Speaking of Conservative incompetence, here's a great Weekly "Goodale Report", from Ralph Goodale (our last "star" Liberal Finance Minister)...
RALPH GOODALE’S REPORT
A weekly commentary by the Member of Parliament for Wascana
THE ISSUE IS NOT THE DEFICIT, IT’S INCOMPETENCE!
The Toronto-Dominion Bank has just released a shocking report on the Harper government’s financial miscalculations.
The TD says the Conservative deficit this year will be a whopping $51 billion – the biggest ever (on top of a hidden $2 billion loss last year). And over the next five years, expect a gusher of red ink totaling over $170 billion. How did it get so bad?
Back-up to February, 2006 when Stephen Harper first came to office.
He inherited a lush situation from his Liberal predecessors. Canadians had enjoyed a decade of balanced budgets, a strong economy, and the creation of more than 3.5 million new jobs.
The annual Liberal surplus was more than $13 billion. And over five years, federal financial flexibility was projected at $100 billion. Canada was in its best fiscal shape since Confederation – at the top of G-8 world-leading economies.
But short-sighted, partisan Conservative budget decisions blew all that strength out the window. They put Canada in deficit before any recession. And that’s incompetence!
Mr. Harper’s slowness to be honest with Canadians is further proof.
In November, he claimed four more years of surplus budgets. Then in January, he finally admitted he was in the hole by $34 billion. In April, he insisted that figure was still accurate. But two weeks ago, he confessed his calculations were actually out by 48% -- his real deficit this year will be over $50 billion.
Such erratic, worsening arithmetic screams of incompetence.
Top it off with a “stimulus” plan that’s not working. More than 360,000 jobs have been lost. Perversely, Employment Insurance is hardest to get where job losses are the worst. Only 6% of Conservative infrastructure promises have been fulfilled. And there’s no plan to fix the deficit.
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