Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Stephen Harper fights global socialism

While currently in Europe, Prime Minister Harper is pushing back on this global bank tax, saying that Canadian banks didn't need to get bailed out because of proper regulation here in Canada, so why do we have to take the hit for other another country's lack of governance?

We don't.  Now look at what this Barroso guy says about this tax.. "level playing field"...

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said such a tax should be applied to banks worldwide to "have a level playing field" and ensure that nations are working together to prevent another meltdown.

"We believe it makes sense -- at least to avoid this situation to come again -- that there is some contribution from the financial sector, a kind of insurance against this coming back again," Barroso told reporters. "And we believe it makes sense to do it if possible at the global level to have a level playing field and not to have contradictory measures."

CTV's Roger Smith, who is travelling with the prime minister on his four-day trip to Europe, said Harper disagrees with the proposal.

"(Harper) says Canadian banks have been well-regulated, they never took some of the risks and reaped the benefits that some of the banks that got into trouble did. He said there were no bailouts in Canada, so why should Canadian banks have to be punished?" Smith told CTV News Channel in a telephone interview Wednesday afternoon.

"Now he says he will be pushing against a bank tax when the two (G8 and G20) summits occur next month in Toronto and Huntsville and arguing that the world should concentrate on a better system of regulation for banks, rather than more taxes."

And I'm glad we've got a Prime Minister who's willing to stand up for Canada globally and economically.  This global bank tax is the dumbest idea I have ever heard of and we should fight any tax forced upon the sovereignty of the people of Canada. Because any tax on a bank is only going to show up in more and more fees and no bank tax is going to weather the storm of another financial meltdown.

9 comments:

Kristin Beaumont-Politics and Other Things said...

Right on. I am proud of our Prime Minister and the Finance Minister who previewed our response about a week ago. These guys are going to make it an issue at the G20 in Toronto...good luck with that one. We are not europe...they are not us.

byng said...

am particularly impressed with the PM's insistance on presenting the arguement that our Banks could not, under our federal restrictions, take part in the upside that foreign banks did, causing them far less risk, and thus not requiring bailouts like other countries. - This fact does not get repeated much by the CBC and CTV - hmmmm........perhaps too favorable politically for the CPC ?

Anonymous said...

The UK's position on bank taxes will probably change once the election is over. That will help a lot! Australia, Japan and Brazil, and maybe the US, are not convinced that the tax would add value. I am thrilled that PMSH has taken a lead on this, as the EU have lots to learn. Barusso thinks we have shared values??, but not so much ... He likes carbon credits and global environmental taxes and big government too.

Anonymous said...

William in Ajax said...

Thank your lucky stars we have Harper and Flaherty at the helm instead of Iggy and Rae.
The latter two can't wait to sign on to the European Socialist Equalization scheme.

The Europeans want a level playing field, ..well, regulate your banks as we do and presto ..level playing field.

Whatever you call it..Kyoto, Copenhagen, Carbon Credits, Co2 Tax, Bank Tax...there has been a concerted effort by the Socialists of the world to get at "more funds" to continue their social engineering experiments.
They want and need the wealth of the west and will will get it, come hell or high water.

Canda with Harper at the helm is pretty well the last bastion of the old world Free market.
The new world order (conrolled/sustainable) "?" market is almost upon us.

Peter milot said...

I hate to post the same thing on another site but:

The EU which is 90% socialist by the way, wants us to adopt the same model of governance they have.
No thanks.
PM Steven Harper is absolutely correct in advocating rules over taxes to fix the problem.
The EU solution to this is to draw the US, Canada and the rest of the western world into some kind of ad hoc world oversight of finances.
From climate change (UN) to bank taxes (EU), the purpose is clear.
A reduction of our national democratic rights in favour of some amorphous international collective wisdom.
This bank tax proposal doesn't address the problem which is banking regulations.
Instead, it creates a slush fund for wayward bankers while achieving the real goal of classic socialism on a global scale.
Again, no thanks.
The economic and demographic decline of Europe is no wagon we want to hitch our horses to.
Canada has to the resources the rest of the world needs.
Indeed, we are a blessed nation in that regard.
There is no reason to believe that Canada cannot follow it's own drummer to prosperity and show the rest of the world how it's done.

Anonymous said...

One global tax will lead to many global taxes in time. Conservatives need to stand against this. Thanks for covering this. (real conservative)

Hoarfrost said...

Such a bank tax will go into general revenue in most countries anyway. So how is that going to prevent anything. Do you think that Greece will be able to bail out it's indebtedness out of the bank tax?

This isn't a bank problem necessarily but it is a regulation problem connected with a government biases problem.

Par Example: The U.S. senate brought on this whole mortgage hassle upon itself by promoting home mortgages to those who glaringly could not pay. (Carter and Clinton). They even penalized banks who did not comply with their subprime directives. Questionable opportunists in the U.S. took legal advantage of this by spreading the mandated risk in a manner that minimises their own exposure. Now they are the victims for protecting themselves. Mixed in there are some genuine criminals.

Regulation is the answer but not socialist inspired regulation

Patrick Ross said...

Harper made the right decision. No question.

Anonymous said...

Mr Prime Minister please make sure you battle these tax and spend socialists.Cmon Britain wake up and smell the coffee.Reality is setting in ,time to wake up.
The right regulation that doesnt strangle good business.

Joshua