True Liberalism

I do go on ad nauseum about rights only because "RIGHTS" are the only thing worth fighting for. I also become quite animated when someone begins to go on about "Women's Rights" or "Gay Rights", or any Groups rights period end of sentence. Only because they are utter "nonsense" . Grand works of fiction, created to divide people and weaken them rather than strengthen them. Divide and conquer is another name for it. Divy up the entire population into small groups give them clever labels then throw them crumbs and watch them fight over them.

Only individual people have rights only individuals can exercise their rights. If I were to put this in collectivist terms then it would be like this "We the People have rights" And "We the People shall decide what is right for ourselves" That is about as collective as I get.

I put it to you, Are we not all humans? Are we not born equal in every way? When did we become different from one another? Like or not we are all humans and we all were born equal. Our gender is irrelevant, who we fall in love with is irrelevant. The immutable fact remains the same we have two legs, two arms, one head, no tail, no fur and little hair coverage. Traits which define us as members of the human species. We come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colours. We bear our offspring live and require a long growth period for our brains to mature. Unlike our other mammalian relatives. That said, it is therefor not unreasonable to say that we are equal with the same rights. We are all members of the human family, however this is not good enough for some.

In our modern times, that being the last 500 years a philosophy was developed and defined "liberalism" The belief that the individual is the single most important part of a society and that an individual rights supersedes that of the "State" and most importantly in the beginning the "Church". The right to think and believe as one wished to, the right to say what one wished to but importantly the right to defend these beliefs. As it was put by Voltaire "Although I disagree with what you say, you have a right to say it. I will defend your right even unto death. " To be truly liberal is to respect and defend the rights of your fellow man, even when you might disagree with them. The flaw of true liberalism is that because one tries to understand both sides of an argument it lends itself to brain paralysis and indecision when it comes to action. Which in our times has left it to so called "Progressive Thinking" or the accepting of new ideas even though these ideas fly in the face of the core belief of true liberalism.

Which has lead to the rise of "group" or "collective" rights. Which as stated is a misnomer. In truth groups can only achieve special status or privilege. In this state groups get set apart from society as a whole there by ghettoizing them. The rift in society is further exacerbated by the social backlash to to the special treatment of a particular group which gives cause for further special treatment viz a viz laws protecting their "special place" within society at large. We all have heard the term "politically correct" or "PC" it is not a new concept but what is politically correct has changed over time. To be politically correct in our time has become to embrace every new hair brained idea like neutering our language or self censorship. It also has come to mean to embrace ideas that we don't necessarily agree with but it is the fashion.

These are the types of ideas that have infected modern liberalism. Thus striking down the heart of the philosophy of liberalism the autonomy of the individual thought and the sanctity of individual rights. You know the world has become a topsy turvy place when champions of individual rights are labelled as "Right wing" lunatics by the champions of collective rights. These said same champions were once champions for the little guy in a bygone age but now wish to see the little guy thrown under the bus to favour the special interests of groups. The sad reality of it is the little guy is queing up unwittingly for the bus

McGuinty’s shortsighted driving restrictions

Column: McGuinty’s shortsighted driving restrictions unfair to families, young drivers

Tim Hudak, MPP From the Park Bench

It has been about a month since Dalton McGuinty announced his plan to impose new restrictions on young drivers in Ontario, and yet the public criticism of his shortsighted plan continues to pick up speed across the province.

The most contentious part of the McGuinty government’s Bill 126 – the Road Safety Act – has been a proposed restriction on drivers 19 years or younger that prohibits them from having more than one passenger (aside from a member of the immediate family) that is 19 years or younger in the car with them at all times.

The public outcry against this ill-conceived idea has stretched from the floor of the Ontario Legislature to the World Wide Web where more than 125,000 young people and parents have joined a group on the social networking site Facebook in protest.

It requires very little thought to understand why this legislation is out of touch with the lives of many families in Niagara and Hamilton. From the emails I have received on this subject to the comments posted on my Facebook page, I have heard plenty of examples to prove the point. Some of my favourites are:

• A 19 year old can qualify for a commercial pilot's licence and fly a plane full of teenage passengers, but under Bill 126 she is forbidden from driving more than one of them to the airport;

• A young soldier could drive an entire platoon in an armoured tank in Afghanistan but would be prevented from driving on Ontario roads with two 19-year-old passengers;

• A 19-year-old Brock University student or high school graduate with a full-time job can’t carpool to school or work with others his own age without breaking the law;

Another contentious part of Bill 126 unjustly punishes drivers under 22 years of age with 30 day to 90 day licence suspensions for minor infractions, such as rolling through a stop sign or exceeding the speed limit by 10 km, even for a first offence.

Instead of consuming the Legislature in debate on how many 19-year-old passengers should ride in a car together, Ontario families want a Premier who tackles the tough issues like the economy and violent crime and leaves the parenting up to the parents of Ontario.

