Saskatchewan Liberty Train

Spring Sitting of the Saskatchewan Legislature begins tomorrow.

2012-03-04T07:03:00.000-06:00

MLAs return to 'work' at the Saskatchewan Legislature tomorrow for the spring sitting.In past years the Legislature has more resembled a circus, with MLAs themselves being the clowns. Hopefully things will be different now that Dwain Lingenfelter is gone from the Leg. Its time for our politicians to do some work for a change, and adopt a vision for our province. We have to decide what to do with the wealth from the commodity boom, and how best to create an environment that allows entrepreneurs to flourish. Budget day will be extremely interesting. Premier Wall says spending cuts are coming, which will be a welcome relief to runaway spending increases year after year.

Democracy dies today in Russia

2012-03-03T20:14:00.000-06:00

How sad. Russia had the potential to be such a great country. Instead it is about to beginning the latest chapter in authoritarian, madman rule. Why is it that Russia has produced nothing but cruel dictators since Ivan the Terrible?

Who spent how much in the 2011 Saskatchewan Election?

2012-03-02T22:21:00.000-06:00

The first round of provincial election spending returns have been released by Elections Saskatchewan. What is most striking about these numbers, is the range of money raised by Saskatchewan Party candidates, and that overall the Sask Party cabinet ministers raised more money than the New Democrat MLAs. On the first point, it didn't matter how much money the Sask Party candidate raised, because in almost every instant, they were on the winning side. On the second point, it must have been extremely frustrating for New Democrats to raise money this time in the face of the Sask Party juggernaut. The final insult would be to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a campaign, and not win.

Perhaps the overall message from these returns is that while it is impossible for any political party to be successful without the ability to raise lots of money, victory is not about how much money you spend. I think there is a great deal to be learned by observing the marketing practices of the Saskatchewan Party.

Rather, it is about how effectively a politician spends his money in a campaign. This implies that more than ever before, marketing is a key concept in generating political victories. The Saskatchewan Party has mastered the art of marketing. The party's message is simple, and their modes of communication effortlessly repeat these messages again and again. The message is consistent and reaches voters. The 2011 election slogan for the Saskatchewan Party was "Moving Saskatchewan Forward" with "Brad Wall and the Saskatchewan Party. As you can see from the party's main website, this marketing is marketing is in full force almost 6 months after the 2011 provincial election.

Clinging by his fingernails, Romney mains GOP lead

2012-03-01T07:44:00.000-06:00

Clinging by his fingernails, Mitt Romney has maintained his lead in the GOP race with Primary wins in Arizona and Michigan. But this race still appears to be far from over. Rick Santorum is proving to be like a whack-a-mole - his strength keeps showing up in the Primaries when you least expect it. Ron Paul continues to grab his share of the votes and delegates, and Newt Gingrich is still in the race at least until the March 6th 'Super Tuesday' Primaries, where he must string together wins in at least the Southern Primaries.

The bottom line is that none of the remaining contenders appears ready to bow out of the Republican race yet, to let Romney wear the crown. It appears the Republican contest will be decided on the Republican convention floor this August in Tampa, Florida. When was the last time the Republican Presidential candidate was decided at the Republican National Convention? That was at the 1976 convention in Kansas City where Ronald Reagan almost toppled Gerald Ford by gaining delegates on the convention floor from North Carolina. Ford went on to narrowly lose the Presidency later that year to Jimmy Carter.

Thus the news for Mitt Romney doesn't look good at all. Every day that the Republican contest continues is a wasted opportunity for Republicans to get behind Romney and pool their resources to beat President Barack Obama. The President is going to be a formidable opponent this fall. It is estimated that Obama will have a warchest of $1-billion U.S. to spend this fall against his Republican opponent. Thus the race to find a Republican who could beat Romney in the Primaries this year has turned into a stalemate that benefits the incumbent Democratic candidate in the long run.

