05.28.2012 07:10 AM

Welcome to OLO

Your first task: explain why your boss, an erstwhile environmentalist, has a four car garage!

29 Comments

  1. JamesHalifax says:

    Hmm….sounds like someone has a problem with gambling on the ponies……

  2. Balcony says:

    I am a New Democrat creep.

  3. Anne Peterson says:

    I suspect that the other part of that garage is a store room or work room like part of my garage. If there are cars in that part how do they get in. Fly over the trees? Go down the chimney like Santa Claus?

  4. Dave M says:

    I am Dipper shill.

  5. Michael Behiels says:

    No different really than Bob Rae, the wealthy arm chair socialist, who aspires yet again to lead the hapless Liberals.

    Mulcair, the bull in a china shop leader, is partly right about PM Harper’s and Albert’s Redmond almost exclusive focus on resource exploitation for export purposes. This is a really foolish policy based on short term gain but long term pain.

    Successful Cdn governments since the time of MacDonald and Laurier have always supported both resource exploitation and manufacturing. They also encouraged, lead provincial governments of Ontario and Quebec, the refining of resources within Canada. This tandem creates high paying jobs and higher profits that can be reinvested all sectors of the economy.

  6. Christian says:

    Again, this is a poll and as you pointed out we need to very much bear in mind the shit-show the pollsters put on RE Alberta’s recent provincial election.
    http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/28/ndp-making-huge-gains-as-canada-tilts-leftward-poll/

    But, I think this and the previous poll shows Mulclair is tapping into a potentially rich vein (I pointed this out in an earlier posting). The danger for you the Liberals and Cons (not that I care about the Robo-cons and their Dear Leader) is that your (and others) campaign against him could catastrophically backfire by being perceived as the elitist 1% (i.e.: established media pundits, Conrad Black, rich oil companies etc.) attacking the 99% in a desperate bid to maintain power and privilage. I think caution is warranted in how you deal with Mr. Mulclair.

  7. Kelly says:

    I think she’ll be too busy leveraging the new National Post Forum poll that shows the NDP would form a minority government if an election were held today. The NDP is way out in front in this poll and Mulcaire has the highest leadership ratings, too. And yes this was conducted after his comments about the Western premiers Tar/Oil Sands etc.

    I think what this shows is that given our hyper divided reality the silo walls are hardening. People are just tuning out the liberals. They did so many things while in office that can be turned against them when they criticize the cons. They signed Kyoto yet helped speed up oil extraction, for example.

    There is a lot of dissatisfaction with Harper and many people have been waiting for anyone — ANYONE — in the opposition to give Harper and conservatives generally a shot in the way he cons are used to giving — such as calling Atlantic Canadians lazy.

  8. dave says:

    Oh my! Well this certainly shakes up my leftie bias. Instead of thinking about methane release, greehouse effects, petro state drift, democratic reform, world hunger, and such…I am shocked, shocked, to see that the leader of the social democratic party is not living in a dugout at the end of a lane, dining on grubs and roots, – as all of the lefties do lest they be deemed hypocritical about criticizing the system.
    Thanks the LibCons for directing me to what really matters. I guess I will vote for them.

  9. Dan says:

    Mulcair lives in such an opulent mansion.

    Good thing the Liberal party is rallying behind someone who understands struggle like Justin Trudeau. Canadians can completely relate to his “make it on his own” story.

  10. Philip says:

    How many cars does Mulcair actually own? One? Two? Has my Liberal Party declared war on upper middle class families with two cars? Did I not get that memo?

    If we Liberals are going to launch attacks at party leaders for how many garage doors they have, what about Harper? He has to have thousands, right? All over the country. In very government depot and institution. This is just so pointless.

    • JamesHalifax says:

      Philip, the difference is that Harper has never pretended to be anything but what you see.

      Mulcair, is just another hypocrite.

      I doubt you’ll ever see Harper going into hawk, or being forced to refinance his home 11 times.

      • Philip says:

        Mulcair was “forced” to remortgage his house every one of the 11 times? Citation please?

        Mulcair’s original mortgage was originally for $58,000 and it currently stands at $300,000. I believe most people would consider a $300,000 mortgage pretty much standard in any Canadian urban area. His annual salary for an MP is $157,731 and he receives an additional $75,516 a year as Leader of the Opposition. I think he can make the monthly payment. So why does Harper and Conservative Party wish to attack the Canadian middle class again? Do they have something against people living within their means and using the equity of their homes?

        • sharonapple88 says:

          Okay, but seriously, why does anyone remortgage their home eleven times? There are costs involved every time you take a loan. Not to mention most financial planners advise not to take out equity from your home when you refinance, something Mulcair and his wife have done.

