The great debate
When
I have recently read articles about Canadian politics and encountered
the name "New Democrats". I was puzzled about this, since I wasn't
aware of the Democratic Party of USA operating politically in Canada.
Was this perhaps some historical thing before my time? It was this only
morning that I realized that this party is NDP, which I have always
thought as "social democrats" (which they are) and never actually
thought out what the letters "NDP" stand for. (At least it's not NSDAP.)
I am a bit ambivalent towards the Conservative party of Canada, the fiscal conservative that I am. For example, the last time Ontario had provincial elections in 2003 where power was transferred from Conservatives to Liberals, it turned out that Conservatives had used bookkeeping tricks to hide a massive provincial deficit. When this was revealed, the Liberal government had to roll back many of their election promises. I couldn't believe my eyes when conservatives started complaining that liberals didn't keep their election promises. I don't think that I could ever vote for anybody who can show sheer idiotic chutzpah like that. Jesus, just go sit in the corner and be ashamed of yourselves.
Contrast this attitude to conservatives in Alberta, who a while back made their province completely debt-free. Of course it's easy when you are an oil producer and the price of oil keeps hovering above $60/bbl, but still! I honestly believe that this is one of the greatest things that conservatives have done anywhere in the Western world for a long, long time. Especially the contrast to American conservatives with their supply-side snake oil and the moronic "don't worry about the deficit, the deficit is big enough to care of itself" la-la-land thinking is striking. (Of course, none of the American conservatives that I like holds anything that even resembles such position.) The time to send rebate checks to citizens is after the deficit and debt have been taken care of, not before.
I am a bit ambivalent towards the Conservative party of Canada, the fiscal conservative that I am. For example, the last time Ontario had provincial elections in 2003 where power was transferred from Conservatives to Liberals, it turned out that Conservatives had used bookkeeping tricks to hide a massive provincial deficit. When this was revealed, the Liberal government had to roll back many of their election promises. I couldn't believe my eyes when conservatives started complaining that liberals didn't keep their election promises. I don't think that I could ever vote for anybody who can show sheer idiotic chutzpah like that. Jesus, just go sit in the corner and be ashamed of yourselves.
Contrast this attitude to conservatives in Alberta, who a while back made their province completely debt-free. Of course it's easy when you are an oil producer and the price of oil keeps hovering above $60/bbl, but still! I honestly believe that this is one of the greatest things that conservatives have done anywhere in the Western world for a long, long time. Especially the contrast to American conservatives with their supply-side snake oil and the moronic "don't worry about the deficit, the deficit is big enough to care of itself" la-la-land thinking is striking. (Of course, none of the American conservatives that I like holds anything that even resembles such position.) The time to send rebate checks to citizens is after the deficit and debt have been taken care of, not before.
Most Canadian political parties are well to the left of anything in the United States. For example, the Conservatives in Canada support national health care and oppose the death penalty, while many U.S. Democrats - the "liberal" party - do not. And there is nothing in the United States comparable to the NDP except on the real fringe.
Peter
Iron Rails & Iron Weights
Posted by Anonymous | 1:43 PM