Robocalls create a political firestorm

2012-02-28T23:50:00.000-06:00

I agree with the jist of this column. The whole problem with the Robocalls controversy, is that it destroys the legitimacy of the Harper Government. The political firestorm that Robocalls has set off is intense, and unless Prime Minister Harper moves quickly to punish the 'rogue elements' that allegedly used call centres to phone and mislead Liberal voters, then this government's right to continue governing will increasingly be called into question. The longer it takes the Prime Minister to take punitive actions against those who abused the use of call centres in the last federal election, the more likely it is that public outrage over this revelation will explode.

There is nothing wrong with the use of call centres by political parties to poll voters, ask for their support and to raise money from them. In fact the Conservative Party has grown to be a successful political party in no small part because of this. But the 'rogue elements' that may have deliberately used call centres to mislead Liberal voters last year need to be punished. This revelation involves up to 47 federal ridings. I believe the Prime Minister when he says he didn't know there were call centres who were engaging in this activity. Therefore it is urgent that Harper punish the guilty as soon as possible, in order to uphold the integrity and legitimacy of his government. Any footdragging on this will reinforce the perception of many Canadians that the Conservative Party is corrupt and that the Harper Government should be removed from public office.

Is the Conservative Party of Canada "undemocratic"?

2012-02-27T22:22:00.000-06:00

Most of the time, I hardly dignify remarks about Prime Minister Harper and the Conservative Party being a 'dictatorship'. But in light of the three-ringed circus in Ottawa regarding Vic Toews, the Liberal Vikileaks and such, I want to say a few things to clear the air on this matter.

I deliberately pose the question - is the Conservative Party of Canada "undemocratic"? I think the answer to that question is an emphatic no. How quickly Canadians forget that 10 years ago, Jean Chretien was also castigated as a dictator who regularly ran roughshod over democracy. As for the Prime Minister controlling the free speech of his caucus members, Harper is right to discipline the Conservative message. This mess began when Conservative MPs felt compelled to speak their minds. In politics, elected members have to remember that every time they open their mouths they are not merely speaking on their own behalf. The Prime Minister and is staff regulate what Conservatives MP say in order to prevent foot-in-mouth syndrome.

As for the robocalls, watching the opposition cry about this is ridiculous. There may indeed be rouge elements in the Conservative party that are abusing the use of call centres to dissuade opposition voters. But what the NDP and the Liberals are really upset about is that the Conservatives are leaving them in the dust organizationally through the use of call centres. Using call centers to ID votes and raise money is a sophisticated way of politicking in the 21st Century, and it shows up the NDP and the Liberals poorly. What is really going on here is that the Conservatives are driving donuts around the opposition parties, and both sides on Parliament Hill know it. What this sorry episode in Ottawa clearly demonstrates is that through advanced election techniques, the Conservatives are winning the war in Canadian politics, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Mulcair picks up 17 endorsements in Saskatchewan

2012-02-26T23:29:00.000-06:00

This is a big list of high profile endorsements for Thomas Mulcair from Saskatchewan. You can find that list here. Judging by the list of former MLAs, MPs and candidates on this Mulcair appeals more to centrists within the Saskatchewan NDP. It's not surprising that Mulcair would appeal to centrist New Democrats in Saskatchewan. But the list is impressive just the same. If Mulcair can use these endorsements to build popular support among NDP members in Saskatchewan, then the Quebec MP will be well placed to win the overall leadership.

The bigger question becomes, can the federal NDP win seats in Saskatchewan with Mulcair as leader? At this point, perhaps the best answer to that question is Mulcair may present New Democrats with their best chance to make a breakthrough, given his centrist tendencies. That said, no NDP Leader is going to find it easy to elect MPs in this province. The political culture has changed dramatically in Saskatchewan over the past 20 years. The last two MPs elected for the NDP in Saskatchewan were in 2000, both of them in Regina. The reality is that it may be tough for any NDP Leader from Central Canada to make headway in this province again, given East/West split in voting cultures in this country. But Mulcair should not be underestimated. He has a reputation as a political fighter and warrior, and that will stand him in good stead in a province like Saskatchewan where politics is a bloodsport. Thus the jury is not yet in on Mulcair and his future fortunes.