          But as far as his income, you could also add the of $20,591 he charged for per diem expenses and rent, and the $4,408 in hospitality expenses from last year.

          Overall, who knows for sure about their finances. I don’t think we can automatically conclude that since Mulcair makes a fair amount of money that they’re fine. Maybe I’ve read too many money makeover articles about people making six-digit salary who are unable to balace their expenses. (Fascinating how people can make loads of cash but be unable to do simple math. One case that floored me was a woman who made $600,000 a year and was complaining about how little that was. It’s mind-boggling.)

          • Philip says:

            Fair enough, we don’t know all the details of the Mulcair’s financial situation, to be honest I really don’t want to know. I just used the publicly available data noted in the Financial Post story. Not my business really.

            The high number of re-mortgages could come from a number of different scenarios. If they held a variable rate mortgage, they could be renegotiated every 24 months and the appraisal rate could have been higher. There could have been re-mortgages for renovations or sending kids to university. Even lawsuits, leadership bids or political campaigns. A bunch of reasons which ultimately are the Mulcair’s personal business.

            I guess I fail to see why the intrusions into Vic Toews privacy were verboten but the mis-count of the Mulcair’s garage doors to make some lame ass point about his carbon foot print is OK. And I am a Liberal.

  11. Kwil says:

    As a Liberal supporter, kindly shut the hell up, Kinsella. You’re doing us no favors with this childish lyng garbage.

    • JamesHalifax says:

      Kwil…..I doubt you’re a Liberal supporter. If you were, you would be aware of what WK was on about.

      Calling him a liar….hmmm………

      I await his response to your well thought out comment.

  12. Cynical says:

    Neither Mulcair’s garages nor his mortgages matter much to me. When I saw the mention of the mortgage refinancing, it occurred to me that “Obviously, if you’re running for an election you need money from somewhere, and if you believe in yourself, why not remortgage?”

    To me, Mulcair is enough of a jerk that this other stuff is small potatoes.

    • JamesHalifax says:

      After years in politics and as a lawyer….one would think that Mulcair would have a better grasp on his personal finances. If, after all he is asking Canadians to support him in his quest to lead the country, one would think he could at least handle his own personal economy, let alone the economy of the entire country.

      Vote Tom…..remortgage Canada!!!

    • Philip says:

      How many cars do the Mulcair’s own, Jon? Or do we just count the two garages doors and then multiply by some random number?

  13. MC says:

    “A four car garage?” Mr. Kinsella, speaking as a non-NDPer, I believe you owe Mr. Mulcair an apology.

    If you type the address accompanying the photo (109 Lynwood Drive, Beaconsfield, Québec) into Google maps, you find a house that looks nothing like the photo. If you view proximate houses you do get a house which matches that one – with a standard two car garage.

    The photo in the story, which you have chosen to describe as having a “four car garage”, has been photoshopped or taken with one of those lenses commonly used in real estate photos which elongate properties to make them look much bigger than they are ( here making a standard door look like a double door). Try it and see.

    For someone who claims the personal should be beyond reach, this is pretty tacky on your part.

    • MC says:

      I pounded the pavement for my local Liberal last election. And left 3 comments – two with a link to a photo which proves the point (on your own multiple posts re this topic ) because the “four car garage” deserves clarification.

  14. MC says:

    Here’s another picture of what you describe as a “four car garage”:

    http://business.financialpost.com/2012/05/28/maybe-mulcair-had-it-right/

    • CQ says:

      That’s a two-car garage. Maybe he keeps a VW for nice days and a second car for his everyday driving? Or he stores a fishing boat in one half of the garage? Or another car belonging to another family member?

  15. Bill From Willowdale says:

    Maybe he puts a lot of stuff in the garage. Show me four cars and then you’ve got a story Warren.

  16. Anne Peterson says:

    I learn on good authority that Thomas Mulcair has a modest house on a modest street and takes his grandaughter to a modest park in the vicinity like other grandfathers who live there. An honest man who lives his values.

  17. Anne Peterson says:

    And quick, quick, lets look into everyone’s mortgages, finances and garages. What kind of garage does Mr. Flaherty have or Mr. Clement or Ms. Oda, or/and especially Ms. Finley and the senator’s. And let’s hear about their mortgages and finances too. Mr. Flaherty’s would be interesting perhaps. Where are all those researching journalists when you need them?

  18. Anne Peterson says:

    And especially let’s look into the debts of failed liberal leadership candidates. I hate to bring this up because I like one or two of them quite a lot, but fairs’s fair, especially Martha. And I happily admit to being an NDPer.

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