Monday, September 08, 2008

Bush-McCain: Northern Edition?

In this election, the economy is shaping up to be a major issue. Given our proximity to the United States, their economic woes have affected us, but it would hardly be accurate to suggest that our economic situation is entirely the result of theirs. In fact, in many ways, our situation is worse. A CBC story published today confirms this. Canada's economic growth, a model for the industrialized world just a few short years ago, is in the toilet thanks to Stephen Harper's ridiculous economic policies. OECD number indicate that our expected growth for the year has fallen to 0.8 percent, second worst in the G7 only to Italy. This is a drop from the 3.1 percent rate left to Harper by the previous Liberal government.

In spite of this, and in spite of the fact that more and more Canadians are having to try and do more with less, Harper is now dishing the same line as John McCain and George W. Bush. He's telling us that our fundamentals are strong, and that in these risky times, he's the one best suited to manage this economy. Numbers don't lie, even though he does. The past couple years of his Government are proof that he is the LAST person to be managing this economy. Look at what Jim Flaherty did to Ontario. Look at what they have already done in relatively good economic times. Are these truly the people that we want managing our economy as things appear to be worsening? Even if M. Dion is a "risky choice" as Mr. Harper likes to put it, I would sooner roll the dice on him than take a sure disaster with Mr. Harper continuing to mismanage this economy.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I consider myself being neutral, but I think you should mention both positive and negative. Yes, economy is slowing down, as a Toronto realtor I can see big sales drop on the real estate market, rising inflation, unemployment... Some mistakes have been done for sure. But almost the whole world is encountering problems and our are definitely not so bad. AND you have forgotten to mention the biggest success - serie of budget surpluses, which finally has stopped our falling into tremendous debt!
On the other hand, it's true our growth has been pretty low in last years (of course, there is some time shift, when speaking about WHO caused it, however, conservatives are in charge long enough not to blame liberals...).
Take care
Jill