"Passive aggressive."
Listening to Prime Minister Stephen Harper discuss the budget, those are the first words that come to mind. "A pervasive pattern of negativistic attitudes and passive resistance to demands for adequate performance..."
"There's the budget" he says. "It is not our fault if the Opposition parties don't like it. We, as the government, are not obliged to generate something that they like."
Actually, given that a significant majority of Canadians didn't vote for Mr. Harper, you would think that he would realize that yes, he should listen to the Opposition.
But, no. Instead, reluctantly, with great misgivings and much consternation, he is going to have to force Canadians to an election that he says they don't want.
Poor Mr. Harper. It is not his fault. It is all the Opposition's fault.
I mean, he doesn't want to have to change his budget. Doesn't want to have to re-think his strategy. Nope, not going to do it.
Instead, he is going to throw up his hands and say "they are forcing an election on us."
The irony is that depending on the day, Mr. Harper says Canada is either a world leader in handling the recession of 2008 or a fragile economy that is going to be destroyed by the thought of an election.
And the best part of all this is that if we have survived the recession of 2008 better than any other G8 economy, it hasn't been because of anything that this Conservative government has done.
The seeds for our survival were laid 10 years ago when the Liberals were in power and Mr. Harper was forming a coalition with the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois to bring down the government!H H
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While I do appreciate Minister Pat Bell taking the time out of his schedule to respond to my last column, his response missed the point. Yes, one can spend an inordinate amount of time discussing who had the better decade - the BC Liberals from 2001 to 2011 or the NDP from 1991 to 2001.
Based on GDP growth, it's a tie. Based on population increase, the NDP wins easily. Based on the bigger financial crisis the government had to deal with, you've got to give it to the BC Liberals. The year 2008 was much bigger than the melt down of the Asian economy in 1997.
Based on increasing B.C.'s debt, the BC Liberals win again. They hold the record for the largest deficit in B.C.'s history.
Such debates are the fodder for political campaigns but not what I was talking about. My point was that for all of the "gains" that we are supposed to have made in the past decade - for all of the prosperity British Columbia is supposed to have enjoyed - families have come out on par, at best.
How can I say that? According to Minister Bell: "real disposable income increased by $3,875 from $21,449 in 2001 to $25,374 in 2009, leaving more money in the pockets of families." I am hoping that he is quoting "per capita" disposable income because if it is family income, we are much worse off than I would have ever thought!
But his contention is that disposable income has increased. Fair enough, but so have costs. In 2001, a litre of gas was 53.9 cents; four litres of milk was $3.29; and we weren't paying HST on our food at restaurants.
The cost of living during the last decade has risen dramatically. Indeed, by 18 per cent or almost exactly the $3,875 that Minister Bell quotes for the increase in our disposable income.
We're no further ahead, despite a decade of relative prosperity. One could, indeed, make the argument we are further behind since B.C., borrowed heavily to achieve the gains we have made.
As to the statement the "average unemployment rate was 6.6 per cent" from 2001 to 2010, this may be true but it has little to do with B.C.'s policies or government. The unemployment rate across the continent was down significantly during the same period. The American unemployment rate dipped to 3.8 per cent a couple of times.
When everyone's rate drops, one can't really make the case that it is any single government's policies that are producing the results.
But I do wish Minister Bell well in his new portfolio. I do hope that he remembers "families first" when he is next stumping for the HST. I do hope his government follows through on its promise to increase the minimum wage. We should at least be on par with Newfoundland and Labrador, don't you think?
And most of all, I do hope the government recognizes that we have way too many seniors and children living in poverty for a province as wealthy and wonderful as ours.
