Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

Go Jim Go!

by Aaron Wherry on Wednesday, May 27, 2009 12:33pm - 11 Comments

Dion’s Liberals called for a ministerial resignation every couple of weeks. Most of the cabinet was eventually asked to go away. Strangely, the government never heeded their requests.

If the official opposition carries through with this in Question Period an hour and a half from now, it will be—if short-term memory serves—the first such demand of the Ignatieff Era.

Tags: cabinet, house of commons, Jim Flaherty, Michael Ignatieff, Parliament, Question Period, Stéphane Dion

More by Aaron Wherry

madeyoulook

From the Star: “I think he has lost credibility,” Liberal finance critic John McCallum told CBC News.

And he has lost credibility. And yet…

As McCallum was pulling the Tories into shame for having such a deficit and pushing them to spend more on EI. How’s that credibility working for you, Mr. McCallum?

http://myblahg.com Robert McClelland

Apples and oranges, dood. Deficit Jim has lost credibility because he’s gone from there will be no deficit to we’ll be running a deficit in excess of $50 billion in half a year. Nothing Flaherty says can be taken as credible any longer.
Sean Stokholm

Right you may be MYL, but you have to admit it’s a teeny bit fun to watch the cons getting a little taste of their own tactics. The new game in Canadian politics seems to consist of a) smearing the opponent mercilessly, b) avoiding anything that looks like a platform committment at all costs (lest the other side have time to dissect and slaughter it like a Green Shift), and c) work on those wedge issues.

I have to admit I’d be hard pressed to suggest a different strategy for the Libs right now – reason and principles don’t seem to work with the electorate.

Last thought – not a whole lot of the unexpected (to Flaherty) deficit comes from new spending, so much as poor projections regarding tax revenues, the potential for a recession, etc. Which makes the comparison to Lib demands for increased EI spending something of an apples and oranges case. But since Canadians aren’t really demanding consistency and coherency these days, I guess it’s a moot point.
Austin So

I don’t quite understand this…

The point that you seem to be missing is that the government books are a joke. The opposition has every right to demand that there be an increase in EI spending, based on the numbers as presented by the government.

If the government is ready to fully disclose its finances, I’m sure the opposition would adjust their spending demands based on reality.

But keep this in mind, MYL, If the government has gone from a projected surplus a few months ago to a $50 billion dollar deficit in the absence of any concrete evidence of spending, then Canada’s finances are up shite’s creek really really bad.

And this is completely under the watch of the CPC.

Cameron M

“If the government is ready to fully disclose its finances, I’m sure the opposition would adjust their spending demands based on reality.”

I’m a big fan of the opposition and I don’t believe that. Do you really? :-)

sf

There is nothing more annoying that hypocrates, and it is sheer hypocrisy for the opposition to go nuts about a deficit when they are the oens threatening to bring down the government for not spending enough. And they continue to pressure the government to spend more.

The Cons should wrap up this hypocrasy into another attack ad.

Blues Clair

Yes sf highlighting their humogo deficit in an attack ad aimed at jack layton would be a wise move. But agreed sf, the opposition is being hypocraysees. Though I wonder, hypocrasy, since when did that bother supporters of ol’ tin pot?
Ted

It is not simply a matter of record shattering deficits, sf. It is that Flaherty and Harper are shown to be incompetent and unreliable.

Everyone understands that there will be discrepancies between budget numbers and real numbers, but when you are so very very wrong so very very quickly, there is no conclusion but that you are not fully competent.

dan in van

Don’t dissuade the baby from his ‘You smell a dirty diaper but I see a pinwheel – look!’ act. Time to change those pants AND talking notes.