garth tuner upholds his talking out, good on you!

Talking tough
March 28, 2006, 24 HOURS NEWS SERVICES

A Conservative MP, already taken to the woodshed by the prime minister for speaking out on Liberal floor crosser David Emerson, says Stephen Harper has nothing that he wants and vows to continue speaking out for his constituents.

In a speech last night to the Hull-Aylmer Conservative Electoral District Association, released in advance to 24 hours news services, Garth Turner said he's been successful in private life, and made his peace and doesn't need to please the boss.

"The prime minister has nothing I covet," the Halton MP told the gathering. "And so, unlike many of my colleagues who want to be in cabinet, or want to be parliamentary secretaries or want to have additional pay, more titles, a bigger office in a better building or a seat in the House of Commons closer to the boss, I don't care," Turner said.

"And I don't think they should care, either. Because this MP thing is not about them."

Turner said that he will follow four rules as an MP: Give people a voice, don't confuse person with position, know who you represent and communicate.

The last rule appeared to be a jab at Harper's PMO, which has been accused of muzzling rookie cabinet ministers by demanding final say over most, if not all, public statements.

The Turner Report:
Hot off the press: hot ideas for the big budget
Garth Turner, March 28, 2006, The Brooks Bulletin

It took me almost seven weeks. I heard from more than ten thousand Canadians. I spoke with finance experts, economists and lots of stay-at-home moms, commuters and seniors. And now it’s done. This week I’m handing off my report on hot ideas for the next federal budget to the finance minister, Jim Flaherty.

This thing ended up being almost 70 pages, half of which are conclusions and recommendations and the other half a representative sampling of what 100 Canadians had to tell me. They are from across Halton and across Canada, all expressing hope and optimism that this first Conservative budget in 13 years will take up some of the torches that middle class Canadians have been holding out.

There are 11 recommendations, and I stand behind every last one of them. The entire report will be published on Wednesday at www.garth.ca. And while I am not going to explain it all before Flaherty is handed his final copy in Ottawa that morning, let me give you the broad themes:

Families first: The tax system right now is based on individuals, and that creates a bevy of problems and a great deal of unfairness. For example, a single-income family in which one spouse stays home and cares for kids can actually end up paying more tax than a family with two people working, earning the same amount of money. That’s wrong. It needs to be changed, and my report spells out exactly how that can happen.

The child care debate: Conservatives want to give all families $1,200 a year per child under six. Liberals and NDPers want the state to set up subsidized child care spaces for lower-income people. Here’s what I want to do: Target the money to those who need it, and not give it to those who don’t. Then allow families the choice of taking the cash or splitting income within the family to achieve the same benefit in the form of tax savings.

Retirement crisis: Yes, there is one coming. There are nine million Baby Boomers like me, and our population is aging fast. We have stalled out with RRSP contributions, and have stashed a hugely unhealthy amount in just one type of asset ? real estate. So, Ottawa has a vested interest in encouraging us to start saving after-tax income so there are enough financial assets in fifteen years to prevent a housing meltdown. And we’d better start now.

Accountability and openness: My little experiment in populist budget democracy showed me clearly that average Canadians are dying to be asked for their opinion, and that they have very valuable things to say. It’s time the government adopted a more open and transparent way for all of us to be involved, with MPs traveling the country gathering input and they talking with folks about how they should be taxed and the money spent. What a radical idea, eh? Deciding what to do with our own money.

In addition, I think the time has come for the government to give us a guarantee there will never be another deficit (unless we go to war, or decide to buy California), and that MPs and everyone else who works for a government paycheque get no more entitlements that comparable private sector workers.

My report also asks that senior couples be able to pool their money; that the Tories make good on cutting the GST and boosting spending for promised goals Canadians supported; that we start moving now to radically simplify the tax system; and we ensure, above all, that every action in the budget has the greatest amount of good for greatest number of people.

The recommendations are specific, backed up with arguments and the result of carefully blending in a vat full of public opinion with the delicate spicing of expert opinion from both Bay Street and the academic ivory towers.

So, I hear you asking, will Jim Flaherty listen? Will any of this find its way into this budget, or maybe the next one? Have I been given any indication the new government gives a hoot what the honourable hick from Campbellville writes?

Well, I guess we shall see, won’t we? It would be cool if some of these items were brought forth and made law, because I know they would receive a torrent of support. So far Flaherty has been encouraging and has certainly been happy to meet with me to review how things are going and what was being said in those town Hall meetings.

But, whatever happens, I consider this whole exercise hugely valuable. Thousands of people thought about taxes and government spending and national priorities when they might not have otherwise. Scores of great ideas bubbled up. We all got to dialogue about what we want as Canadians, now and in the future. And, at the end of it all, I hope the wall of cynicism and distrust which we’ve seen rise between politicians and voters was knocked down by a few bricks.

Thanks a lot for caring and helping. Please read it, and give me your thoughts garth@garth.ca.