By arthur Weinreb
Friday, December 22, 2006
It was just about this time last year when the federal election campaign was winding down for a Christmas break. One of the hot button issues during that campaign was childcare. The Liberals were finally; no kidding, they really were, seriously, this time for sure, going to introduce universal daycare for Canadians after years and years of talking about it. all you had to do to get the government to look after your kids for you was vote for Paul Martin one more time. The Conservatives on the other hand proposed giving parents a choice and $1,200 a year for each child under 6.
Speaking on CBC News: Sunday, Scott Reid, Paul Martin's communications director said, "Don't give people 25 bucks a week to blow on beer and popcorn”. Reid's remarks drew immediate anger from Canadians and this statement played a not insignificant role in the fact that Stephen Harper is now prime minister. What angered people was not so much that Reid said what he said, but that Canadians knew that he was expressing the view of the elites in the Liberal Party who look at, or rather look down on, ordinary Canadians. We are a bunch of low-life idiots who need the government to provide our every need, including looking after our children while we sit around on a couch all day, swilling beer and munching popcorn. Drinking beer, eating popcorn and of course voting Liberal is pretty much all we are good for.
You would think after that they would have learned never to mention popcorn being eaten by the populace again, but no. Then again, if Liberals were capable of learning they wouldn't be Liberals; they would be members of political parties that actually believe in something other than their own greatness.
In a highly unusual move, the Ontario Legislature continued sitting during the week before Christmas. This should not come as a real surprise since unlike getting help for autistic children or saving lives on the province's roads, the MPPs had a really important matter to debate. The Legislature spent much of the week debating and finally passing a bill to give MPPs a 25 per cent wage increase. The government bill was supported by the PCs and opposed by the NDP. Of the NDP's opposition to the bill, Premier Dalton McGuinty invited Ontarians to "grab some popcorn” and watch the NDP.
Nothing has changed. No matter how amusing and entertaining Dalton might find the NDP's arguments in opposing the pay hikes, there are valid arguments on both sides of the issue. Many Ontarians including those who acknowledge that MPPs are underpaid are upset about the way the matter was handled. The debate and vote was held just days before Christmas with the perception that many Ontarians will be too preoccupied to pay much attention to it. and many Ontarians feel that pay increases should have been brought in gradually rather than a huge 25 per cent increase all at once. But McGuinty has no respect for either of these arguments or for Ontarians who would be happy to receive a 3 or 4 per cent increase in their pay. To him, the people of Ontario are just dumb popcorn eaters who have no right or ability to comment on the merits of the legislation. Just shut up, sit there, munch some popcorn and watch the Uncle Dalty Show.
McGuinty's comment adds to the belief that last year's remarks by Scott Reid was not some isolated incident in which a party member used a poor choice of words to express an opinion. Liberals believe that Canadians and Ontarians are simply incapable of managing their own lives and must be looked after by the government. Vote Liberal and you can spend your lives doing nothing but eating popcorn. and watch us perform.
One of these days, the popcorn eaters will rise up and throw these condescending self-important snobs out of office. at least they can now afford to be unemployed.
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