Manitoba politics or how to vote

So, its that time again, Election time in Manitoba…not just for a mayoral race that is not so close, but a race that sees three…four if you count the green party, parties working for votes to get jobs that mean they have to talk big…and produce little..and they can still stay in power for 12 years if they work real hard at doing nothing but discrediting their peers in the legislative.

The whole process is very confusing and it took me years of being confused and not even knowing it to find my way in the maze that is politics….basically I had to figure out who was full of crap (read everyone that is asking for your votes), who is blind (read everyone asking for your votes), who will screw who (read…oh you get it by now) and to figure out the difference between Federal elections/parties, Provincial elections/parties and local/civic elections.

Here is the obvious guide to provincial politics prepared by myself to help you figure who to check the vote box for come Election Day. The outline of several issues on the political pundits platforms will help you see how there ideas match up with yours…and Mine.

Economy & Jobs

NDP (Grade D-)

The NDP call for less privatization, more health care (???), business programs (hand outs), lowering taxes and pushing education in specialized skill areas…meaning more schooling in trades with less expensive training…..so, how are they going to do this and balance a budge…I mean the government makes money off taxes, cut the taxes and hand out money? Something tells me our great “Manitoba miracle” economy is about to hear a very unique sound…a toilet being flushed! Bad move after bad move has made me think that the NDP are only good at spending money on programs to enrich life and entertainment and have not a hot clue how to run a provinces economy or manage the boat as we move forwards! So not so much Cpt. Stubing as they are cruise director vickie McCoy!

PC (Grade B+)

The PC platform uses a tone of really cool sounding tag lines like “Have” province , “Positive vision” for Manitoba and “strong and open economy” and they point out again how underhanded Seligner was and how we are at the mercy of funds that we collect from Ottawa, the missed opportunities that the NDP have let move by them as they focused on bigger beurocratic machines that need more money to run and then hiding the truth by fudging the books. The truth is that they are one of the better business minded groups running for office, but that comes at a price! The PC like to lock us into trade agreements that often turn out to not work in our favor and we end up being obligated to the states more and more with them in power. Instead of the free and open economy we are latched to the states and we all know how well they are doing! I am a bit shocked and happy to hear Hughe say that the Hydro needs to stay publicly owned and rates need to stay low, Everyone says he will sell them off, but his platform suggests differently. The PC have said the HST is a no go and that the industries that were effected during the economic down turn need boosting and they will strive to do so. They will also look for new trade partners like local provinces and then ship goods and services to China and Asia…also, they don’t oppose BiPol..they just have a better plan (the west side route is stupid basically, and the NDP have said they want it…the east side is shorter and will have a cheaper price tag with a smaller environmental foot print). Basically, if you have the time to read it, much like their health care platform…the Economic platform is long, long winded and fairly intellegent!

Liberal (Grade C-)

The Liberal party states that they will act fiscally responsible and will link young Manitobans job opportunity and growth to the economic/education programs they have. Basically the Liberals don’t have a hot clue what to do about business and building Manitoba except making education betters, stronger and more about getting unfocused education programs rolled out so we are smarter…ergo more able to understand how it sucks that we are unemployed and moving into apartments that don’t actually exist because we cannot afford our houses.

Green (Grade F as in what the F are you thinking)

“Brining real the economy home means meeting real human needs while respecting biological and physical limits to growth” The Greens say that they intend to “shift from an economy based on quantitative growth to one based on well-being and sustainability. Someone has to tell them there is a difference between economy and ecosystems. Yes they can be reliant on each other, but a good ecosystem and a bad economy means humans wont be very happy. Not getting votes here guys. They will promote local produces and have a “buy Manitoban” policy in place to “Stimulate” our economy in a eco friendly way. Abandon the export oriented agriculture and forestry system in place and diversify the economy so we are not reliant on any one industry…all this while letting budgets and policy to be made by the Bottom up, not the top down….er so managers will be working for the workers now….All right Comrade Stalin that sounds great! So, basically a vote for the Green on economy is a vote to put under the province and let the vultures pick at the starving carcus of our future….okay, but can we plant a few trees to hug on the way down? Oh, and that pesky contract we have with the states for more electricity created by our great hydro dams…yah, screw it…let them take us to court over it…we would be scrapping Bipole II and saying screw it…oh and while the economy is in the crapper and we are all sitting around eating buckwheat that we grew locally, lets ensure that we end poverty??? (WHAT THE F…..)

