Photograph by: Chris Wattie, Reuters
Fire up the election poll tracker, because this is it. Michael Ignatieff has received his marching orders to begin burning bridges with inflamed rhetoric, which means that this is all but a sealed deal when Jack Layton confirms the NDP will join the Liberals in defeating the government. Mr.Ignatieff has even called off plans to be out of Canada again, so you know he’s serious.
Although there are some rumours flying around that a deal to avert the election could come between the NDP and the Conservatives, comments made by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney today would appear to quell them. And as for the Liberals, well they’re not even interested in averting another showdown as they did in the early summer. In fact they’re not even on speaking terms with the Conservatives as of now.
So how will it all go down? What will be the trigger to begin an election call? Would you believe it’s actually one of the few Conservative policies that have worked for economic stimulus? It’s true. The home renovation tax credit that has spurred on economic growth among the construction sector will be voted down by the Liberal party. Not because they oppose it outright, but because it’ll be their first opportunity to do so in a confidence vote.
Even though the Home Renovation Tax Credit has not yet become law, the government had already given the go-ahead to Canadians to fully avail themselves of it. When the Conservatives introduce a budget ways-and-means motion in the Commons later this September that will include the legislation for the Tax Credit, the Liberals will vote no on it. This could come as early as two weeks from yesterday.
Incredibly, the Liberal leader today vowed to “erase” the massive $50 billion deficit the government has projected, without raising taxes or cutting services. How he’s going to pull off that promise stands as one of the great mysteries of the Universe. It would appear that the Liberals, in this very preliminary stage of election posturing, are actually going to try to go the route of fiscal conservatives. Despite the fact that Mr.Ignatieff also vowed that his government would focus on more stimulus spending that would “promote exports” and open border crossings:
“We will not come to the Canadian public with proposals that break the bank. Remember we’ve been here before, we inherited a $42-billion deficit from Mr. Mulroney and we had to clean it up and we did so without raising taxes,” Ignatieff said.
“We’ve inherited a $50-billion hole from Mr. Harper and we will clean it up without raising taxes.”
When pressed on how he would do that, Ignatieff would only say: “wait and see.”
Not exactly a very convincing argument, but it is at least a sign he wants to exploit the public uncertainty about the rising debt. The contradiction in promising more spending while not raising taxes, and erasing the deficit, may convince many Canadians disappointed with the Conservative government’s unwillingness to set out a clear plan for debt reduction. And although the economy is showing every sign of recovery, the government has yet to provide concrete information about how many jobs it has created through stimulus spending.
It would be ironic if the Liberals managed to pass themselves off as the fiscally conservative choice for Canadians by defeating the Conservative Party, particularly if Mr.Ignatieff can find a clearer answer to his plans than “wait and see”.
Also see
My article yesterday on Michael Ignatieff, “The Mouse Who Roared“.
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