06.24.2011 01:17 PM

Andrea Horwath’s NDP: say one thing, do another

They’re just like the Tim Hudak’s Ontario PCs – they say one thing, and they do another.  Whiplash-inducing reversals don’t begin to describe either of them.

Hudak said he’d “stop the HST in its tracks,” quote unquote.  Now he has admitted he will keep it, in the unlikely event he is ever elected.

Horwath, meanwhile, is just as bad.  Remember her web site, www.unfairtaxgrab.com, which she promoted all over the place, including in slick commercials, and which was accompanied by a petition and whatnot?

Well, as the screen grab below shows, it’s now gone. It’s been airbrushed out of existence.  So, too, her previous opposition to the HST, which she said she’d “cancel,” quote unquote.  Now she’s all for keeping it.

 

16 Comments

  1. James Bow says:

    There’s a fine line between reversing one’s position, and moving on from it. In 1954, the Liberals opposed the creation of Metropolitan Toronto and promised to dissolve the union if elected. When they were elected, of course, the did nothing of a kind. Metro had become a political reality, and going back on a decision was no longer good policy.

    There was plenty of hay to be made when Hudak opposed the HST. All you needed was to put up pictures of Christine Elliott and ask why she wasn’t nudging her husband Jim Flaherty about his part in implementing the HST. The NDP’s position was wrong-headed, in my opinion (I believe the HST to be good policy), but it was at least consistent.

    Except that, of course, the HST has now been implemented, and will have been a political reality for more than a year by the time the next election rolls around. Even if you opposed the implementation of the HST, at that point in time there’s a lot of arguments against repealing it.

    So, I would say that the NDP taking down that web site reflects the fact that the NDP, like most of the rest of the population of Ontario, have moved on. Raising this issue again suggests that you haven’t. 😉

    • Warren says:

      She said she’d “cancel” it. Now she’s saying she’ll keep it. She’s as bad as Hudak.

      McGuinty, meanwhile, has been straight with people throughout. He – like Stephen Harper, Jim Flaherty, John Baird and Tony Clement – said it was the right tax policy. And it was.

      Ontario’s economy is turning the corner, and voters know it. They don’t want to throw away what we’ve achieved.

      • CQ says:

        McGuinty isn’t that straight with the people. The other two are just too dumb to be elected into office. Why won’t anyone consider lowering the Ontario sales tax percentage from 8% to 7, 6, or 5% to reflect the additional bread basket taxations the HST conversion has put upon gas etc. Seriously, why not just lower the percentage instead this complete scrap /no scrap stupidity?
        The worst result for Ontario will still be either a Liberal or Progressive Conservative Minority result with the NDP holding their “balance of power”.

  2. Harith says:

    It’s been moved to http://unfairhst.ca/

    • Warren says:

      Really? And where is her “cancel” the HST pledge, Harith?

      • Harith says:

        All I did was point out the new location of the site.

        I am well aware that Horwath and Hudak went from “kill the HST completely” to “Kill the HST on x”. They tried to ride a populist wave which didn’t work here since we’re not BC.

        • Warren says:

          That’s the charitable explanation. The less-charitable explanation is that they were, are, and will forever be full of shit on HST, Health “tax,” and not a few other things, too.

          Like my friend said: they’re both pushing “change” and “status quo,” now, simultaneously. It’s the stupidest political strategy I’ve seen in a while.

          We take them seriously, however, and I intend to spend every waking moment in the next 100+ days driving them all into Lake Ontario. Figuratively-speaking, of course.

          • Harith says:

            I look forward to it. I sure hope Hudak and his changebook (heh) are sent packing! A Harrisesque premiership scares the living hell out of me.

          • Matt Ellis says:

            Speaking of FOS on Health “tax”, didn’t Premier McGuinty promise ontarians he wouldn’t raise taxes and then bring in a “Health Premium” and “Eco Fees” and “HST”?

            I could be wrong but I thought he said he wouldn’t raise our taxes.

          • Warren says:

            No, you’re right. And he accepted responsibility for his mistake, at http://www.Dalton.ca, at the start of the televised debate, and the people reelected him with a larger majority than he had when the legislature rose in 2007.

            Now it’s over to the people. I feel good about their judgment.

  3. MLukas says:

    It’s obvious that the ONDP are back-tracking and are trying to water down their intial pledge by now only saying they’d remove it from gas prices now.

    What stood out for me in the Globe article was:

    “To pay for the pledge, which would cost $500-million a year once fully implemented, the NDP would shift some of the tax burden back onto businesses.”

    That would be real good for an economy which is in transitioning into a post-manufacturing base reality.

    “Ms. Horwath earlier promised to set a weekly cap on gas prices. She has also said the NDP would remove the provincial portion of the HST from residential electricity bills – a policy also adopted by the Tories.”

    And this would be paid for how?

  4. walt says:

    if you run the unfairtaxgrab through archive.org you can pick up bits and pieces of what was said.

  5. The NDP can run (or do they slither?) but, in this case, they can’t hide: http://web.archive.org/web/20090503181900/http://www.andreahorwath.com/unfairtaxgrab/facts.html

    (Note, first you’ll get some red text about a 302 error but, give it a few seconds, and the old web page will load up, sans images).

    P.

  6. RN200 says:

    Ha ha ha …. you actually believe that Dalton “owning up” to his tax lies is what got him the larger majority? It was your liebral mole John Tory pulling the rip-cord and handing you the win. Having a Liberal leader for both parties was genius so I’ll give you that, however you managed to work that stinky deal, but saying that Dalton’s mea culpa on the tax LIE brought the win is just too ripe.

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