Ottawa Sun
Published: Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Plenty of real issues to question

If we are to believe the rhetoric coming out of Question Period this week, apparently Prime Minister Stephen Harper pressed the "bad economy" button on his desk instead of the "good economy" button on the wall in his office. And this one decision alone is to blame for all the job losses, bankruptcies and 3.4% shrinkage in our GDP that transpired over the last three months of 2008.

And hey, let's blame Harper for the cold weather, bus strike and the Senators dismal record on the ice as well.

Wow, I knew the PM had power but thanks to the opposition questions, my eyes have been opened like never before. Don't be surprised if we learn next week one of Harper's handlers actually carries the suitcase with the nuclear launch codes (a.ka., The Football) and the military staffer who trails President Barack Obama with his own briefcase is just a decoy.

Seriously, this is the level of rhetoric that masquerades as holding the government to account for its fiscal policy. It's time for a reality check and by no means am I letting the government off the hook, as the jury is still out on whether its $85-billion of fiscal policy deficits over five years will work.

However, let's put the big numbers into context. The feds will run a $34-billion deficit on $258 billion of spending in the coming fiscal year. This spending represents about one-seventh of our $1.6 trillion GDP. Is it substantive? Yes. Can the government alone dictate or shape economic performance? Ah, no.

Next up is monetary policy. The Bank of Canada cut its overnight interest rate to 0.5% yesterday. Basically the cost of borrowing money is free. But, as Lorrie Goldstein pointed out in yesterday's editorial, if Canadians don't want to borrow money, there's not much anyone -- government, the opposition, your mother or the Tooth Fairy -- can do to change that.

Then we need to consider the performance of Canada's economy relative to other jurisdictions. And on that score, despite the real troubles and admitted pain many Canadian families are feeling, the PM is correct to state we are weathering an economic storm not of our own doing better than the U.S., most of Europe or Japan.

The real issue not being addressed, primarily in the U.S., is in needed reforms to the banking system along with U.S policy (read: Republican and Democrat politicians) which cajoled banks into lending money to people who should have never received credit in the first place.

Where things are unproven is in the co-ordinated fiscal stimulus approach adopted by governments across the globe. In theory, government spending should create demand and kick-start construction and mass consumption as a counter-measure against understandable skittishness and fear among consumers and investors. And time will tell on this front.

To their credit, the Michael Ignatieff-led Liberals made the right call to support Budget 2009. And from a tactical perspective, building in three reporting deadlines over the remainder of 2009 was shrewd as they now have several known opportunities to vote non-confidence in the Tories and force an election if they think the country is ready for Iggy time.

But their question period bluster is simply trifle theatre for the media. It doesn't help Canadians one bit.

What would help is to actually pass the budget so dollars can flow and projects from coast-to-coast can begin.

Then, and only then, will the Liberals be in a position to judge and/or oppose the government's record based on facts rather than today's torqued tirades.