Beyond The Commons

 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

From the magazine

by Aaron Wherry on Wednesday, April 6, 2011 10:28am - 15 Comments

From the pages of last week’s issue, a short profile of Jenni Byrne, the Conservative campaign director.

Jenni Byrne, one of Ottawa’s highest-ranking tacticians, does not speak to reporters. But 14 years ago, she was both less powerful and less reticent. And so when an Ottawa Citizen reporter sought out young people to comment on the growing number of conservatives under the age of 30 in Canada, Byrne was willing to explain herself. Described as “a believer in debt reduction and tax cuts” who joined the Reform party at 16, she was then the 21-year-old president of the campus Reform club at the University of Ottawa. “It’s great for them to say don’t cut here or there, but they won’t be the ones affected by [the debt],” she said then of her parents. “They’re in their late 40s and they will probably still benefit from government programs. But Canada looks like a bleak place for me by the time I’m their age.”

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  • Dot

    Is she the master screener?

  • Mike T.

    So she was a big fan of Chretien and Martin, but not Harper, I assume? Oh wait….

  • Andrew (not PorC)

    Well, I think we can agree that long-term (over 50-75 year time frame) debt:GDP should be low and stable. If we were to try to attain that goal, we'd have been running surpluses from 1995-2015, and then start to run small deficits as the boomers retire and draw benefits. As it is, the boomers are maxing out the nation's credit cards as they are finishing their careers and expecting their kids to cover their pension.

    • Bill

      Andrew, I totally agree. I can’t wrap my head around how the Conservatives sell themselves as the fiscally responsible option while simultaneously cutting taxes and increasing spending. I

      ‘m all for paying less tax, but I like the services offered by my country, and understand they need to be paid for. GST cuts were irresponsible, especially the timing. It stimulated nothing, as far as consumer spending (who can honestly say they actually noticed?) and cut billions from the federal budget, just as the world economy was plunging into recession (and it was already well established that it was happening, especially at the time of the second GST cut).

      So in summary, the Conservatives are ensuring Canada’s long-term fiscal security by cutting taxes while the baby boomers are in their peak earning years, and will soon be drawing from the already underfunded social programs. Wait…what?

  • Wascally Wabbit

    Pollyparrot has views? I thought he was fed peanuts to learn repetitive phrases like ""Reckless Coalition – squawk" "Tax and Spend – squawk" and my special favourite "socialists squawk"

    • Guest

      Man, you should see the "accomplishments" Pierre is trying to boast about on the flyer I received in the mail today. Seven years and this is all you can come up with?

  • Mike T.

    I'm outraged. And if you're not outraged then you are an idiot!

  • Andrew (not PorC)

    "Described as “a believer in debt reduction and tax cuts”"

    Well, I guess one out of two aint bad. I miss Reform. They kept the Liberals fiscally honest. Now we have two fiscally dishonest governing parties. It's like the Republican/Democrat dynamic in the US. Each party has their pet spending areas, but neither is interested in fiscal prudence.

  • jonatwitan

    That's a good point, and I don't disagree in terms of the way things have gone the last five years. But then, of course, there was a world wide recession over the last few years. Calm down trolls (not you Andrew), I know the Cons were spending into a deficit before the recession, but hopefully we can agree it would not have been nearly as much, and besides, there was a recession and so all that musing is idle. Back to my point, I would just observe that currently there is one party that talks about the importance of eliminating the deficit, and there is another party that seems to want to ignore that issue.

  • Andrew (not PorC)

    Well, we have a party that ignores the deficit and another that pays lip service to wanting to reduce it eventually, as they ramp up spending and continue to cut taxes. They offer projections no independent analyst finds credible.

    I suspect the Liberals, if elected to a majority, would take action on the deficit, especially with a hectoring conservative party on their right. They typically campaign from the left and govern on the right.

  • Mike T.

    Nobody with Flarherty at the helm is really interested in fiscal accountability – not after what he pulled in Ontaro.

  • Merrill S

    I remember when the Mulroney government talked for eight years about the importance of reducing the deficit and every year added to it.

  • jonatwitan

    Hey, I happen to still be here!

    Would you mind linking some of those independent analysts? All I have heard is that this year, we came in better than the projections.

    And I counter your suspicion with my own suspicion that if elected to a majority, the Cons would eliminate the deficit, and Harper will scream to high heaven that he has masterfully steered this country though the worst global slowdown in anyone's memory and that he should be given another majority as his prize.

  • DPT

    lovely faux outrage, well done what else do you do?

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