FPTV (Ep. 8): Electoral Reform – Majority Whim vs. Reason

 All, FPTV
Apr 042007
 

2007-04-04.fptv-8-thumbVIDEO – DESCRIPTION:
It is expected that, on May 15, 2007, Ontario’s Citizens Assembly on Electoral Reform will recommend replacing Ontario’s Single Member Plurality (SMP or “First Past the Post”) electoral system with the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system. If it does so, Ontario will hold a referendum on October 10, 2007, to decide whether or not to replace Ontario’s SMP system with the MMP system.

The key difference between the two electoral systems is that the SMP tends to yield single-party majority governments, whereas the MMP tends to create minority governments.

In this episode of FPTV, Freedom Party of Ontario leader Paul McKeever explains to Ontario’s Select Committee on Electoral Reform that minority governments exclude the possibility of rational and exclude ethics from the law-making process. Only a majority government, submits McKeever, allows a government to make laws according to what is right rather than just according to what is merely popular.

NOTE: the Select Committee was comprised of elected members of the provincial legislature and held its hearings in 2005. On the basis of its report, the government set up Ontario’s Citizens Assembly on Electoral Reform. Continue reading »

Robert Metz – On the Line: Cap CEO Salaries?; No British Apology for Slavery; Quebec Elections

 All, FPO Panelist
Mar 302007
 

VIDEO – DESCRIPTION:

On March 30, 2007, Freedom Party of Ontario president Robert Metz and Barrie Doyle (P.R. Consultant, Gateway Communications) were panelists on “On the Line” with host Christine Williams. In this episode, the panel discusses: capping CEO incomes; Britain refuses to apologize for the slave trade; implications of Quebec’s election outcome. Continue reading »

FPTV (Ep. 7): What’s Wrong with Raising the Minimum Wage?

 All, FPTV
Mar 282007
 

2007-03-29.fptv-7-thumbVIDEO – DESCRIPTION:
On February 8, 2007, the governing Liberal Party of Ontario lost a seat to the socialist New Democratic Party. York South-Weston is, statistically, the second poorest riding in Ontario, and the NDP’s success in the by-election was widely attributed to its proposal to raise Ontario’s minimum wage from $8 per hour to $10 per hour.

To avoid losing more seats to the NDP, the governing Liberal Party has said that poverty is a central issue in the coming October 10, 2007 general election.

March 22, 2007 was budget day in Ontario, and Greg Sorbara, Ontario’s Minister of Finance, announced that Ontario’s minimum wage would increase by 75 cents per year over the next three years, bringing the minimum wage to $10.25 by 2010.

The leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, John Tory (leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario) has, in recent months, agreed with the idea that Ontario’s minimum wage must be increased.

In this episode of FPTV, Freedom Party of Ontario leader Paul McKeever explains why increasing the minimum wage would be both immoral and economically hazardous…particularly to employees in Ontario. Continue reading »

FPTV (Ep. 6): The Property Tax Issue, pt. 2: Better Funding

 All, FPTV
Mar 192007
 

2007-03-19.fptv-6.2-thumbVIDEO – DESCRIPTION:
In this second of a two-part episode of FPTV, Freedom Party of Ontario leader Paul McKeever addresses the impracticality of property taxation and describes a better way for municipalities to collect the revenues that they spend on municipal services: a municipal property tax (combined with the scrapping of property taxation). Continue reading »

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FPTV (Ep. 6): The Property Tax Issue, pt. 1: The Homestead Act

 All, FPTV
Mar 192007
 

2007-03-19.fptv-6-thumbVIDEO – DESCRIPTION:
Ontario’s current property taxation system requires the value of each taxed home to be assessed. Allegations that the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation has made unfair or erroneous evaluations of the values of homes recently led the Ontario government to freeze property values until after the general election of 2007. In 2006, Ontario PC MPP Tim Hudak proposed a 5% cap on the annual increase in the deemed value of homes. PC leader John Tory has made it clear that the 5% cap is to be a major plank in his party’s 2007 election platform.

In this first of a two-part episode of FPTV, Freedom Party of Ontario leader Paul McKeever examines Hudak’s proposal, and explains how it would cause problems without addressing the fundamental problems associated with property taxation. Continue reading »

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