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| How do you like that math? - Friday, April 23, 2004 at 09:11 |
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PUBLICATION: The Calgary Sun -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SHIP SHAPE CREDIT TORIES FOR BOOSTING CANADA'S ECONOMIC FORTUNES -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- During Question Period yesterday, Prime Minister Paul Martin was ridiculed for his ability to do math. Conservative Deputy leader Peter McKay levelled a humdinger of a comment at Martin. "The Prime Minister's problems with numbers are well documented. He failed to catch the $1-billion boondoggle at HRDC, missed the boat over $1 billion on the gun registry, does not have a clue about the $250 million wasted in a sponsorship scandal and failed to differentiate between $130,000 and $161 million given to his shipping empire," charged McKay. "Apparently the Prime Minister is bad at math and has a poor memory. Now he claims he does not know how his buddies got these contracts," he said, referring to the rules Martin's finance department broke in order to give some of Martin's best buddies who run Earnscliff Strategy Group untendered polling contracts. "Canadians deserve to know who is running the show, Earnscliffe or the PMO?" said McKay. This is when an indignant Paul Martin stood up and defended his record as finance minister for much of the last 10 years of Liberal rule. "Mr. Speaker ... let us go through some numbers. We inherited a $42-billion deficit from that party, a debt to GDP ratio that was going through the roof. The net result? We are the only G-8 country not in deficit. We are the only one in surplus. I understand those numbers." Well, if Martin really does understand those numbers, he would give credit where credit is due -- and that would be to former Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Finance Minister Michael Wilson. Yes, the Jean Chretien government did eventually balance the books three years after taking office, not through cutting the size of government or waste, but by cutting transfers to the provinces and funding to the military by 25%. It was Mulroney who replaced the hidden manufacturers' sales tax for the politically unpopular and very visible GST. Loathe that tax if you like, but it was essential the manufacturing tax be replaced if our industry was to compete under the North American Free Trade Agreement, another of Mulroney's legacies and the main reason for Canada's healthy economy today. In 1984, the Mulroney government inherited a terrible mess. Even Chretien admitted that after 13 years in office the Liberals had "left the cupboard bare." More like they pulled the cupboard right off the wall and set it ablaze. The Tories took the rusted out hull of a sunken ship of state along with some spare parts from the Liberals and after years of toil managed to turn the mess into a well-oiled, floating ship. Chretien & Co. inherited that ship and managed to keep it on course. In 1984, the Tories inherited a deficit of $38.5 billion, which was nearly 9% of GDP -- the largest in the history of the nation. The federal debt had increased by 1,100% under Trudeau. Interest rates peaked at 22.75%. Program spending had skyrocketed to $1.23 for every dollar collected in taxes. In contrast, let's look at what kind of financial legacy Chretien and Martin inherited in 1993. When the Tories left office almost nine years later, the federal government was in an operating surplus and the deficit as a percentage of GDP had been reduced by one-third, despite the deep recession of 1990-91. The rate of growth in program spending was slashed by 70%, reducing it to 97 cents for every dollar of revenues. The prime rate was at 6%, the lowest in 20 years and the inflation rate was 1.5%, the lowest in 30 years. Quite a nice inheritance for Martin. Fact is, if he had inherited the kind of legacy left to Mulroney, I doubt he would have been able to turn the ship of state around. Speaking of ships, the Bloc Quebecois brought up another $100-million scandal yesterday -- this one having to do with Martin's shipping empire. That's how much his company avoided paying in taxes simply by hoisting "flags of convenience" up the masts of 18 of his Canada Steamship Line ships. How do you like that math? |