Blogging break

2012-02-19T18:41:00.001-06:00

With the arrival of spring break, I am taking the next week off of blogging. The Saskatchewan Liberty Train comes your way again on Monday, February 27, 2012.

Saskatchewan Politics and the shape of things to come

2012-02-18T21:58:00.002-06:00

Very interesting, this is very, very interesting. Sadly for the gentleman quoted in this newstory, the Saskatchewan Liberal Party is NOT a party of centre or the middle. The only time the Sask Liberals have ever been successful as a political party is as a party of the right. That the 29 people who attended the wake in Saskatoon last Saturday don't understand that is astonishing but revealing. It looks to me like the souls who gathered in Saskatoon last weekend not only plan to try to rebuild the Sask Liberals, but at the same time keeping its current name and identity. In other words, this rebuilding effort will be an enormous waste of time.

What a pity. The reason I say that is because the day is coming in Saskatchewan when there will be both room and appetite for a new right-of-centre party. And that day is coming sooner rather than later. As to how soon, I don't know for sure, but it will come. There is a commodity boom that is causing the Saskatchewan economy to grow in a way that hasn't been seen in this province since the 1920s But this boom does not include Regina.and many other parts of the province. And where the economy is booming in this province, we are not yet seeing the diversification of the economy into more professional careers. The most important part of the economic miracle that transformed Alberta in the 1990s, was its diversification away from oil and natural gas into a professional private sector economy in its cities.

We are not witnessing this diversification of the Saskatchewan economy, not yet. And it is not up to me or others like me to be 'patient' about it. It is the duty of the Wall Government to create an economic climate in Saskatchewan that is conducive to entrepreneurship and personal initiative, so that this diversification ends up taking place. If this enrichment of the Saskatchewan economy does not begin to happen soon, then whenever commodity prices finally go down again (which they surely will at some point), then Saskatchewan's economy will go back to where it was before 2007, and we will probably be saddled with another socialist government in this province. We are running out of time to diversify the Saskatchewan economy, so let's get on with it without further delay.

Michael Fougere for Mayor of Regina?

2012-02-17T23:42:00.000-06:00

We will find out what Councillor Fougere is going to do this Tuesday. Personally, I hope he decides to run for Mayor. Fougere has been an excellent Councillor since he was first elected in 1997. I am sure that Fougere would continue to make Regina an excellent place to be an entrepreneur, and for everyone else too. Fougere is a forward thinking fellow, and that's exactly the type of person we need in Regina to take this city beyond 2012.

If Fougere runs for Mayor, will he face any serious opposition for the post? Fougere has been acclaimed to City Council already on more than one occasion. It might be that if Fougere announces this Tuesday that he wants to become the next Mayor of Regina, then it might be enough to scare off his competitors. I guess we will have to wait and see what happens.

If Fougere decides to run for Mayor, I hope he has an ambitious agenda to throw open the doors of Regina to foreign investment. We need Regina to join the economic boom that is underway in Saskatoon and in southeastern Saskatchewan. The way to create an environment for foreign investment in Regina would be to lower taxes. In addition to this, we need an aggressive strategy for marketing our city in China and India. Hopefully our next Mayor will make the diversification of Regina's economy through foreign investment a priority for 2013 and beyond.

Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum duke it out for Michigan

2012-02-16T23:21:00.000-06:00

With Rick Santorum's surprise showings in the recent Primaries in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri, the February 28th Primaries in Michigan and Arizona are taking on a new importance. At the same time, it seems that Newt Gingrich's campaign is increasingly on life support. Michigan seems to be the big battleground this time. Mitt Romney won the Michigan Primary in 2008, and his father was the Governor of Michigan in the 1960s. Santorum seems to be coming on strong in Michigan, so Romney has a true fight on his hands.