I am circulating a petition through my Beamsville office (4961 King Street E, Unit M1) that calls on Premier McGuinty to scrap this ill-advised plan. To sign your name or obtain copies of the petition to circulate in your neighbourhood or school, come by the office during regular business hours, call 905-563-1755 or email timhudak@niagara.net.

Hudak Speaks At Rally for Canada

A rally in support of the Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the will of Canadian voters was held at Queen’s Park in Toronto on Dec. 6.
About one thousand Ontario residents came out to express their opposition to the Dion-led separatist coalition and to support respect for the democratically elected federal government. A number of prominent conservatives addressed the crowd, including Ontario PC Party Leader John Tory, St. Catharines MP Rick Dykstra, Thornhill MP Peter Kent and Ontario PC Finance Critic Tim Hudak.

The following is Tim Hudak’s speech from the rally:

I want to thank Matt O'Brien, Ed Wooley and Utsav Sanduja - three dedicated Canadians - for their extraordinary grassroots efforts to organize this rally today.

Special greetings also to my friends and neighbours from Niagara and Hamilton who made the trek up the QEW this morning to join us here at Queen's Park.

And thank you to all of you who have taken time away from family, from work, from your businesses to gather on this cold December day.

But we do this for a very important and admirable purpose: because we fundamentally believe - particularly during these challenging economic times - that the will of the people expressed on Election Day must be respected

And we believe that Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative Government have been given a clear mandate to take Canada forward.

And Stephane Dion? The man who took his Liberal Party of Canada to its poorest showing in its history?

Stephane Dion cannot even run his own Party and - as we saw on Monday night - he cannot even manage a cheap camcorder.

And he wants to run our country?

It gets worse!

Get this: Dion wants Bob Rae to develop the Coalition Economic Plan.

All of us in Ontario have sadly seen that movie before: record unemployment, more people on welfare than the total population of Newfoundland, jobs fleeing our Province.

The Buffalo Chamber of Commerce named Bob Rae their Businessman of the Year fot all the jobs he chased across the border.

The concept of Prime Minister Dion is frightening enough. Prime Minister Dion at the head of a coalition using Bob Rae's so-called Economic Plan backed by the Bloc Quebecois is unconscionable.

It is bad news for hard pressed Ontario families and it is dangerous for struggling Ontario businesses.

And have you heard the latest from the Coalition?

They have suggested Dion may be replaced by John McCallum or Ralph Goodale at the head of the separatist coalition.

Or they have suggested that if only could explain to Canadians better what the coalition would mean for Canada.

My friends, you can put lipstick on the coalition but Canadian voters are not about to pucker up!

It is time to take this country forward. Let's respect the will of the people and allow Stephen Harper's duly elected Conservative Government take us from tough times today to a more prosperous tomorrow.

Thank you for being here to rally for democracy.

Thank you for being here to stand up for Canada.

When it comes to Property Assessments,

From Tim Hudak MPP Niagara West-Glanbrook

"If it's broke, don't fix it"; McGuinty Coins New Expression in Response to Property Assessment Concerns

Posted 12/18/2008 - 18:27

Tim Hudak, Ontario PC Finance Critic, called on Dalton McGuinty today to fix his broken property assessment scheme following an admission from Premier himself that this year’s assessments were “unrealistic”.

"Dalton McGuinty's bizarre comments show how out of touch he has become with what Ontario families are going through in today's economic climate," Hudak said. "Taxpayers are seeing their property assessments skyrocket while the value of their homes are falling."

This year’s property assessments were based on Jan. 1, 2008 values – the height of a hot housing market. By the time the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) mailed out new assessment notices this fall, housing prices across the province had already dropped dramatically.

The average assessment in the City of Toronto increased by 21.6 per cent this year. Some Toronto neighbourhoods saw even larger increases, such as 28 per cent in Parkdale-High Park, 32 per cent in Trinity-Spadina and 33 per cent in Danforth. The average housing price in Toronto has already dropped by 5.7 per cent or $21,431 below January 2008 values.

Other examples include: rightclick to view image

Worse still, under the new McGuinty property assessment scheme, property owners have no hope of relief from the resultant tax increases until the next assessment in 2012.

“If these assessments are wrong, then the Premier has a duty to fix them,” Hudak said. “Otherwise too many Ontario families and seniors will be paying higher property taxes for at least four years when they shouldn't be.”

Hudak said McGuinty should act immediately and restore annual assessments so they properly reflect market conditions and can’t be allowed to get out of whack.

Also, any assessment increases from the 2008 assessment should be capped at an inflationary value to protect taxpayers and any decreases in assessment should be fully reflected.

http://www.timhudakmpp.com/newsroom/if-its-broke-dont-fix-it-mcguinty-coins-new-expression-response-property-assessment-concern