McGuinty and Hudak Rule Out Coalitions

According to this Globe and Mail article, both Dalton McGuinty and Tim Hudak have ruled out coalition governments and would I assume try and govern during the recent federal period of minority governments with Paul Martin and Stephen Harper.

Hudak is obviously a no brainer to go against teaming up with NDP, but things are a little more nuanced with McGuinty. Saying he would partner before the election wouldn't help. It would scare away right leaning liberals that wouldn't want anything to do with the NDP having a portion of power. Those worried about public sector salary increases would also vote against NDP involvement in government, but really they wouldn't vote Liberal given McGuinty's record during the past eight years.

Of course once the election is over and assuming a minority situation, McGuinty could easily try for a coalition if he has less seats than Hudak. What would be interesting is public perception. If he has one seat less, not really a huge deal, but double digit seats less might prove unpalatable to the public.

In terms of the NDP, a coalition with the Liberals and getting a piece of government would be a short term game. However I would guess like their federal cousins, the NDP is looking to supplant the Liberals in Ontario and wouldn't have huge interest in propping up a regime that is past its due date. Whatever happens, things will be interesting, with a lot of histrionics.

McGuinty's Preferential Immigrant Hiring Scheme, Who Actually Benefits?

With the fall election off and running, Dalton McGuinty has released a policy that is even stranger once you look into it. From my take, a $10,000 tax credit is available to employers that hire immigrants for their first job. Not surprisingly that's led to it being labeled as affirmative action and histrionics have ensued.

What's really strange is who is eligible. Here's a quote from a CBC article: "But the credit doesn't apply to those who aren't Canadian citizens – it applies to new Canadians who live in Ontario and have been in the country for up to five years."

Now that's strange. Landed immigrants aren't eligible, only citizens, but only for their first job. After arriving, citizenship typically takes several years. So basically to be eligible for this credit, one has to arrive, not work until citizenship is gained and then apply for a job before the five years is up. That does not seem like many would actually use this. The only people I see using it, are those that come on a student visa, start the process for landed immigrant status and become a citizen and then use this when the studies are done. I'm assuming the purpose of the program is to make it look like immigrants will be helped for electoral purposes, when in fact almost none will benefit.