The thing is that Michigan may not be the contest that seals the GOP Presidential nomination this year. It still looks like the March 6th Super Tuesday Primaries in 10 states will seal the fates of Romney, Santorum and Gingrich. So far Gingrich has only won in South Carolina; it is now Santorum who has become the main alternative to Romney for Republicans. Gingrich is quickly losing his credence in this contest, and without a string of victories on March 8th, his run for the Presidency will be over.

Can Santorum overtake Romney? He could. Santorum needs to overtake Romney in a string of victories on Super Tuesday to push him out of the race. It is not an impossible task, but with Gingrich and Ron Paul still in the race, and Romney's warchest full of cash, that could be a tall order. But Santorum has already demonstrated that he has the ability to come from behind and beat Romney, as he did in the Iowa Caucuses and in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri. This contest keeps getting more interesting with each passing week!

It's time to celebrate end of the Gun Registry

2012-02-15T17:58:00.000-06:00

Hooray, sweet liberty! Good riddance to this vile institution. It should never have been created in the first place. There is nothing more offensive to freedom-loving individuals than a law that requires you to register your own property. The bureaucracy that grew up around the registry is an enormous boondoggle and a waste of money to taxpayers. Worst of all, the registry did nothing to curb gun-related crime. The end of the Canadian Gun Registry is a victory not only for firearms owners, but all libertarians. This is a truly great day, a great day indeed. Hopefully the political left has learned something useful, that coercion never works, and thus it should only be used as a last resort to settling an issue. Social engineering is never the solution to the problem!

As for those individuals who supported the Gun Registry in wake of the 1989 Montreal Massacre at Ecole Polytechnique, I have a special message for you. The victims of that terrible event have not and will not ever be forgotten. The cause of ending violent crime that is directed at individuals because of their identity goes on and will go on until it is stamped out forever. The end of the Gun Registry is not a slap in the face to the victims or their families. However, the pursuit of justice for those women must now take a different and hopefully more satisfying direction. The Gun Registry never was nor will it ever be the solution to ending gender-related violence.

Regina Mayor Pat Fiacco is not seeking re-election this fall

2012-02-14T18:11:00.000-06:00

Pat Fiacco has made it official - he is not seeking re-election this fall.

This announcement does not come as a surprise at all. There has been a great deal of speculation in recent months that Pat was ready to pursue other opportunities. Fiacco has had a good long run in the Mayor’s office, and he has accomplished a lot for Regina since he was first elected in 2000. Fiacco has worked tirelessly to end Regina bashing, and to that end he has been extremely successful. I think this is the Mayor’s greatest accomplishment since he came to power. At the very least, Fiacco deserves our thanks for 12 years of tireless dedication and devotion to making Regina a better place in which to live.

This last term has been a bit of a rocky one for Pat. Fiacco’s vision for a domed stadium for Regina had to be revised somewhat after the senior levels of governments balked at committing to the stadium. There has also been negative feedback about the change in traffic plans in the downtown, the aesthetic changes on 12^th Avenue, and to a lesser degree, about the development of Harbour Landing. There have also been umours for years that Fiacco was eager to make the leap to federal or provincial politics. But thus far the rumours have never panned out.

At this point, the race for Mayor includes two people who are not expected to generate much excitement or support. No doubt we’ll see a big name or two throw their name out there to run for Mayor this fall, now that Pat is bowing out. My choice would be to see Ward 4 Councillor Michael Fougere step up to the plate. Fougere has been a very good Councillor since he was first elected in 1997, and he would be guaranteed to continue making Regina a city that is friendly toward entrepreneurs. Hopefully Fougere will decide to run for Mayor.

When will Canada's housing boom end?

2012-02-13T23:04:00.000-06:00

This news could be interpreted one of two ways. One interpretation is that there really is no end to the Canadian housing boom in sight, that this forecast suggests it is possible steam might run out of the housing market by 2014, but that this is far from certain. But another way of reading between the lines here is that Canadians are finally being cued for the coming burst of our housing bubble.

