Illegal Smokes

More than 2 billion dollars of government revenue has been lost from "illegal cigarettes" . Illegal cigarette purchases in Ontario have risen to 48%. This is causing a huge problem considering that not only the government is not getting the money from these sales nor are the tobacco companies. It appears that Quebec and Ontario make up for 95% of illegal cigarette sales in Canada. The illegal untaxed and unregulated cigarettes are sold much cheaper than legal ones and are also sold to underage kids.

Government officials and tobacco activists are genuinely concerned for this issue seeing how accessible these tobacco products are to the underage. They fear that since it is so easy to access, that young people will pick up the habit at a young age. Not every one is looking after the children as this is what Imperial had to say, "it's out of control right now," costing governments $2.4 billion in missed tax revenue last year. You can tell that their main concern is the money, if the government is loosing money from these sales then it is obvious that Imperial are also loosing money. Pretty typical of a tobacco company, instead of worrying about the young age of consumption their worrying about why these underage kids aren't buying their smokes!

A wide range of groups are concerned for this issue. Who wouldn't? The illegal sales are contradicting the progress that has been made against smoking. Smokes are expensive for a reason and what these illegal cigarettes are doing is erasing any progress that we have made. From this issue two problems arise one of which being young kids are smoking at a younger age and the second is the accessibility of these cheap cigarettes and what it is doing to the progress of the fight against them. The government needs to get to the suppliers before they can sell more illegal cigarettes to underage kids. The last thing we want is for more people to harm their bodies so we as tax payers can pay for their regrettable decisions in the future. This is a huge issue that needs to be stopped immediately!

http://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/article/726038---2-billion-in-tax-revenue-up-in-smoke

Liberal's accusations

It appears that from the Liberals standpoint the Conservative's "Creating a Job Campaign" has only benefited themselves... Apparently the Conservative government has spent more than 3 million tax payer dollars in September on advertising campaigns that have been said to promote themselves. These ads state that they are helping our nation through these economic times by helping create jobs for Canadians. On the surface these advertisements give the Conservative party much glory however the Liberals are still questioning the Conservatives on how their campaign has actually helped create jobs.

The Conservative's reasoning behind the ad campaign stated by Transport Minister John Baird is to,"ensure that Canadians know about the effects of Canada's Economic Action Plan and how taxpayers' money is being spent. The ads are high-impact ways for Canadians to learn about the projects in their area". In my opinion this explanation is a very logical one. I myself being a Canadian citizen would like to know how my tax money is being spent and how effectively.

To me the Liberals are just trying to make the Conservative parties campaign seem illegitimate when it will in fact help create jobs. In my earlier posts I talked about the government infrastructure program and how it was going to create more than 1000 jobs in the Niagara region by the expansion of Niagara college. That is just one example on how the Conservatives are going to help create jobs. Although I believe that the Conservatives are not perfect I do feel that they are trying to help out Canadians within these economic times, as opposed to helping themselves like the Liberals have shown to do in recent scandals.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/724655--tory-stimulus-ads-ripped-as-3m-pat-on-the-back

Ehealth Scandal

A system that was suppose to save us 6 billion dollars , has cost us 1 billion dollars…The recent Ehealth scandal has put the Mcquinty government in hot water as no progress and more scandal has appeared. The goal was to convert all hospital records electronically so that they could be more accessible to health institutions. Obviously that task was not carried on so well. It seems that along with many untendered contracts there was an inner circle of scandal among the Mcquinty government.

Karli Farrow a consultant that has worked with the Mcquinty government since the year 2000, was hired to work on the Ehealth project as a consultant and was paid $10,646 for 32.5 hours over a 3 week period… That’s $330 an hour for not even a full 40 hour work week let alone for 3 weeks. That is a lot of money for “consulting” fees when no work is shown for it. The Ehealth CEO Sarah Kramer received a bonus of $114,000 and soon after had to resign due to the questioning of that bonus. To be honest that is a ridiculous bonus and for what? Basically she lost a billion dollars and got a bonus for it. Her resignation shows that her role as CEO was insignificant and that her bonus was not deserved. More supervision should have been present to ensure that the Ehealth project would stay on track.

Among the bonus's and large payouts many untendered contracts were given. The amount of money that dealt with the untendered contracts was close to 16 million dollars. That’s not the best part.. it appears that these untendered contracts were given to companies that the opposition parties say have ties to the Liberal party. Now this isn't a proven fact it may be the other parties trying to make the Liberals look bad, however at this point it certainly seems believable. From the following information it is becoming clear that the Liberal party took advantage of the Ehealth project. In my opinion Mcquinty is not doing a good job at all. With the OLG scandal and the Ehealth scandal it is obvious that his role as a premier is inadequate.



http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/ehealth/article/706648--ehealth-scandal-claims-health-minister

Going Green

A new incentive for buying hybrid and battery powered cars was introduced this week. What is it? Its a green license plate that gives the owners of these battery powered cars "special" privileges. These privileges include being able to drive in high occupancy lanes (with one passenger), rechargeable stations located at the go train and other provincially operated lots, and certain special parking spaces at stores. Now although these cars aren't on the market yet car manufacturers are working hard to get them out a.s.a.p.


Now the green plate doesn't include vehicles that are hybrid/gas powered like those on the road today. It is solely for electric cars only. I feel that buying an electric powered car is a commitment that people are not ready for. I myself am skeptical about the whole idea. The green license plate benefit stops in 2015 so drivers have a long time to weigh out their options and do a bit more research on the subject. The Ontario government hopes to convert drivers into these cars as their goal is to have 1 out of 20 drivers on the road having a battery powered car by the year 2020.

The goal of these license plates is to encourage drivers to turn green. However these cars wont come cheap and I doubt someone will buy a certain car just for a plate. Also the cars are said to go up to 60 to 80 kilometers on a single charge. Now that might be good for people who have a short commute in the city, but most people commute a bit longer to get to work. With that said I believe that 60 to 80 kilometers isn't enough to really drive comfortably without worrying about your charge. Who knows how these battery powered vehicles will turn out...lets just hope that they're not slow


http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/720795--ontario-unveils-green-licence-plate-for-eco-friendly-vehicles#article