Time for a reality check on Prime Minister Paul Martin's magical mystery tour designed to save his hide with our cash. Fact is, Martin can't guarantee any of the multi-billion dollar promises he's made recently in hopes of staving off an election until next winter. That includes his deal with NDP Leader Jack Layton to boost social spending by $4.6 billion over two years and with Premier Dalton McGuinty to hike federal spending in Ontario by $5.7 billion over five. Contrary to the bafflegab of Toronto Mayor David Miller last week, there is no guarantee the Martin-Layton accord will ever be implemented, even if the newly-amended federal budget passes in the House of Commons later this month. That's because once Parliament dissolves and an election is called, any decisions made by the previous government can be overturned by the incoming one. Which promises are fulfilled, or scrapped, by the next government will depend entirely on the makeup of the next Parliament. If it's a Liberal or Conservative minority -- the two most likely scenarios -- everything promised by Martin now, will have to be revisited and renegotiated. Same goes for Conservative Leader Stephen Harper's foolish promises to match virtually all of the reckless spending programs announced by Martin if Harper becomes prime minister. The only way Layton could guarantee the implementation of the budget deal he made with Martin would be to prop up the Liberals not just for the budget vote, but indefinitely, until he can actually see the new money being spent as promised. First, Layton may not be able to do that because of the razor- thin edge by which Martin's Liberals are now clinging to power, even with NDP support. Second, Layton has never promised to prop up Martin's government beyond the passage of the budget, which in this minority Parliament would be little more than a symbolic act. Further, Martin's pledge to call an election within 30 days of Judge John Gomery issuing his report into AdScam next winter is meaningless, since Martin doesn't control the timing of that election to begin with. Even if Martin, by some miracle, wins a majority government in the next election, whenever it's called, we know from the past 12 years of Liberal rule that this would be no guarantee that the billions of dollars Martin has promised will ever be spent. After all, three previous majority Liberal governments never implemented major Liberal election promises such as scrapping the GST, renegotiating free trade and introducing a national daycare program. On daycare, the eleventh-hour deals Martin is now signing with individual provinces are the exact opposite of the national program he promised during last year's election. So why would anyone believe anything that Martin and the Liberals are promising now, given that these deals are obviously not being made out of conviction, but desperation? |