So which interpretation is correct? It could be a case here of neither and both at the same time. The problem with forecasting the end of the Canadian housing boom is that the boom is due in large part to the commodities boom that is lifting the economies of the Western provinces into the stratosphere. We know that commodity prices have been trending sharply higher now for the past five to ten years due in no small part to the rise of China as a major global economic powerhouse. The Chinese economy is growing at a phenomenal rate, and every kind of commodity is greatly in demand to help fuel the growth.

Will it take the end of the Chinese ‘economic miracle’ to take the sizzle out of higher commodity prices and thus send the Canadian housing market asunder? Not necessarily. Those of us who live and die and commodities know that prices are extremely volatile right now, and are subject to factors including the weather, economic and political instability, and new technological advances. What this means is that anything could happen in the world to end the commodity price boom at anytime, especially as economic storm clouds continue to gather over Europe and the United States. I hope the end is not in sight, but we should be ready for any situation. The wise individual will not panic, but will instead take the necessary steps to prepare for any potential situation.

Are the Western provinces wasting their commodity boom?

2012-02-11T23:15:00.000-06:00

Jeffrey Simpson from the Globe & Mail says we are. He has a point. It doesn’t seem to make much sense to take a very valuable non-renewable resource out of the ground, and use its value to fatten the size of government. If governments in the West use the money to build infrastructure like roads and sewer lines, then something tangible can be pointed to, as to how oil royalties are being invested.

But I think there is a bigger point here that Simpson is alluding to. By right the Western provinces should set aside its oil royalties for another day in a trust fund. Alberta has done this to some extent, and 30 years ago Saskatchewan had a similar pot of money set aside. There is much wisdom in the idea of setting aside wealth generated today for tomorrow. As noted before, oil is a non-renewable resource and it has no close substitutes. Therefore it would be a good idea to save as much oil royalties for the future as possible, rather than use that money now to expand the size of government.

In the case of Saskatchewan, a new Heritage Fund could potentially include more than oil royalties. The province is also blessed with large deposits of natural gas, potash, gold, diamonds and uranium. Therefore Saskatchewan has the potential to have a trust fund that is much larger in the long run than the one Alberta has. The fund could get to be so big that its annual dividends could probably be used someday to pay for all annual government expenses, with some left over. The implication is that some day, Saskatchewan could eliminate its PST and income tax system if its trust fund grew to be large enough. It would be very exciting to make Saskatchewan the first tax-free zone in Canada. We can dare to dream.

Canada Pension Plan reforms by 2020 and after: You better believe it

2012-02-10T23:31:00.000-06:00

Read and learn, fellow Canadians, read and learn. The only thing I have to add to Jim Flaherty's comments is the motive for future pension changes. By 2020, half of the baby boomers in Canada will be past age 65, and all of them will be retired by 2030. Although the attached news story quotes a federal bureaurcrat as saying the current old age security system is "sustainable in its current form", that is likely only true if CPP premiums rise sharply before 2020 or an overnight disaster annihilates most of the Canadian boomer population at once. The fact is that the onslaught of retiring boomers spells disaster for Canada's social programs, and Medicare and CPP in particular.

The retirement of the boomers from now until 2030 will two things things to the federal and provincial governments; it will decimate their income tax revenue, and explode health care and pension expenditures. So what can be done to offset this nightmarish future? One possibility is to throw open the floodgates of immigration. The problem is that in order to stabilize the Canadian tax base beyond 2016, we will need something in the order of a minimum of 500,000 immigrants per year. Right now Canada is straining to bring in about half that number ever year.

One thing is certain - the crunch is coming for Canada's social programs due to demographics, regardless of the party in power. Solutions will be needed, not partisan bickering. When the Prime Minister recently proposed changes to OAS, I found it disturbing that the public reacted so poorly to the news, without trying to understand what is really going on. We are running out of time to salvage our national social programs, and its time every Canadian knew it.

Population rise leads to rise of the West, but what caused it?

