I have always prided myself on the fact that while I may be dumb, I am not stupid. This thought came rushing back when I heard and read about the Tories gearing up for a spring election. Spring? Does that mean when the season changes or are that they going to spring it on us. Too late for the latter, they’ve tipped their hand.
Earlier this week our fiddle playing emperor, Rodney, not Nero, said when the budget comes down it will be balanced. Then a day or two later, he said the bringing down of the budget would be delayed. Michael Baker must have shown him the books.
The last thing he wants to is convene the legislature and have the truth come out. If Nova Scotia has a balanced budget in a deepening recession then Michael Baker, one of our most courageous citizens, should take over the World Bank. Or, at the very least President-elect Barack Obama should recruit him as his Secretary of the Treasury.
Nova Scotia, a financial oasis in a global quagmire. Don’t eat that Elmer!
In between those musings, he did the time old political maneuver and shuffled the cabinet. Put a new face on the aging white guys (and girls) in hopes the voters will take the bait. The cons bait and switch. Politicians switch and bait.
This whole thing smacks as a page out of Stephen Harper’s play book. During the run up to the election he gave us the ”Don’t worry be happy” approach. “Our economy is strong. The opposition are fear mongers”. Yaada, yaada, yaada…. He gets reelected and the truth comes out. We are in deep, deep financial trouble.
And to be fair, MacDonald and company are an equal opportunity crowd. Not only are they lifting from Harper, they are also borrowing a Paul Martin tactic. Scare the crap out of the voters.
Kevin Lacey, the PC provincial campaign manager, offered this in a confidential memo, attained by the Chronicle-Herald’s David Jackson: “One of our biggest threats to our economy is Darrel(l) Dexter and the NDP.” The memo went on to say that the New Democrats would raise taxes, create expensive programs and increase the size of government.
What tommy rot. What an insult to the voters of Nova Scotia.
Put out your program, tell us why we should vote for you. “Dissing” your opponents won’t cut it in 2009. Little wonder that young, well-educated and thinking citizens walk past the voting booths these days.
John Hamm and Russell MacLellan, two former premiers I respect, penned an opinion piece in the Herald, “Democracy 250: Much was gained.” Too bad the premier and his advisers missed the year-long educational event.
One paragraph said it all.
“While all of Democracy 250’s objectives were important, we have always maintained that the most important legacy Democracy 250 could leave would be to have more young people become active, engaged citizens who vote.”
That won’t happen as long as it is business as usual. Sadly it hasn’t gotten better, it is worse …. and just keeps getting so.
(Al Hollingsworth is a retired broadcaster and journalist)
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