There was really only one story in Ottawa last week. The champagne corks that were popping out of the Prime Minister’s Office could be seen from outer space. Stephen Harper has hit the magic 40-percent approval rating, which means a majority government is now within his grasp.
What I find astounding is that the Tories attribute this success not to his piano playing but to his economic record. This is confusing to me because it implies that somewhere it’s been recorded that he’s doing a good job. I mean, let’s not forget, this is the same prime minister who, twelve months ago, told us we could never go into a deficit because there could be no recession as long as he was in charge.
Now, of course, hindsight is 20/20. Which is why, if you ask Tories about what Harper said, they all say the same thing. They say, “Ah … well … please … How could he have known we were in a recession?” Well, he could have read a newspaper, or asked my mother, or spoken to a cab driver, but I guess, barring that, they’re right. He just didn’t see it coming. So instead, we went from zero to the largest deficit in Canadian history. Sixty billion dollars in one year alone.
The good news is that the same guy who said we could never go into a deficit now says we will pay off that $60 billion without raising taxes or cutting spending.
Imagine for a moment your fiancé comes home and tells you that when you weren’t looking, he or she dropped 150 grand that you don’t have at the casino. Now imagine that the same fiancé says, “Don’t worry. We’ll pay it back without making a single change to our lifestyle … I stand on my financial record.” I think, piano playing or not, we’d all start looking at other options.
Now, don’t get me wrong—just to be clear to my Tory friends, I am not saying that I believe Michael Ignatieff is better suited to manage this economy. I’m saying that, based on the past twelve months, Porky Pig is better suited to manage this economy.
As it stands right now, this country has a $60 billion wake-up call coming, and for the record, not a single leader has come even close to being honest.