2012-02-09T22:58:00.000-06:00

We know Western Canada is now leading economic growth in Canada because of the enormous shift in population growth in Canada from east to west. But what is driving this population growth? I believe the main reason is the rise of the economy of China. The economies of the Western provinces in Canada are largely driven by commodity prices. Commodity prices have been on the rise for much of the past decade, due in no small part to demand for almost every kind of commodity from China. The 'Middle Kingdom''s economy is growing so fast (about 10 percent per year on average0 that in a few short years, China will replace the United States as the global economic hegemon.

This has many implications for the economies of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. For these provinces, China is already the new global superpower; while trade from the United States remains significant, America's needs are no longer driving economic growth in these "New West" provinces. If the United States were still the economy driving these provinces, then B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan would have seen their economies tank along with those in Eastern Canada in 2008. To cut away the blarney, what all of this means is that China is calling the shots in the western-most provinces in Canada. British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan now face the Pacific Ocean like never before.

The Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, is in China where he has signed a series of trade agreements that pave the way toward a free trade deal and thus more meaningful trade with China in the years ahead. The Prime Minister has just ensured that Canada's economic growth, especially those of the "New West" provinces, will continue to surge ahead in the many years to come. It is getting to be very exciting living in the "New West"!

Saskatchewan's population jumps by over 65,000 people

2012-02-08T22:02:00.000-06:00

This is a remarkable story. Just imagine, Saskatchewan's population has grown by over 65,000 people since the 2006 Census. That is an amount of people that almost represents the cities of Moose Jaw and Prince Albert combined.

Perhaps most intriguing of all is that Premier Brad Wall has gone out of his way not to take any credit for the population increase. Instead, Wall insists that this is a credit to the people of Saskatchewan. Obviously the Premier is trying not to develop a swelled head over these numbers. However there is no denying that this is a linkage between this huge population growth and the rise of the Wall Government. While there was evidence of an economic boom in this province while the Saskatchewan New Democrats were still in power, the population explosion didn't happen until after the Saskatchewan Party came to power here in November 2007.

The point that should be made here is that this population growth is already fundamentally changing the face of Saskatchewan - economically, socially, culturally, and yes politically too. For example, it is difficult to imagine that very many if any of the over 65,000 new people in Saskatchewan would be inclined to vote NDP. Rather, these people are far more likely to vote for the Saskatchewan Party or some other new party.

I'm just stating the obvious here. The growth in population in Saskatchewan since 2006 heralds the beginning of a new era in Saskatchewan politics, one not dominated by political trends established right after the Great Depression. It was in the 1940s that the CCF gained a dominance over Saskatchewan politics through voting splitting between the Liberal and PC parties. However, both of these parties are now gone, and in its place is the Saskatchewan Party, which has successfully unified the free enterprise voting base in the province. Yup, the over 65,000 people who have moved to Saskatchewan since 2006 are the 'gamechangers' in this province, no doubt about it.

Santorum surprise in Minnesota and Missouri

2012-02-07T22:15:00.000-06:00

It was a Rick Santorum surprise tonight in Minnesota and Missouri. The GOP Primaries just got shaken up again. We should keep in mind that Newt Gingrich wasn't on the ballot in Missouri, a race that won't elect delegates. That said, there is a message in tonight's results; Republicans are not overly enthused with the current slate of candidates for President. In the past few weeks, we've seen Newt Gingrich win in South Carolina, Mitt Romney victorious in Florida, and now Santorum in Minnesota and Missouri.

What will it take for a clear trend to emerge in the 2012 GOP Primaries? Perhaps the 8 March Primaries on Super Tuesday hold the key to the outcome of this contest. There are 10 states at stake, and many of them are southern and very conservative states including Georgia, the home state of Gingrich. If Gingrich can't carry states like Georgia, Tennessee and Oklahoma, then he is done on Super Tuesday. Perhaps Alaska will be the bellwether state on March 8. It has a history of being very Republican and very libertarian in its voting trends. 2008 Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin hails from Alaska and is the former Governor of the state. If Romney is serious about being the GOP candidate for President in 2012, then he has to carry Alaska, and he has to snatch a southern state or two from Gingrich. Santorum will also need to win - maybe in a place like North Dakota.

