children grow up and can't get any federal funding for the arts.
- Stricter regulations for marketing tobacco items to kids. (This, I fully support, though I admit I'll miss my Popeye cigarettes if Harper does away with them.)
- Self-employed men and women will be able to opt in to EI premiums, and therefore take advantage of maternal and paternal leave after having a child.

For the economy
- Harper will continue to insist that nothing is wrong, and nothing will go wrong. I expect his platform to reveal plans to erect a giant bubble over Canada to emphasize that we are not the United States.
- Help for first-time home buyers in the form of a $5,000 tax credit to go towards closing costs
- $24 million for the development of cruise destinations along the St. Lawrence. (Seriously?)

What do you predict will come out of the grand unveiling of the Conservative party platform?

More entries on: Election 2008

Previous: This blog has seven days
Next: You Have A Choice: Stop Being an Orphan Voter

---

Reader comments:

On gun control; Isn't it a little hypocritical to criticize The Harper Tories when the ridings with the most serious crimes & murders in downtown Toronto have absloutely no Tories in power at all and for many years? I bet that if they were in power, criminals would actually get punished!
Then remember all the years the Liberals talked about raising Health Care when it was they who decimated the Ontario Health Care System in the first place! Oh, and that one-time EU double dip in the personal deduction, wasn't that about 20 years ago? Liberals are great 'talkers'!

Posted by: Peter Clark at October 6, 2008 02:50 PM

•

Why do grownups need cheques from the government to be artists?!? If we were going to spend money on art education shouldn't we be spending it on kids when they're young to help them realize any talent they have?

Posted by: James at October 8, 2008 08:28 AM

•

---

Post your own comment:

Name:

Email Address:

URL:
Remember Me? YesNo

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)

---

 Subscribe to the feed

---

Blog This Must-Reads

---

---

---

Blog This Archives

May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
March 2000

---