Wasn’t it just one year ago that the Harper government was telling us we would receive more tax cuts due to the large surplus?

However, on November 19, 2008, Michaelle Jean (our Governor General) strongly hinted that Canada would be facing a deficit in the short term.

“Ongoing, unsustainable deficits are quite rightly unacceptable to Canadians. These structural deficits must never return. At the same time, in a historic global downturn, it would be misguided to commit to a balanced budget in the short term at any cost…”

The excuse is that we are in a global financial crisis and thus a deficit can not be avoided, but wasn’t it just recently (in his election campaign) that Harper promised Canada would not be affected. I guess one month after being elected is a long enough wait before breaking the promises that likely swayed a lot of voters on Election Day.

Let’s just examine some of the things Harper told us before the election:

- In relation to the $700 billion US bailout plan – “The federal government is not considering any bailout plans for Canada’s banks and other financial institutions”

- “All our information would indicate obviously while certain banks have had some significant writedowns, that overall, the balance sheets of the Canadian financial sector remains very healthy.”

- “The best information I have, and I do continue to get briefed on these matters, is that the troubles in the financial sector of the United States should not spill over into Canada.”

Well, the TSX is at 8450 and house prices are tumbling. I think that might suggest something quite contrary to what Mr. Harper thinks. Typically, AFTER the election (on Nov. 22), Harper decided to admit that Canada is in fact in jeopardy. He went from saying there is “no problem” at all to saying that this is the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

So, he lied… big deal… all politicians lie. But he isn’t doing much to fix it.

According to the speech, “Our Government has a clear approach to Canada’s economic security. It will work with its partners to help address the current international crisis. It will maintain a prudent course for the country’s finances. It will take action to support the economy today while building a stronger economy for the future.”

Well, apparently the approach is supposed to be clear, but I’ve scoured the text of the speech and there are no clear strategies indicated anywhere. All I found were general “ideas” that seemed like the catch phrases one is expected to use when discussing the economy.

Wait, that is not true, there were some specific strategies. Jean said, “Our Government will engage Parliament and encourage members to take a more active role in scrutinizing spending and suggesting areas for restraint.”

I guess no more joyriding in limos, $20,000+ vacations conferences, and $7,500 flights?

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Tags: Economy, governor general, harper, michaelle jean, speech

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 at 7:22 pm and is filed under Federal Government. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.