One thing is certain - the longer the Republican Primaries continue this year, the more interesting they are becoming.

Saskatchewan Essential Services Law struck down

2012-02-06T23:29:00.000-06:00

The trade union movement has scored a massive victory in Saskatchewan. The Court of Queen's Bench has struck down the Wall Government's 2008 Essential Services law. Friends, this is very big news indeed.

There is a very sharp divide in Saskatchewan between the Saskatchewan Party and the unions. This divide is unhealthy and unproductive for all people in the province. What the fight over the Essential Services legislation clearly shows, is that it is time for a new model of business and labour relations in Saskatchewan.

The model that I favour is the one used in Germany. In that country, the government, business and labour meet at the same table to discuss issues. The government acts as a mediator, and a joint agreement is reached that everyone can live with. The result of this relationship is that Germany has the most powerful economy in Europe,and is the driving force behind the European Union. There is a lot that Saskatchewan people can learn from the German model. In any case, the court decision to declare the Essential Services legislation unconstitutional is a sign that the status quo between the government, business and labour is not working here.

The man financing Newt Gingrich's campaign for President

2012-02-04T20:58:00.000-06:00

This is very, very interesting. With this type of backing, Newt Gingrich and his Presidential campaign will be viable until at least the Super Tuesday Primaries on March 6. It looks like there are some big dollars floating around to defeat both Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama in 2012. Adelson says he is not anti-Romney and plans to back the former Massachusetts Governor as Plan B. However, Adelson's initial support for Gingrich is very telling.

Newt may be a bit bombastic, but the key thing is that he represents the economic mainstream in the GOP these days. The former Speaker has a solid track record from the 1990s as far as cutting the size of government goes. In fact the economic recovery of the mid-1990s can be attributed to Gingrich's Contract With America. Any American longing for the halcyon days of the booming 1990s must at the same time be backing or seriuosly thinking of backing Gingrich for President.

Sheldon Adelson now holds the financial fate of the Gingrich campaign in his hands. Adelson's decision to back Newt in the Primaries thus far could well determine the economic fate of America itself. Very soon some tough decisions will need to be made in Washington D.C. about public spending levels. If at the end of the day, the decision is not made to reduce public spending and debt levels, it may well be because Newt wasn't there to make the tough call. America' economy may never recover (God forbid) if these tough decisions are not made soon.

Taxation Versus Education

2012-02-02T17:53:00.000-06:00

Now why do we need to tax sugar? If the consumption of Sugar is truly a hazard to our health, then a sugar tax would be perverse. The message of a sugar tax would be that yes, sugar is bad for you, but at the same time, the government doesn't mind earning extra income off of your sugar consumption.

If our governments are serious about having individuals regulate their own sugar intake, then a public education program is the better way to go. That way, people will find out the full extent of the potential hazards of eating too much sugar,and then they can decide for themselves what to do about it. Education would likely result in a dramatic change in sugar consumption, whereas a tax would just make the government more wealthy.

As for the cost to the health system of treating individuals with problems related to eating too much sugar, that can also be fixed with a government information campaign. Also, our health care delivery system should be moving toward preventative health care, not fixing problems after they emerge. Hopefully our governments will figure this out and make the appropriate changes as soon as possible.

Tales from the Crypt, or Where do the Saskatchewan Liberals go from here?

2012-02-01T03:23:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, Ryan Bater finally resigned as Leader of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party, after his humiliating showing in the November 7, 2011 provincial election. His decision is entirely appropriate, and thus I wish him well in his future endeavours.

