Election time means promises galore, grandiose statements of purpose, mud-slinging at other party leaders, and ridiculous claims of what they will do, or more likely, what disasters will ensue if you vote for the wrong party.
With that said, there are some good ideas that have come up from various places, and maybe when the smoke clears from the battlefield after Oct. 21, possibly some of these ideas could be looked at by whomsoever takes office as the government.
One proposal that needs some very careful scrutiny, not to mention some thorough investigation into the implications of it, is the pharmacare proposal floated by the Liberals, a national drug plan of sorts.
How is the plan going to work, and how much will it cost (and how will it be paid for) are questions that need answering. Another question is, what does this do for employees who have drug plans through their employer? This could be a beneficial plan, but there are far-reaching implications that need to be spelled out.
Indeed, where the Liberals are concerned, they aren’t even blinking when putting out proposals that they openly admit will admit billions to the yearly deficit, and billions more to the accumulated debt that Canada at the fiscal level right now. They really need to explain themselves here, and not just claim some airy-fairy thing that our ratio of debt to GDP is really good so we can afford it.
This is no different than a household taking on a mountain of debt — what can they truly afford? And is it going to burden them down for the future?
Our future generations of children and grandchildren will be the ones paying this huge debt, so this is something voters need to keep in their minds when considering how to cast their ballots.
Another idea that’s come up is the energy corridor, which has been put forward by the Conservatives. This idea was mentioned during the Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Show when our MP had guest MPs from Ontario and Quebec, and the idea was very warmly received here.
Properly defined and established, this idea could be expanded to include much more than just oil and gas (which is needed), but to include hydroelectricity and other products and services that would be of benefit across Canada. There is some real merit to this proposal, but it needs to be investigated thoroughly with the details spelled out so we know if it is realistic or not.
