As the great Yogi Berra would say: "it's like déjà vu all over again"
Interesting isn't it? How history repeats itself.
For those of us who remember the legacy of the last Conservative government -- led by Brian Mulroney, it must indeed seem like deja vu.
Flashback to Canada's economic status in 1992:
• A huge deficit ($43 billion)
• 2nd world debt status
• rising inflation
• double digit mortgages
• double digit unemployment
1993: enter the Chrétien Liberal government. After four years of fiscal restraint, targeted investment in infrastructure, economic development, skills and training for youth and a retooling of UI into the more proactive EI... the deficit was eliminated.
It took a partnership between government, citizens and business to get there, but we did it.
Then followed 10 years of balanced budgets, large surpluses, targeted debt reduction, low interest rates, low inflation and a yearly contingency fund (for a rainy day) to keep us solvent. It took targeted investments 50:50 into mid and long-term social and economic infrastructure to turn Canada into the strongest performer in the industrialised world...
Remember that moose with the sunglasses on the cover of the Economist?
We were “Cool Canada”.
Flash to 2008: a Harper Conservative government, only 2 years in power:
• Looming deficit, the surpluses squandered;
• no contingency fund for that rainy day;
• predicted double digit unemployment (manufacturing and forestry sectors); 30,000 jobs lost in Dec alone;
• rising inflation (and but for the Bank of Canada bailout) the spectre of rising interest rates.....
• All in 2 short years.
I know that the rising Loonie had a role, but everyone complained about how that would impact our exports and manufacturing sectors. No steps were taken to put in place some immediate and long term strategies.
Nothing done about skills and training; no research into innovation and technology and 21st century industry.
As for trade (on which Canada depends for 45% of our GDP); instead of diversifying, racing to capture the Asian market, the Conservative government delayed the building of the Pacific gateway from 4 years (Liberal Government) to 9 years and continued to focus on the US market which was already preparing for a recession. Not very bright…
Instead of investing in retraining for the workers in the manufacturing and forestry sectors that were in trouble, the Conservatives cut adult literacy and gutted the $3.5 billion Skills and Training Agreement which the Martin government had signed with the provinces. Again, not very bright.
Increasing spending by 13% and lowering income by a minimum of $13 billion a year with a 2% GST reduction… not very bright.
So here we are, Liberals, it would seem (like Coleridge's Ancient Mariner) doomed to continually clean up the economic mess left by incompetent and ideological Conservative governments.
The national myth that Conservative governments manage the economy better... Is just that -- a myth.
Only two Conservative governments in Canada's history ever posted balanced budgets or surpluses. Each time, they inherited it from Liberal governments (one following Laurier and the other following Chrétien / Martin). Each time they squandered them.
No wonder it seems like Déjà vu