Ryan is partly to blame for the death of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party, but certainly not entirely. Ryan had a lot of help from his recent predecessors. And lets not fool ourselves - it is a dead party, with bleak future prospects. The party's electoral base has entirely melted away, having received only 0.6 percent of the vote provincewide in 2011, with just nine candidates. Why in God's name did Bater and the Liberals think they could run a handful of candidates and be taken seriously? Why did they campaign with federal Liberal politicians in this province, after being advised explicitly not to do so? These decisions destroyed whatever potential the party had left to rebuild. The party has now been on a downward slide for 17 years, and the Sask Liberals are now just a smoldering pile of rubble. I was shocked when I read online that the survivors of the shipwreck may appoint an interim leader, with the idea of electing a new leader soon. Who is kidding who? Who in their right mind, after last year's total election disaster, would want to lead this party? It would take 20 years to bring the party back to the point where it was at just before the 2011 election, if a serious rebuilding effort started now.

The only possible future that the Saskatchewan Liberal Party might have, is if it completely shed its 'Liberal' identity, took on a new name and brand, new party colours, and ended whatever informal relationship it has left with the stinky federal Liberals. Now rebranding its not just an option, its the only lifeline left for this party. It is futile for the party to proceed in its current state.

Once upon a time, the Saskatchewan Liberal Party dominated provincial politics here. The Liberals won the first nine elections here, and two more in the 1960s under the able leadership of Ross Thatcher. But since his death in 1971, the party has been in a perpetual state of crisis. Federal Liberals (who are not real liberals) in this province came to fill the void left by Thatcher in the party, and in their attempt to reshape the provincial party in the image of the federal party, they killed the Sask Liberal Party. The party a uniquely right-wing; it championed personal liberty and individiual initiative, and its historic mission was to provide voters with an alternative to the Saskatchewan CCF/NDP. But that was all lost on Thatcher's federal Liberal successors.

The very few remaining individuals who remain in the Saskatchewan Liberal Party will gather at Evan Hardy Collegiate in Saskatoon on February 11, to 'chart a course' for the party. Hopefully for them, this meeting will not turn out to be a farce like the May 3, 2008 rebuilding meeting in Saskatoon was. Feedback was gained from party members after the 2007 provincial election to plan a new way forward, but it was merely a charade - the people who ran the party had long before decided to embark on a strategy that would include not rebuilding the party, and instead focus on getting the new leader elected in his seat.

Whatever the people in Saskatoon decide to do on February 11, the Liberal brand is dead in this province. At one time, the Saskatchewan Liberal Party had an honourable presence in this province. Today, whenever someone hears the word 'Liberal', they immediately think of the federal party and become disgusted. The time has come to bury 'Liberal' politics in this province. Now is the time to create new political parties in Saskatchewan. Hopefully one of these new parties will champion personal freedom and individual initiative. With the death of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party and the downward trajectory of the Saskatchewan NDP, there has never been a better time for a new political culture to emerge in this province.

MItt Romney wins Florida Primary

2012-02-01T02:53:00.000-06:00

Congratulations to Mitt Romney, winner of the GOP Primary in Florida. Newt Gingrich's showing was decent enough to allow him to continue competing. However, Gingrich now has to pull off some wins in the next string of Primaries, especially on Super Tuesday on March 6th.

The Republican Primaries have become heated wars between the Romney and Gingrich camps. It is almost at the point where one could declare that a civil war is underway within the Republican Party. Regardless of the final outcome of the GOP Primaries this year, it seems unlikely that the Gingrich and Romney camps are going to work together this fall. Thus the ultimate beneficiary of this year's Republican contest is U.S. President Barack Obama. There is a growing conventional wisdom that Obama is going to beat a divided Republican Party on November 6.

Thus the question needs to be asked, can the Republican Party be reunited again. The answer to that question is a conditional yes. There could be unity again, but it may that the party has to adopt a new paradigm. I predict that the Ron Paul movement will continue to build and grow, and that over the coming decade, the GOP will morph into a libertarian party. If Republicans can unite behind a libertarian economic agenda, then they may yet regain control of the White House in the foreseeable future.

Saskatchewan Liberal Leader Ryan Bater resigns

2012-01-31T17:08:00.000-06:00

Here is the story. I will post my reaction to this development later today. In the meantime, I have to eat my evening victuals.