Hamilton Centre, it’s time to cast your ballot. Make sure you vote before 9:30 pm tonight. Then drop in at our election night celebration at my campaign office – 636 Main Street East, Hamilton.
Statement by Liberal candidates Bob Rae and Ujjal Dosanjh
“As former leaders of NDP governments at the provincial level, we are today proud supporters of Michael Ignatieff and the progressive Liberal platform that he is presenting to the Canadian people in this election.
“We have taken a hard look at the other two platforms, and neither Mr. Harper’s nor Mr. Layton’s pass basic tests. The Conservatives are not coming clean on the cost of important promises, like wholesale changes to the Criminal Code, new prison costs, the untendered fighter jet commitment, the unnecessary (and expensive) corporate tax giveaways, and the $11-billion budget hole that will inevitably mean deep cuts to federal programs like health care.
“The NDP program has largely gone unscrutinized, but this now needs to happen. Their election platform is full of ‘rubber dollars’ and promises that simply can’t be kept. The NDP has already backed away from setting up a cap-and-trade system, which would have taken years to implement. This leaves a $3.6-billion hole in their platform that will come at the expense of fiscal prudence or lead to the shelving of all their green programs.
“The NDP promises to abolish the Senate, which it can’t do, and to lower tuition fees, which lie exclusively within provincial jurisdiction. The NDP has also promised to hire thousands of doctors and nurses for a mere $25 million within 100 days. What is being put forward is not a realistic basis for a government agenda. It is a series of sweeping promises that do not reflect any sense of what it actually takes to govern, what will make for a productive, sustainable economy and a just society.
“We both decided to return to federal politics as Liberals because the party’s practical idealism is what the country needs. Theories and ideologies, however well intentioned, will lead the country down paths that will be profoundly unproductive for Canadians.
“We urge Canadians who share our vision of a compassionate and productive country to keep working and voting for the Liberal Party. Great programs like Medicare, the Canada Pension Plan, our strong partnerships with businesses large and small, our concern for a more sustainable economy – all of these will need renewal and support from a Liberal government and the provinces. We are proud to be running as Liberals and ask Canadians who have supported these critical efforts to do so once again by voting Liberal on Monday.”
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Contact:
Liberal Party of Canada
613-783-8888
media@liberal.ca
Bob Rae campaign
416-479-9507
info@bobrae.ca
Alyssa Armstrong
Media Relations for Ujjal Dosanjh
604-440-8020
alyssa@voteujjal.ca
You can vote in advanced polls on the 22nd (Friday), 23rd (Saturday) and 25th (Monday) of April in the following locations:
Hamilton Convention Centre in the downtown area, and
Chedoke Twin Pad Arena on Chedmac Drive on the west Mountain.
Advance polls are open from noon to 8:00 pm.
If you have yet to receive your voter card or have questions with regards to the type of identification you can use, visit www.elections.ca or call 1 866 583 5151
Click on the link below to see Michael Ignatieff’s speech in Sudbury on the importance of rising up for Canada!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fXbjCqRkak
For Immediate Release
April 13, 2011
TORONTO – NDP Leader Jack Layton and his candidate David Christopherson must take responsibility for siding with the Conservatives to block the release of the Auditor General’s report on G8 spending waste, Liberal candidate Joe Volpe said today.
“Liberals want Canadians to see the Auditor General’s report – but Mr. Layton’s stunt of calling for a meeting with the Auditor General took some nerve after his party blocked the report’s release before Parliament was dissolved,” said Mr. Volpe, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee in the last Parliament.
“If Jack Layton and David Christopherson had their way, voters would never know that the Conservatives spent nearly $50 million on G8 projects with no controls and without Parliament’s approval – and they missed their chance to expose this waste, abuse and contempt before the election by siding with the Conservatives to bury this report.
Two days before the election was called, Mr. Christopherson – the only NDP member of the House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee – sided with the Conservatives to kill a Liberal motion introduced by Liberal MP Jean-Claude D’Amours calling for the Auditor General’s G8 and G20 reports to be made public in the event of the dissolution of Parliament – even if there was an election.
In an interview on CBC’s The House last weekend and a statement yesterday, Mr. Christopherson refused to take responsibility for his mistake. He defended his decision and said he still agrees with it, citing “what damage happens when there is a little bit of information,” and saying “this election is about integrity.”
“The ‘little bit of information’ in this report goes straight to the Conservatives’ lack of integrity – crucial facts that Canadians need to consider before they vote on May 2,” said Mr. D’Amours, Liberal candidate for Madawaska-Restigouche. “Instead of admitting his error, Mr. Christopherson is twisting himself into knots to justify his mistake after the fact – and now Jack Layton is trying to change the channel from his party’s appalling lack of judgment.
“The waste, abuse and contempt revealed by what we know so far from the AG’s report is the last straw,” concluded Mr. D’Amours. “There is no excuse for covering it up – and Mr. Layton’s hypocrisy on this matter only goes to show why the Liberal Party is the only alternative that can replace Mr. Harper.”
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Contact:
Joe Volpe campaign
416-781-0854
Jean-Claude D’Amours campaign
506-353-4452 (Madawaska)
506-329-0264 (Restigouche)
613-282-5775
Conservative greed and corruption in Tony Clement’s riding
It doesn’t just take a scathing Auditor General’s report to find evidence of the Conservatives’ abuse of the public purse.
A comparison of how infrastructure and economic development funding was allocated to Northern Ontario ridings shows just how greedy the Conservatives have been with public money – much of which was spent without proper controls or Parliament’s permission.
Tony Clement’s Parry Sound–Muskoka riding received a wildly disproportionate amount of funding compared to neighbouring Northern Ontario ridings – approximately half of which is $45.7 million from the controversial G8 Legacy Fund that was spent without Parliamentary approval or internal controls.
When you compare funding from five programs that went to all Northern Ontario ridings, Mr. Clement’s riding received $89 million – more than five times the approximate $16 million average that nine other Northern Ontario ridings received.
The comparison above does not include FedNor or Knowledge Infrastructure spending. If you add those programs to the total spending in Parry Sound–Muskoka during the stimulus period, Tony Clement’s riding made off with over $100 million in taxpayer funds.
Released on Tuesday April 12.
Contact:
Liberal Party of Canada
613-783-8888
media@liberal.ca
For more information or questions about your local candidate, Anne Tennier, email info@annetennier.ca