09.07.2011 08:15 AM

Dawg: “open racism from Tim Hudak”

Quote unquote, here:

Words almost fail. A proposed Liberal tax credit to encourage businesses to give new immigrants a leg up in the Ontario economy “doesn’t fit the values of Ontario families.”

So says nativist/Teabagger Tim Hudak, leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives.

The proposed program would restrict eligibility to new Canadian citizens who have lived in Canada for at least up to five years.

Citizens, geddit?

But to Hudak, these Canadians are “foreign workers.” Not real Canadians. Not real Ontarians.

His minions have cranked out an attack ad entitled “Ontarians Need Not Apply.”

Which Ontarians, Tim? Why are you deliberately leaving out so many of them, perhaps a little duskier in hue than you and your angry yokel base?

That’s not a dogwhistle, old boy. That’s a foghorn.

[H/ts fern hillWarren Kinsella and Terrence Watson]

UPDATE: Hudak’s rank hypocrisy.”

 

15 Comments

  1. Pat says:

    This is hilarious. I hope it turns into votes.

  2. Donald says:

    So which other discriminatory systems is Hudak going to take away? The persistent unfavorable wage gaps faced by immigrants, racialized communities and women? The concentration of wealth and privilege in a minority? Where is the principled stand against locking up and deporting people because they were born elsewhere and want to stay here? Oh right the thing Hudak needs to run his campaign on is whether 1,200 Canadians will get job credential assistance, in hopes of getting into power and making things even worse for the worst off. Good times.

    • Pat says:

      That is what he is saying Gord. Tim Hudak has a problem with the LPO addressing one form of discrimination, but he has no problem with any of the other forms of discrimination. The saddest part is that his very party brought a similar policy to the first reading – so he understands the benefit. He is just playing politics, and lying, and continuing to call citizens of Ontario “foreign workers”…

      • Pat says:

        I was referring to the other things that Donald mentioned – wage gaps faced by immigrants, racialized communities and women, the concentration of wealth in a minority, etc.

        Are you saying that the OLP is playing politics by releasing a policy that the PCs actually supported only one year ago? A policy that many moderate tories support? A policy that would help deal with the issue of a skill shortage in Canada? A policy that might get well-educated and trained individuals into their field so they can contribute to Canadian society?

        I’ve heard plenty of people complain about the “burden” that new Canadians place on society, maybe we should give them a shot to contribute as much as they can, rather than forcing them to do remedial tasks. How would you feel if you had studied for an extended period of time to become a doctor, but were told that you would never actually be allowed to practice because no one will hire you?

  3. RDS says:

    The whole point is that new Canadians CANNOT compete for those jobs because they do not have the accreditation. The subsidy is for jobs that will ALLOW them to get that accreditation, that is to say, not the same kind of jobs that would be hiring Ontario-trained workers who are already accredited.

    Or do you honestly believe that it is good for the economy to have PhD’s driving cabs? If not, please explain how you would solve this problem without some form of “government assisted discrimination.”

  4. Cameron Prymak says:

    Gord – clearly you haven’t read the platform yet so here is a snippet from http://www.ontarioliberal.ca/OurPlan/pdf/platform_english.pdf

    “Immigration is another Ontario advantage. The quicker we engage the skills newcomers have when they arrive, the quicker they will succeed.
    We’ll create a tax credit for business to give our highly skilled newcomers the Canadian work experience they need.”

    Now I understand your a Libertarian that believes that seatbelt laws are an infringement on personal freedom and that Reform was the precursor to the Tea Party, so it’s unlikely you’d ever be happy with any amount of good government policies designed to get our economy moving and help all Ontarians.

    • pomojen says:

      Seatbelt laws – attack on freedom.
      Helping new Canadian’s get a toe-hold on economic prosperity which benefits all of us – attack on freedom
      Woman’s right to choose/ equal marriage/ charter of rights and freedoms – not if we can freedom-lovin’ teabaggers can help it.

      Doesn’t sound like freedom to me,

    • Cameron Prymak says:

      Gord – Would you say PMSH is a practioner of vote buying too? We all saw the outreach practiced by Conservatives this spring. To me the McGuinty policy is designed to mitigate a growing set of problems – higher unemployment for new Canadians, labour shortages in specific professions and discrimination practised against many new Canadians.

      Furthermore, how do you reconcile your seat belt idea with your Libertarian/small government views?
      Would you empower insurance companies to have their own ‘monitoring’ force? That’s hardly a level playing field.
      Or would you favour larger police budgets to continually monitor the driving population? That’s big government.
      Or would you mandate everyone purchase cameras for the inside of their vehicles in order to get insurance? That’s Big Brother.

      Frankly it seems to me that your notion requires whopping costs to society making the status quo look efficient by comparison.

  5. Attack! says:

    Ah, good thing that bastion of pure free enterprise, your home province of Alberta (and remind people why you’re weighing in so much on Ontario politics, again?) doesn’t have or draw any attention to government sponsored wage subsidy programs, then.

    Oh, wait… there’s over a dozen federal and provincial ones which apply there. Damn socialists.

    http://centralalberta.ab.ca/doing-business-here/local-business-resources/wage-subsidy-programs

    • The Doctor says:

      Anyone who’s lived in Alberta or actually knows about Alberta politics knows that the PC government there is by and large a centrist one — the article in last weekend’s Globe and Mail on this topic was a very good one, and I recommend it.

      There are some exceptions, such as the facts surrounding the Vriend case, but even in that case it should be noted that the HRCs in Alberta remain in place, have teeth and have consistently ruled in favour of gay rights.

      A lot of self-styled progressives in Canada, particularly those who have never set foot in Alberta, like to make the province out to be some sort of neanderthal right-wing dystopia, but the fact of the matter is that by and large, there really aren’t a lot of differences between Canadian provinces when it comes to the things that really matter in determining overall quality of life.

      Besides which, Don Cherry, Tom Wappel, Cheryl Gallant, Ernst Zundel and the Landowners’ Association didn’t come from Alberta, did they?

      • Attack! says:

        my point was that Gord’s rallying to their defense should be viewed in its proper context:

        not only is he an outsider to this debate, but he’s also a far, far cry from reason even in his own province.

  6. Dr.Dawg says:

    From the article I cited:

    “But the credit doesn’t apply to those who aren’t Canadian citizens – it applies to new Canadians who live in Ontario and have been in the country for up to five years.”

    • Attack! says:

      yes, the CBC article said that, so it was a reasonable post on your part, but it looks like they may not have been justified in interpreting it that way; the platform doc. only says what Cameron quoted above:

      “Immigration is another Ontario advantage. The quicker we engage the skills newcomers have when they arrive, the quicker they will succeed.

      We?ll create a tax credit for business to give our highly skilled newcomers the Canadian work experience they need.”

      — so I’m thinking it more likely WILL apply to those selected skilled professionals with permanent residence status, not just full-fledged citizens.

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