Health Care

NDP (Grade D-)

Hire more doctors, Make sure all Manitobans have access to family doctors, more care home beds, Innovations in health care technologies, basically less wait and better service. So, even if the issues with the PC government laying off doctors and nurses was a horror show to be handed…YOU HAD 12 YEARS TO FIX IT MAN…and what did we get, patients dropping dead waiting for medical help at one of our premier hospitals in Winnipeg. Yah, promise what you want, you are to incompetent when it comes to the very health care program your party helped set up to actually run it! The one thing that keeps coming to mind is the “we will end hallway medicine” promise 12 years ago…that pretty much was a slogan that got them into the seat of power…along with a horror show of a PC government at the time…and they managed to avoid fixing the issues for 12 years and in a lot of ways made it much worse by making management so top heavy and forgetting that medicine is about actually practicing medicine and not hiring managers to talk about it…this is the one area that may actually kill them…pun intended.

PC (Grade A-)

Of course McFadyen is very practiced at working on health care plat forms. Mostly pointing out how the NDP have FAILED horribly at what they have promised in the 12 years that they have had the chance to fix the issues. And as such his platform for health care reads like a bible on what to do right…even if you can not get it to work right. First off let me say that his instance that medical care is NOT and should NOT be about the beurocracy is dead on. Fixing the top heavy RHA is the only way to really free up funds for nurses and doctors, of which he promises lots of! Most importantly they will streamline the process and get the people pushing paper work and collecting big cheques to be a thing of the past. They will make doctors and nurses jobs easier and provide more of them. And trust me I read the whole paper he released on things to do…if he does them all then Dr.Jon would even vote for him. However the NDP point out that all the PC did last time was fire a bunch of managers and still did not improve the process…..so Hughe has a TONE of work to do after he just lets the managers go again. The one area they have a handle on the medical issues that the Liberals and NDP don’t is streamlining the system…other than that, it sounds a lot like the Liberals plat form sans the prevention portion being as strong as theirs.

Liberal (Grade B)

Trust me when I say a liberal party in charge would make our medical system so friggin great that it would shine in a Canadian health care system for two reasons…one, it would mean that we have the best that money can buy…and two…it would mean everyone is broke because we have the best that money can buy. Promises of improved programs to take care of addictions (with a nice byproduct of dealing with crimes due to addictions), Improved ER rooms and better urgent care facilities in general, a focus on innovative approaches towards preventable chronic conditions, better senior care, Better rural health care and basically a better medical system that will support us going forwards. Might be expensive, but the Liberals probably will deliver on this one….I mean the leader is a doctor and all that! Seriously, this is the one area that the liberals simply kill the other groups! My only issue with his plans are that they may have a lot of hidden kick to them…but how are we going to pay for them, and we need to cut the top heavy management styles the NDP settled us with so the plan lacks reality in its approach, which the PC lack of medical advancements has….a good mix of the two would be nice!

Green (Grade F)

The Greens have a simplistic approach to health care….work on preventative health care and alternative health care to “Stretch a dollar” when it comes to our health…they says its common sense. So encourage fitness, reduce chronic illness and use natural foods to help us be healthy. No two tiered systems, and push the massage and nutritionists on people. Yah, because Cancer is so not green! And just incase you were worried about them not throwing some Green on the granola…lets make the hospitals safer by making them use ecosystem friendly cleaning products…yah, that will help. Increase the number of nurses and doctors but focus on midwives for natural birth and don’t forget the Canadian food guide needs to be reconsidered to give a more environmentally friendly approach…..no mention of real health care except as an after thought….no vote here man!

The Budget

NDP (Grade D-)

NDP say its possible to work into a balanced budget by 2014. Wow, so they want to burn money for that long eh, and no improvements or reasons for us not in a balanced budget and cooked books…something tells me not to trust them!

