Op-Ed: Don't screw up the Canadian Budget

The Canadian government, and its citizens, have been awaiting the 2009 Budget for nearly three months since Harper won a minority government. With so much on the line for Canadian jobs, it's imperative that this budget be not about politics, but people.

It's been a tumultuous time for Canada since the October 14th election that saw Harper receive his second consecutive minority government. The election was initially called to break the deadlock parliament has had since Harper took power, as very little had been accomplished under his leadership without considerable opposition. Of course, that election unfolded just as the recession started its rapid decline, and ultimately proved to be nothing but a waste of taxpayer's money. The budget, touted in the USA and throughout the world as rapidly needing to be put in place to reverse the effects of recession, was a contentious issue for Ottawa. Instead of putting aside partisan jabs and childish arguments, all of the major parties decided it was best to try and put their own gains ahead of the people - which ultimately, lead to the prorogue that lasted 6 weeks, and pushed back a badly needed budget to January 27th. During this time, the recession has really hit home, and many industries, including the forestry industry, auto manufacturers, and the energy sector have been depending on increased spending or bailouts in the ever-important lines of this budget. Throughout the last few weeks, as more hints and clues were dropped, the official opposition party changed leaders, but little else changed in the face of Canadian politics. Many news sites have stated that Harper's government is staking its survival on this budget, while others, including citizen journalists on this site, have stated the hypocrisy in Harper's policies. While I'm one to agree that a deficit is necessary in these troubled times, I have a real hard time accepting the fact that while parliament was prorogued, absolutely no progress has appeared to be made in pushing aside party politics to do what's best for the Canadian people. Instead, the support for the coalition has tread water, and the same threats that were issued at the time of proroguing continue - although Ignatieff is somewhat more elegant in how he words it. I've spent the last 3 months waiting and watching this drama unfold, and it saddens me to see that virtually nothing has changed. I read about more and more industries trying to get their name in the budget, while the words "infrastructure spending" is tossed around so much it's almost lost all meaning. Practically every industry is hurting in some way, while many Canadian cities have a multitude of problems with rising unemployment, dipping housing prices, and nobody spending any money. Undoubtedly, the majority of average Canadians find themselves affected by one of these points. Along those lines, almost every province is stating a need to get their hands on some of the money. Yukon is asking for money to repair or upgrade hydroelectric dams, while stating that the tax cuts will only hurt their territory due to an already low tax-base. Manitoba municipalities are already trying to sort out how they can push some transportation projects forward to get federal money; Ontario is likely going to increase its deficit to match the federal funding for its province - there seems to be no end to the places waiting and hoping the budget stimulates their area. And of course, there's the issue of the spending - 64 billion over the next two years - that will have to be paid back. The cost of this stimulus is gigantic in Canadian financial terms - and with a low population and a large expanse of space, if the money isn't spent wisely or directed to the appropriate projects (like high-efficiency energy creation, new manufacturing sectors, or fixing our nation-wide decrepit roads), the cost of a short-term solution will be paid off by the younger generation for years to come. Ultimately, this budget boils down to the simple question of "will this help the common Canadian?" The politics have all run their just course to oppose or promote this spending, but it seems that in the end, regardless of whether or not the budget is the demise or success of the Harper government, if it doesn't give consideration to the common Canadian, to progressive ideas and innovative job creation, then the budget will simply be a band-aid, not the long-term solution that this country needs. It could make or break not just our government, but our nation's strength and advancement on the world stage.