Canada survived the last one, because of measures put in place by previous governments. Measures that would not have been there, if Harper had had his way when Leader of the Opposition, because he pushed Paul Martin to deregulate the banks.
Fortunately, he didn't listen.
We learned through Wikileaks, that Flaherty and Harper really had no plan for the economy, only hoped that their expensive taxpayer funded ad campaign (more than a quarter of a million dollars), dubbed the Canada Action Plan, would lead us to believe that they did.
They had no plan B.
And since then, they have been steadily deregulating, so what will this mean for us?
We're bombing for oil on the credit card and have committed to massive military spending on hardware.
When Harper made a rare public appearance to take a stab at Nycole Turmel, my husband and I both said "My God. Does he ever look awful". He was pale and nervous, without his usual arrogance.
He looked worried.
Now I know why.
In a way Emily, horrifying as it is to watch what's been happening under the Harper government, I did want to see Harper have to face Canadians when all of his failed policies became obvious even to the willfully ignorant. I am sure we will see plenty more of the same over the next few years. There is no minority government for him to blame. There is no arm-wrestling with the coalition of the opposition. There is no Liberal leader for him to focus on (and he is well advised to stay away from taking pot shots at anyone else anyway!) So yeah. I know why he looks worried too and he should. This is not the kind of leadership that is needed in dire financial times.
ReplyDeleteI used to think that the neoconservatives had a grand plan to move Canada to a right wing ideology. However, as the days go by, it appears that there is no plan at all. It appears that these neoconservatives are not the sharpest tools in the shed, and that they are it in way over their heads.
ReplyDeletePierre Trudeau once said that Canada is an idea that we have to work for if we want to preserve it. Alas, the Harper neocons appear to be devoid of any intelligence or vision, and the preservation of Canada is probably the least of their concerns.