It may be the last day of the year, but I’m not really big on doing the whole year-in-review stuff myself, and will leave it to the professionals. Suffice to say, conditions have improved sufficiently enough over the past year that I am hereby retiring the Megan Leslie outfit watch. Unless, of course, she starts wearing melon-pink dresses with bright teal tights again.
With higher insurance premiums and quirks related to inflation calculations, income tax is going up for most Canadians – unless, of course, you’re a corporation. Cue the Liberals trying to embarrass the NDP and their supposed “talks” with the Conservatives over supporting the “budget” (and I use the term loosely, as it’ll likely be another omnibus bill). Not that the Liberals are committing to voting against it just yet, either, even though they’re in the aforementioned slap-and-hair-pull fight with the NDP.
The government has cut nearly all of its funding for democracy promotion abroad, including the great democracy promotion agency that Stephen Harper was all gung ho about creating as his legacy.
The government also unveiled the new tobacco warning labels, which will now cover 75 percent of cigarette packages. Because smokers needed new images to start trading with one another like hockey cards.
The National Post looks at private member’s bills (including Rob Oliphant’s bill on an independent veteran’s ombudsman), but neglects to mention some bills (like Candice Hoeppner’s long-gun registry bill) were really government bills under the fig leaf of a PMB to confuse the issue of whips on the opposition benches.
And Newfoundland and Labrador’s interim premier, Kathy Dunderdale, decided she is going to run for official party leader after all. Yay for more women premiers!
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