Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, a man who knows all about looking into cameras and lying about taxes, stood in front of another one this week in order to launch a TV spot trying to sell the hated HST. Like his BC Liberal cousins, Dalton has been having a difficult time selling the idea that it’s good for Ontarians.
With a leafy backdrop reminiscent of Michael Ignatieff’s “Narnia” ad, the premier is dressed casually in a buttoned blue shirt, explaining the benefits of the HST and how it’s going to grow the economy.
“Ontario is coming out of this global recession sooner and stronger than anyone expected,” McGuinty says in the ad.
“Because of the hard work of Ontarians, we are again leading Canada in economic growth. But to create more jobs, top economists agree the single most important thing we can do is adopt the HST.”
They’re not just economists. They’re top economists, these faceless men and women who have wholeheartedly endorsed the harmonized sales tax. It’s almost like a toothpaste advertisement:
“Four out of five dentists agree that Colgate’s new Clorox whitening strip is now 80% less damaging to your enamel.”
It even belongs in an advertisement with men with white coats standing around a lab, discussing the medical benefits of the HST. After all, the 60-second commercial is actually named “Strong Medicine.”
Even for the Ontario Liberal Party, this has to be a new kind of low. Though the words arrogant, condescending, and galling come to mind for using taxpayer money to run propaganda ads on the introduction of a new tax, there’s something almost baiting about the word “medicine.”
As in, “shut up and take your medicine.” As in, “take two suppositories and call me in the morning.” As in, “now bite down on this, because it might pinch a little.”
Strong medicine? What marketing school drop-out came up with that one? Ontario isn’t the one that’s sick. It’s the government that’s sick. It’s the one with the $19.7 billion fiscal deficit projected from now until my eight-year old is in high school. It’s made the shoddy decisions that has led it to this conundrum, forced to wring every last drop of milk from its overtaxed citizen cows.
Strong medicine. That’s what you’ll need for the pounding headache you’ll receive after acknowledging Dalton McGuinty’s second “stealth tax” on Ontario. The first being the medical “premiums”, and now the HST.
Sure, he’ll bribe you a little with your money, perhaps wine and dine you with a few rebate cheques. But in the end he’s no more than an illusionist. And behind the facade is the same tax-and-spend Liberal charlatan first elected with a song, a dance, and, of course, a big ol’ lie.
I didn’t see any Narnia-esque backdrop, but I heard the ad on CBC’s (rather pathetic) Power and Politics podcast about an hour ago. It seemed like a pretty typical political advertisement to me. In other words it was boring and careful not to make a point too aggressively, so I’ll skip watching it with leafy backdrop if you don’t mind.
Still, it was miles ahead of the ignorant mumbo jumbo coming out of Vanderzalm’s mouth when they interviewed him.
The interviewer asked him about the economists who say that the move from an inefficient PST to a more efficient HST is a sound move. (Creating the environment for job creation and all that.)
He said “it depends on who’s done the study” and then proceeded to cite only a study that says Dalton McGuinty is right. Then he dismissed economists because “they’re earning big money”. You heard from BC first! NEVER trust anyone who makes more money than you!
When asked what he thinks of the stated goal of improving the competitive position of BC businesses Vanderzalm had this to say:
“I doubt very much if the big oil companies drilling for oil or for gas or the coal companies or aluminum or copper all the mining companies or the lumber companies for that matter will create jobs or expand simply because they’re getting a refund cheque from the government it’ll be demand and it’ll be the price of the commodity that decides if they hire people or expand. It’ll go to the bottom line and the shareholders in the US, Europe and Asia will rub theirs hands and say aren’t these wonderful folks in Canada, they’ve just made us or made our shares worth a bit more money, that’s what I think will happen.”
Hey, who let Grampa Simpson on the CBC? You know who’s behind this HST thing? FOREIGNERS!!! That’s right. Dirty foreigners. Look at them rub their hands together with glee while they steal all our money…
ugh. Vanderzalm, you economic illiterate, of course it’s not just as simple as “ooh, HST cheque I guess I’ll hire twenty people”, but it’s Business 101 to recognize that costs such as duplicate PST taxes make it more difficult to expand your company and create jobs. Reducing those costs has the opposite effect.
And for the record, lumber companies, (I work for one) are very much happy that the HST will reduce our costs. It’ll help us stay competitive as we sell our lumber quite literally all over the world. That helps our employees and their families.
Welcome to British Columbia Adrian. Politics isn’t dull here. We do farce instead.