As Quebec wraps itself in an orange Snuggie before election day...

So Jack Layton must be feeling really good right now. From week 1, where he was marginalized as a non-choice between the red and blue door, 'til one week before the election and BAM, he's riding an Obama-esque wave in Quebec and in other places around the country, I'd say he must be full of shits and giggles right now.

I have to give it to Jack - after a year of battling cancer and just recovering from hip surgery right before the election, one can't tell that this man's been through the gauntlet of health issues as he's just as spry, if not more spry than the Tinman, the Scarecrow and the drunk French guy. He did well in the debates, delivering what I thought was the #1 line to remember (him to Iggy: "If you don't show up for work, don't expect a promotion.") and throwing in #fail worked in his favour with all the Twitter fanatics that tweeted him a #WIN after the debates.

All that being said, I shudder to think of what an NDP opposition, and possible NDP led coalition government will mean for this country and our fragile economic recovery.

Their platform and how they plan on paying for it all.

There are some great plans in this platform - he wants to help seniors, families with small children, help small businesses and renew health care. All decent ideas that I'm sure no one would dispute or can't get behind. That is until you realize how much everything costs.

$6B will be paid by raising corporate taxes from it's current 16.5% to 19.5%. What they don't tell you is that it'll actually cost Canadians more than the $6B that the government will be earning because Corporations will just pass along the cost to consumers - we'll feel it in small price increases. There's also the risk of companies cutting costs to balance out the new 3% tax hike - costs like salaries and wages, resulting in lost jobs in the corporate sector. Raising taxes also deals a blow to us attracting any sort of foreign investment at a time our economy needs the money the most.

Then there's the $1B from getting back money from Canadians sheltering cash in tax havens, like Switzerland. Not really sure how they'll guarantee $1B or the $3B they project in year 3 of their four year plan, but we all know how easy it is to get the Swiss banks to cooperate by giving back money right? Aren't there still lawsuits pending from WWII survivors?

Then the magical $3.6B from cap and trade, a carbon emissions reduction program that punishes those who go over their limit. By the time legislation for cap and trade passes through Parliament, it'll be time for another election - doubtful of where they can realistically get this money from.

With all that said, their $9B in projected revenues is enough to cover every social program they've planned including big expenditures for small business help, education and helping families. I'd be a bit more cautious here, I doubt their projected revenues will be anywhere close to what they expect it to be.

Their candidates. Young and inexperienced.

Remember when you got out of school and you were filled with all the great pep talks from your educators - "You're going to be a star!" "You'll change the world with your ideas!" And then you step into your first job and you quickly figure out how much you don't fucking know. In many ridings around the country, especially Quebec, the NDP are running 20 somethings in this election, 20 somethings that might just win a seat in the HoC. Today, it was announced that one of these 20 somethings decided that a week before the election, she needed a vacation, so she booked it to Vegas. She couldn't cancel the trip for something important like the election, no, she needs her break! One can imagine the discipline she'll have as the MP for her riding.

Maybe I'm being too harsh on young people, but the sheer numbers of young people they have as candidates makes me wonder - if they all win a seat, will our Minister of Health be someone who's still finishing up university? For more on these candidates, and why I'm not the only one who's scared of them, go to: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/second-reading/andrew-steele/jack-laytons-risky-potential-mps-in-quebec/article1999595/?from=sec368

Alright, I'll admit, the alternatives aren't any better. But let's think for a moment - the NDP have never formed a government or an official federal opposition. There is a reason why the are always a 3rd or 4th place party is because their views are so far to the left that Canada cannot possibly afford any of the plans they want to put into action. Their budget bites of more social programs than we can chew at this point. Knowing our neighbour to the south is still struggling to rescue itself from their quicksand of an economy, we cannot possibly take the change with such a radical budget and social program agenda.

On Monday May 2, I hope that this wave of orange fever is just that, a fever we'll be cured from by the end of this week.

PS - thanks Quebec for giving us this orange fever in the first place.