PC(Grade B+)

PC party says its possible to get a balanced budget by 2018….just long enough for us all to forget they said that. But who cares, if the economy is strong, health care turns around and education is better…let them run it in the red a bit…

Liberal (Grade C+)

Liberals would balance the budget by 2015 and do so with fiscally responsible programs…with the exception of the crazy ass health system that would be new and shinny…don’t touch that health care programs or Dr. Liberal will snap your hands!

Green (Grade F I think???)

“As a long term government plan we are thinking 10,20,30 years ahead……..” Uh, does that mean that is how long it will take to balance a budget? Oh, what do they care, they are never going to form a budget or be opposition anyways!

Education

NDP (Grade B)

A solid plan to not give up on any of our kids, make education more about the kids and helping parents plan admin days. Not a bad start, but they are throwing so much money as schools and from the point of a teachers brat…meaning both my parents were teachers, the NDP and all the groups support the teachers less than they do throw money at issues and hope they will go away. Time to step up and guard our educational resources and get rid of draconian authority and letting kids get away with bullying teachers. Time to empower teachers to teach and get problem children out of the system and getting proper help and education.

As for secondary education they are saying they will freeze tuition rates, the same rates that have jumped up in the last few years…how interesting that they will freeze the rates right after they let them jump up! They don’t explain how they will deal with issues like degree legitimacy (see issues at U of M) and how they will pay for all the new fancy money they are throwing into the education system…but hey…they just want to buy a vote…not figure out how to balance a budget or get the province above the red mark this year!

PC (Grade C)

The PC don’t really focus on education, I know they like it…but they say little about it online. They are gray area kind of parties when it comes to education. I don’t think they want to kill anything that is going to bring them votes, but I looked for 5 minutes on line and could not find anything that was remotely going to tell me things they did not say about education in the health care part of their platform…so basically if you are a nurse or doctor you get educated,….the rest of us…not so much a priority.

Liberal (Grade B+)

Liberals believe that the tuition hikes have to stay in line with the cost of living….very reasonable….have a stronger link between economy/education/job creation…Er…isn’t that already kind of natural? They also want to improve graduation rates and thus reduce crime???? He wants to help kids go to secondary education facility by encouraging them with “credits”…don’t know how that works but making the drudges of four or more years of university better seems to be a good idea to me. While the liberals pay way more attention to medical issues, they are looking okay on education issues. If you read Dr. Jon’s blog he is even concerned with how we treat the ex-teachers and how the retired educators are being handled. Noble effort…now figure out how to get more jobs here so those over educated people don’t need to learn the dreaded phrase “and would you like fries with that?”

Green (Grade B-)

Get this….Free Post secondary education! LMAO, okay…so not only do we have one party that will freeze tuition, but we will have one that gives it away…Oh, but wait we have a hitch….”promote ecological literacy in schools” So, its free…if you learn about how to save the eco system? No, apparently its just free….but its like going to a Amway meeting because the guy running it has great sandwiches that you can have after you sit through the crappie pitch! Okay, so free secondary education and actually not a bad idea to ensure that the education levels in Manitoba are all the same across the board. They went from silly to sounding rather…educated!

Clean Air, Parks & Water

NDP (Grade C+)

New clean energy exported, saving the rivers from pig poop, Forcing the city to clean up its aging pooper system in the north end and working with new flyer to create electric busses…now that is great an all…but how do we plug them in? The facts remain that the NDP never focused on the environment, they worked at keeping us…..voting. so, now that we have a shot at voting them out…they are going to go hug a tree…as long as a thug is not available I guess!

PC (Grade C)

Another low priority section for the PC, but what do you expect from a party that is all about trade, selling off natural resources and the like. Well they did mention the BiPol and how the east side is a better route and will impact the environment less than the west….so they are at least thinking right…just not a “green” team however.

Liberal (Grade B)

The liberals are practical in their green approach. Fix the lakes and rivers for good and deal with flooding…apparently they are taking their lead from Noah and Mosses! While I agree that the lakes need more money thrown at them to deal with pollution and to deal with the algae blooms, lets be real, a growing and out of control economy lead to the issues, its time to show we don’t need to kill the environment to make money. The liberal plan is so much more about helping Manitobans that are flooded out than actually looking at the damage that flooding does. They are almost there, just need the right spin and ideas on what to do and they may actually show they have a hot clue about the environment, unlike other groups!

