Sunday, February 15, 2009

Conservatives fixing Canada one pot hole at a time

The conservative government that silently hid the fact that they had already spent their way into a deficit , prior, to their return to parliament last month, at which time they announced they were now being forced to move the country into a deficit for the next five years, has now decided that they should at least get full credit for every one of our tax dollars they spend to pull the country out of a recession.

A week ago Harper was talking about hockey rinks and on Friday he was in Montreal, announcing a $330 million contract for flight simulators, that will keep 330 people employed for the next 3 years and another 50 new jobs at a military base in Ontario, for the next 20 years.

At the same time Prentice our not necessarily environmentally focussed, environment minister was in Calgary announcing a $130 million widening of the highway running through the Banff National Park. Of course in typical Prentice fashion and as he has done before, he forgot the main purpose of the photo op, failing to get quoted on the number of jobs this project will provide, for what I assume is the cash strapped highway construction industry in Alberta.

I am assuming these new photo op announcements by Harper and team are partly in answer to a Liberal release last week, reporting that the conservatives failed to deliver on any or at least next to any, of their spending and development promises made in their much heralded, at least in conservative circles, Building Canada Fund. Spending announcements that of course were accompanied with the same bravado and noise as we have witnessed this week.

In reality, the conservatives had a reason for not delivering on their past spending promises, they were already heading towards a deficit. One that they didn’t want to tell us about. Now, with the stimulus flood gates open, and enough polls showing that they have no other choice but to move into a deficit position, we are going to be plagued with a second round of photo opportunities, laced with conservative economic leadership messages, because keeping on message, well except for Prentice every now and then, is something that the conservatives do well.

Any day now I expect to see our new Mississauga, conservative MP out there following the road repair crews on Burnhamthorpe Road claiming that this pot hole is being filled by the conservative government.

Almost not worth getting the pot hole filled.


JAWL

1 comment:

Beijing York said...

Some highlights from my neck of the woods:

- Removing potholes from a six -kilometre stretch of the Trans-Canada (west bound out of Winnipeg through Headingley - MP Steven Fletcher's riding).

- A refurbished dock for the twee cottage community at Victoria Beach ($300,000 for deck repairs as part of money to aid small boat harbours and commercial fishing - MP James Bezan's riding).

- Winnipeg Technical College, a private vocational institution, was the only post-secondary institution in Winnipeg to be identified as a recipient of some of a $2- billion fund for post-secondary infrastructure (and no mention of public assets like Red River College, U of W, or U of M - MP Rod Bruinooge's riding).

I guess Mound was right

Every major global climate record was broken last year and 2024 could be worse, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday,...