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Kelly commits a cardinal sin |
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Written by Al Hollingsworth
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Saturday, 02 May 2009 |
One thing you can count on with a Bedford Tory, they cannot resist the opportunity to stick their nose in where it shouldn’t be. Aside from the mean-spirited nature of the Bedford Progressive (?) Conservatives, we’ve seen the Christies and Gouchers in action, individuals who tend to think they run things.
Peter Kelly, a diehard Progressive Conservative, is the mayor of the Halifax Regional Municipality and as such, should act in a neutral and non-confrontational manner in matters political.
Instead, he committed a cardinal sin when he jumped into the middle of the provincial battle between Rodney MacDonald’s Tories, the New Democrats and the Liberals, suggesting that “whoever pulls the plug will certainly hear from the public as to their disdain for having to be forced into an election and spend money we don’t have to spend.”
He’s right about the money part, the MacDonald group has been spending like there’s no tomorrow, and our cupboards are now all but bare.
For weeks, the Premier and his government have been trying to find a way to survive, for today and into the future. They went on a spending frenzy in hopes of buying support at the polls, to the point where now they have to change the rules of the House of Assembly in order to cover their tracks. Rightfully, the two parties opposite are having no part of such a ploy.
Publicly, MacDonald contends he doesn’t want an election. The NDP and the Grits may not want one either. However, they have no choice but to defeat the bill that would allow the government to spend offshore money, rather than direct it to the debt, as the current law dictates.
So Kelly’s less than veiled threat is directed towards Darrell Dexter and Stephen McNeil. One of these two will probably be our next Premier. That should make for a great relationship between HRM and the province.
Yes, the public, as Kelly states, want jobs, economic stimulus. “They want shovels to the ground. They don’t want polls to be looked at,” he is quoted as having said.
This may be true but they also want honest government. The antics of MacDonald and his ministers over the last few months leave a lot to be desired when it comes to integrity. Frankly we deserve better.
Peter Kelly, well-meaning or not, was wrong to jump into the fray. It was not and is not his place to suggest the opposition parties will be punished for doing their job. He claimed he wasn’t taking sides. Yes, he was.
When the government falls, it will be because they lost the support of one or both of the opposition parties. And by making these threats, he is pointing the gun to the head of Dexter or McNeil, not MacDonald.
Once a Tory, always a Tory, I guess.
(Al Hollingsworth is a retired journalist and broadcaster)
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