Green (GradeA for effort…..C for useable plans)

Its like my old Auntie Grace used to say (note I never had an old Auntie grace but it sounds better that way) when she said (well you know what I mean) LORD DON’T GET ME STARTED! The Green team is all about the environment. In fact I am sure they would be happy closing off Manitoba and kicking out anything that wears clothing….some nudists…and the odd annoying Cha Wawa that wears clothing because the annoying owner puts them in clothing…what is up with that anyways. Over all its standard fare….Save the trees, clean up the lakes, Use Hemp…not just for smoking it…Recycle and basically save the planet. But in a few places they go WAY beyond the call of duty and dip into crazy ideas…for instance…. No extensions of sewers to new buildings or areas that are being developed……No more kitchen sink garburators…..Actually get legislation passed to protect…well land….new methods of dealing with excreta (human poop and pee) that don’t involve a sewer system…..and suddenly making everyone use a “dry composting toilet” in provincial buildings with a brand new maintenance and development program…sounds crappy to me! Seriously, this party is way to focused on the “bottom” end of things. That and they just are not being real about our economy vs our ecology. We need a slow walk back and programs that make sense and can be implemented ASAP, while they are well intentioned crazy ideas, they are still very crazy!

Immigration

NDP (Grade C)

NDP stance on immigration seems on paper to be a open door policy, bring in as many people as we can stuff into our boarders and be happy to know they all want to be here….however two major flaws come up with that. First off, some of those they allow in…should not be here. Criminals from over seas were crimes are more brutal and just a part of life ARE contributing to local crimes in Manitoba. We allow a family to immigrate to Winnipeg and they bring children who join gangs, some people come here and commit crimes knowing they will get jail time, but our jails are like the Ritz Carlton to them! All of this contributes to our already out of control crime rates. Secondly, we end up kicking out those that do come here and are working jobs that are lower paying…because of visa issues that they were unaware of. The three amigos that were given the boot back to the Philippines should have had provincial protection as immigrants to areas of the province that locals are fleeing, doing jobs no one wanted..and they were happy and contributing to society, those are the kinds of immigrants we want!

PC (Grade C-)

I have read more in the liberals and NDP about Immigration than you will find in the PC play book. They favor single person visas and not family visas and they obviously favor Manitoba for Manitobans. But they are open to expansion and bringing in more people, as long as it supports the economy!

Liberal (Grade B-)

In the case of immigration, the liberals want to offer more “family visas” and more funding when it comes to settlement and integrations training. Instead of having a tone of temporary immigrant workers they would open the doors to skilled and unskilled workers and their families to come to Manitoba and settle. To some extend that is not a bad idea, much like the NDP ideology. But they don’t talk about the darker side of the coin, what about those that come and don’t “thrive” , those that turn to illegal activities and those that just want to milk a great system? Liberals are to on the fence and hide from the dark side in this issue.

Green (Grade F)

The Green party apparently has NO stance on Immigration, not one they publish however. And I am not getting into their foreign policy wish includes ticking off the NATION OF ISREAL. Yah, lets just say they should stick to thinking and talking locally and for GODS sake…Tuck in your hemp made shirts. The one Youtube video that has Green and immigration as a tag word shows some schmuck ticking of Isreal with a un-tucked shirt making the whole party look stupid!

Fighting crime

NDP (Grade D)

260 more cops, nearly 100 new prosecutors, a warrant squad to track down criminals, 442 more prison beds and programs to help bring young offenders “back to the light”. Okay, and they say they will “bug” Ottawa to change laws and force harsher sentences…so, if that worked….442 more beds is all? How about a few mega prisons north of the frost line! Wait, that would be so un NDP…I mean we wanna arrest them…but is should not seem like we want to punish them! The Hug a thug mentality of the NDP is horrible. 12 years of them in power and NOW they are saying that we have to do all this to fix the system…let me remind my readers that it is a system that they created and offering this up now is like closing the barn door after the cows are out.

