Quote:
Originally Posted by Bownesian
The plan was passed in the budget (and thus the authority to advertize it) but because the credit doesn't accrue until the end of this fiscal year, final ratification was left to a ways and means motion that would need to be completed this year. The spring budget is never the whole of the Government's spending plan as monies need to be allocated on a regular basis to pay for ongoing and new programs. There's nothing fishy about this other than the manipulation of the timing of the vote, which will be positioned before any opposition days, but that's the Government's perogative.
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It's hard for me to be super-outraged about it because I suspect that the Liberals would do the same thing. Harper is a smooth operator--he lacks charisma or any real vision for change (let's not forget that it was Preston Manning who was the right's true visionary back in the day--Harper has always been more calculating and less ideological) but he has parlayed his slim minority into a pretty solid stint in power. He may not be overly ambitious politically, but he's very shrewd--and understands how to use the parliamentary system for political benefit very well.
And lest I be accused of damning with faint praise, I do mean the above as a compliment.