Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said he expects uncomfortably high levels of unemployment to persist "well into" next year, and that he is prepared to do more to help the jobless if the problem becomes worse than he currently foresees.

[url="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/jobless-may-need-more-help-flaherty-says/article1311403/"]Source[/url]

With Flaherty stating that unemployment rates are expected to rise in to next year is it responsible of our government to allow mass immigration to continue at the rate of 25,000 new Canadians per month?

Perhaps it's time to pare down t he numbers we allow in under certain circumstances. People who are bringing money and starting businesses inot Canada should continue but perhaps it's time to start cutting down or halting altogether allow entry to immigrants who are going straight onto the public dole and are unskilled workers who don't bring skills Canada needs at this time.

I think we need to find jobs for Canada's workers who are unemployed now and are already here instead of allowing more unemployed workers to come here.

With the number of unemployed set to rise into next year maybe it's time to start looking at some measures like this. I don't see how allowing unskilled labour into Canada at this time can possibly help our economy when these new immigrants will need language training, social assistance, government funded housing, etc. Doesn't seem like Canada can afford it right now.

What is Ignatieffs plan or policy?

Does he even have one? No wonder millions of Canadians are losing respect for Ignatieff and his support is falling faster then a souffle does with the oven door open.


I browse the 3 Federalist political party websites daily as a small hobby of mine. The way I see it it's a smart idea to know what the opposition is up to and what their plans are for Canada.

I go the Tory Website and I see they have a section clearly labeled "POLICY" and under it I may find all the details about what it is the would like to do in specific areas.

Next I go to the NDP website and am greeted by the ever smiling Jack Layton...and what's this...a section labeled "PLAN" and under it I find a litany of information pertaining to issues they have and how they'd like to see them addressed and how they plan to go about doing that. I don't agree with many of their ideals but hey at least they have proven that they stand for something and have a plan on how they would like to go about achieving those goals...fair enough.

Lastly I come upon the Liberal website and I must say it looks much better then it used to and I like the new logo better than the old one however it seems to be devoid of any mention of any policy or plan they may have for Canada. I find this extremely odd for a party that has been pushing so hard for an election to not have any solid plan or policy in place. I re-check the headings labeled as follows...

* Michael Ignatieff *Team * Party Central *Newsroom * Get Involved *Contribute

I figure there has to be some mistake and double then triple check under all the heading listed above searching for any trace of a policy or plan. I couldn't find one at all.

I'm led to ask the next question. What do the Liberals stand for? What is there plan for Canada and how do they plan to get there?

The Conservative Party and the NDP both have clearly laid out plans for Canada. Where is the Liberal Party led by Micheal Ignatieff's plan?

Is there a Liberal hidden agenda? It would immediately seem so as I don't see any mention of Plan or Policy so it's hidden from public view...why I ask..why hide it from Canadians Michael Ignatieff?

Liberals about to dump Ignatieff!

Ignatieff and his dreadful running or should I say ruining of the Liberal brand is finally starting to come to a head. Most of the Liberal grassroots hate this man and despise the fact that he was crowned leader of the Liberal Party forgoing any input at all from the grassroots Liberal party membership. He crowned himself after claiming to be a champion of human rights and democracy.

With the Liberals in Quebec at 26% and the Tories at 21% in Quebec one has to wonder how many seats the Liberals will lose in that province in the coming election. The Tories are poised to hang on to all of their 10 Quebec seats but with the Liberal Quebec numbers as low as they were with Dion it's reasonable to assume that the Liberals will drop even further in Quebec and actually lose seats in that province. They won't lose them to the Tories either but to the NDP which has seen a steady rise in Quebec as of late.

Ignatieff is completely out of touch with his grassroots. His arrogance is playing badly everywhere except in Toronto, home of the latte Liberal. Do the Liberals really expect Igantieffs arrogance to play well in Atlantic Canada with it's down home and down to Earth lifestyle? I find that hard to believe. One need to look no further then to his coronation as leader without any consultation or input from the grassroots. The man is completely out of touch.

The NDP is poised to take over as the official opposition in this posters mind with the Liberals ready to take over third place and relative obscurity. The NDP is already gaining ground in Quebec and in Atlantic Canada so how far behind to figure BC is? The NDP will replace the Liberal seats in BC imo in the next election. T

The Liberals will be reduced to parts of Toronto and parts of Montreal for the most part(no pun). The Tories are poised to gain a foothold in Toronto and will likely gain seats in the 416 as well as increase their take in the 905. The downtown core of Toronto will remain a Liberal stronghold however. The parts of Montreal that don't go Liberal will be replaced with the NDP orange.

As for PM Harper, well he has to thank Ignatieff for leading him and the Conservatives to a majority in the next election. Thanks Iggy!

Ruby Dhalla wants to give full pensions to people with 3 years residency in Canada!

There's been some web traffic on a Liberal proposal to allow elderly immigrants to qualify for the Canada Pension Plan after just three years in the country. It's usually accompanied by a video of Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla introducing the proposal last spring, seconded by Bob Rae. People, especially pensioners, are upset that immigrants should get access so quickly, having never paid into the system like the rest of us.
[b]Source/Full Story[/b]

This is completely outrageous. I am tired of the Liberals trying to give our money away. They are forgetting that this is [b]our[/b] money. There is no respect for the tax payer dollar at all. This is disgusting.

Giving an immigrant full benefits after 3 years of being in Canada just the same bebfit payed to someone who has been paying into the CPP for 40-50 years. This is outrageous.

It will not do anything to curb poverty, in fact I'm sure it will only add to Canada's burden as more poor immigrants will retire here. And who could blame them when they'd get free money for the rest of their lives without paying into the CPP.

If people are going to bring their extended family to Canada they need to support and provide funding for them, end of story.

I'm tired of my taxes going up and up and up. It's high time that the government drastically cuts spending and then reduces our tax burden. I'm not being partisdan either I'll blast the Tories as well if they don't curb spending when they get their majority. I'll give the ma free pass for now as they're in a minority situation and need to work with other parties but once their in majority they'd better get back to a small-c agenda at the minimum although I'd prefer a blue Tory agenda.

When will the Liberals finally be happy? When we're all paying 90% of our earnings to taxes and the entire middle class is in poverty?

This is an outrage.

We can't stop stimulus spending yet

...officials from 186 countries converged for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Thing is, almost no one thinks it’s time to exit.
All quotes and full story from this article.[/url]

Said Niall Ferguson, a professor of history and business at Harvard University and an authority on the Great Depression: “Withdrawal of stimulus could be fatal.”

Here we have a Harvard professor saying the end of stimulus too soon would kill Canada. Same school as Ignatieff taught at for years, maybe they know each other. Not to mention one of the most prestigious schools in the world. They are highly intelligent people there and don't hire idiots not do they admit them.

“We need evidence of sustained growth over a couple of quarters before we start implementing exit strategies,” Mr. Flaherty said.

Our own Finance Minister stating this very prudently and not very shocking to be honest. We cannot just jump around and pull the funding with out sufficient proof that the economy is showing signs of rebounding and staying up. All 3 opposition parties demanded and voted for stimulus spending to help Canada's economy.