PC (Grade B)

The PC Crime platform is HUGE, its an essay on what to do in case of crime getting out of hand…and they are first to highlight that is exactly what is happening in Winnipeg and Manitoba under the PC government. Dealing with bad guys includes putting more resources at the hands of law officers, like the gang database the NDP pulled because the size of it was embarrassing….er, joke in their some place! More funding for more officers, I think everyone can agree a growing city needs more cops! Actually using warrants to arrest criminals, and more prosecutors to try and throw the book at the bad guys, lots of new laws to go after organized crime in Manitoba including making MPI able and responsible for their own investigations, Track dangerous sex-offenders better and the PC’s would put more cops in schools. All basically working towards safer streets…but the question remains…what to do with those that are caught breaking the law and get sent to jail…….

Liberal (Grade C)

The liberals are almost as bad as the NDP on this issue. Make young people take more responsibility for their actions (yah that has worked…does Dr. Jon have kids?), Open more Recreation and Community Centres….er hockey thug hugging then right?, Create “Meaningful” Support for young Aboriginal people??? Is that part of your Crime platform…racist isnt it? The Liberals also want to prevent crime by treating addictions. In theory a great strategy, but in reality…probably not so much! The liberals are taking the approach of “take out the symptoms and the crimes won’t happen” approach. Instead of dealing with the issue when it happens try and grab it beforehand. That’s great…but we want answers to what you will do once it does happen as well! For that the Liberals say they are basically in line with the other two major parties in more police and cadets as well as harsher laws. So, the same old same old with more plans for before hand. I would say they out rank the other two simply because they say yes to everything the NDP and PC are saying as well as a plan to lower potential crimes before they happen…Okay, so health care is not the only strong point the libs have!

Green (Grade Oh so F)

The burning question is “does the green team have a plan to deal with crime” the answer is…well sort of. They say “keep kids from becoming criminals” and want to do this by providing youth with opportunities…what opportunities…well “you know”…NOT REALY! Oh, and they want to “ Bring healing to hurting families with restorative justice”…if that means I get to beat my kids bullie to a pulp you just got my vote…but something tells me I am off base with that one. These Tree hugging granola crunchers also want to switch from a punishment based model to a restorative, learning model of justice….Something tells me they have never been mugged or robbed before! And they want us to get involved….through community based victim offender mediation…CRACK POTS….however, if my wife or kids is ever assaulted and you are going to put me in a room to “mediate” with the offender…Thank you! But, I am sure its not going to be the “coom-bi-ah” kind of out come you are all looking for! The Greens feel the current system causes the underlying problems that lead to crime…BULL CRAP…not punishing the FU&%ers enough causes repeat offenders! So, the Greens prove once again that a love in hippie is not the guy you vote in if you want tough on crime bills passed and safer streets….but they do throw some great parties.

Party report card

NDP (D+)

Based on the history over 12 years they should have less of an impressive rank, but looking at the way they deal with the education and mediocre environmental and immigration issues they get a bit more of a boost. The fact that they need to scramble and try to get us to ignore the obvious horror show the last 12 years have been means that the uphill battle is just starting for them.

PC (B-)

In my very liberal point of view, the PC’s are out pointing the Liberals by .6 only. They have a stronger Health care ideology in that they may actually get done what they plan to do, a stronger budgetary ideal as far as when it will be balanced and a good idea of how to get it there. They are pulling up just behind the Liberals in education, environment and immigration however. As for Crime, they are pretty much the go to group for crime in my mind. The liberals are to soft on crime, the NDP and their Hug a Thug mentality don’t measure up and the Greens…well lets just say they have NO hope of curbing crime in Manitoba.

Liberal (B-)

As always strong on health care, education, environment and immigration, but failing bad in the economic strategy, crime prevention/punishment and budget. Not a government you want in if you want a good balance, but if they tighten up on crime they may have a better chance. Running just behind the PC party in points however they are a viable alternative for a minority government or a second run group.

Green (E)

OH, My GOD! The group is so far out of touch its scary. A solid run could see a few fruit loops in the legislative seats, but to be frank, they scare me. The “Geo-minded” politics is silly and they fail to live in the real world on everything. They have an okay educational ideology and the environmental dogma they spew has a few strong points but lets face it….we live in the real world and utopia is a pipe dream. They wont get into power and I would be shocked if more than the west end even has a running vote…and not a running joke.