Harper, hoping to avoid being felled as prime minister of a 'do little' government by getting a failing mark from all three opposition parties on his economic report, offered a voluminous study which did more to muddy the waters than to clarify matters. In fact, despite his positive spin, the report gave broad hints of the relative inaction of this non-believing government in actually spending the stimulus package funds:
"In a campaign-style address in Cambridge, Ont., he said that 80% of the plan is "already being implemented."
Grammar watchdogs feel free to correct me, but the plan has "already been implemented" or it is "being implemented." This fuzzy use of language seems to be another attempt to mislead people into thinking that new overpasses are sprouting up all over the country.
In fact, while $20.6-billion of the $22.7-billion to be spent this year has been approved by Cabinet and the Treasury Board and is with government departments, by no stretch of the imagination could it be described as being "out of the door." (Many projects have not yet been given the green light, far fewer have seen cheques handed over - something that only happens after the fact, when the feds have been invoiced and completed their due diligence.)
Take the largest pool of cash, the $4-billion infrastructure stimulus fund. The government aims to spend $2-billion this year and the Prime Minister talked at great length about the 3,000 individual projects "that are now getting underway." Yet page 138 of the Report to Canadians document reveals that only $1.1-billion of the $2-billion fund has been committed and that money only began flowing to those projects last month. Progress has been extremely slow - which should not be news to the government, or the Liberal party."
The NDP has said that they will vote against the Tories if the Liberals introduce a non-confidence motion over the report. The Bloc has said it will as well.
That leaves the choice squarely in the laps of the Liberals.
And, as Ignatieff said, they have been watching the Tory government like hawks.
What to do?
Pull the plug now and plunge the nation into another inconclusive election, or back off and support Harper yet again, giving voters the impression that the Liberals are best suited to play backup in the band of governance, rather than to be lead singer.
The Cat thinks that Ignatieff and the Liberals have one way to solve this classic dilemma, in a manner which benefits ordinary Canadians.
The secret to untying the Gordian knot facing the Liberals is to revisit the test which Ignatieff himself imposed on the Tories when he destroyed the NDP-LPC coalition government by supporting the Harper government.
Back then, he said this:
“We will be watching like hawks to make sure that the investments Canadians need actually reach them,” Ignatieff said.
That is the key: how to make sure that the Tory government actually spends the billions allocated in their budget so as to create jobs fast.
The report card is a whitewash exercise, designed to spin the line that the Tories are moving expeditiously in pushing money out the door. The facts clearly indicate the opposite: the control-freaks in this government are not really committed to spending money to create jobs but in spending money as public relations exercises, designed to wring out the maximum political value for the party.
It's as if Santa has decided to take six months to hand out Christmas goodies so that he can bask in the thank-yous of the grateful recipients.
So, what should Ignatieff do?
My suggestion is that he tables in Parliament a Liberal paper which sets out conditions. If Harper agrees to the conditions and acts on them forthwith (before the Liberal date for a non-confidence motion), then the Liberals will support the government.
If Harper refuses, then he will be faced with the Liberal non-confidence motion, and will have brought down his own downfall.
So what will the Liberal paper contain?
Simply these items:
1. A multi-party committee will be formed, with representatives from all four parties in the House, proportional to their seats there, to oversee the spending of the stimulus funds. This committee will be called the Economic Implementation Committee.
2. The committee will make decisions by majority votes.
3. All projects over a threshold value ($5 million?) which would fit into the category of projects qualifying for federal stimulus funds under the Tory budget, will be approved by and expedited by the committee.
4. The committee will have legislated fast-track power to overrule any existing laws or regulations which impede the speedy beginning of and funding of the projects.
This proposal means the Tory government stays in power until the next report card is due, and their budget is the governing instrument, but that the boost to the economy takes place as fast as is feasible, through the actions of the committee.
If Ignatieff takes The Cat's advice, it will be up to Harper to decide whether to form the Economic Implementation Committee, or to take his chances.
And if he takes his chances, he will have to explain to Canadians why he decided to have another costly election, over the issue of how to implement the stimulus funding so badly needed by jobless Canadians in a faster, more feasible way.
That would be a tough argument for Harper to make. Not even a rather stout and very partial former television personality could help Harper make that work.
