In this issue
1. JT's analysis of B.C. budget's low-balled forecasts p. 1-8
2. Analysis of B.C. budget finances by COPE 378 p. 8
3. Analysis of budget by B.C. Federation of Labour p. 9
4. Speech by NDP House Leader John Horgan p. 10
Liberals use low-balled budget forecasts
for a variety of ulterior political motives
By John Twigg
It is rarely if ever easy to fully grasp what is really going in a government budget in this era of spin control but it is even more difficult when politicians say one thing and the numbers say something else.
That's the case with the latest British Columbia budget, in which the Premier and the Finance Minister claim it was an exercise in prudent fiscal conservatism with no tax increases but the statistical tables, economic forecasts and other details scream out that it is a scam, or something other than what it was purported to be.
"We're keeping spending down because we have to keep taxes low," said Premier Christy Clark on the morning after the budget even though both claims are demonstrably false - spending is still increasing, especially on the capital side, and the overall tax burden is not low (HST etc.).
"It has been called the most conservative budget anywhere in Canada and I'm proud of that," she added with a 100-watt smile and a twinkle that revealed she is well aware the budget also is being used as a new political posture to try to stop supporters of her B.C. Liberal Party coalition from drifting over to the nascent B.C. Conservative Party.
In other words taxpayers are paying the price for the Liberal government's desire to pander to some extreme right-wing fiscal policies for partisan political gain (such as promising to reduce the already-small size of B.C.'s public service).
Happily I can report that both my forecast of the budget's contents and then my first synopsis of it in DT issues 21 and 22 were completely accurate, namely that the budget contains a big (but soon declining) deficit, few new tax moves, no money for public-sector wage gains and a low-balling of revenue forecasts in order to suppress public-sector wage demands and to build a pre-election slush fund. But there's nothing happy about that policy mix.
Budget ignores poor, panders to bond-raters
However when one looks more deeply into the budget's details one can find contents even worse than that and which are grossly cynical and self-serving in numerous ways for the Liberal government, such as big budgets still in place for advertising and promotion while there's very little new help for the poor; and that the low-ball revenue forecasts also were intended to be music and gold to the bond-rating agencies.
That view that partisan self-serving postures are behind the budget is quite similar to Sun columnist Stephen Hume's sad but amusing conclusion on Feb. 24 that we've all seen this theatrical play before - that the budget "hurts working families and the middle class (and) doesn't chart a true path out of the fiscal doldrums (because it fails to) educate and train more workers . . . . (but nonetheless) our abstemious gurus of austerity will be promising to shovel your money off the back of a truck in another 12 months as they prime the election pump with promised goodies, having miraculously found plenty of room for spending - thanks to your belt-tightening."
NDP deputy leader Carole James called the budget shameful at the end of Question Period Thursday and noted B.C. remains one of only two provinces to not have a program to address child poverty. "It is truly shameful that B.C. has had the highest rate of child poverty, the worst rate of child poverty in Canada for eight years straight. How is that doing a good job for children? And now the B.C. Liberal budget ensures that we will stay there," she shouted, noting it also is a false economy to withhold support from needy children.
Finance Minister Kevin Falcon gamely replied that "we believe the best anti-poverty program is a job" (obliquely citing a promised program to better link unemployed urban people with vacant jobs in the north) but he also noted there is some substantial new money targeted at some social needs but nonetheless James was correct in saying that there is nothing new in the budget specifically to address child poverty.
The official line in the speech and in the leading newscasts was that it was "the toughest budget in decades" with overall spending increases to be held to only 2% per year for three years but the details in the budget documents show that capital spending will still be what the government called "robust" in both government and Crown Corporation sides, that revenue forecasts were deeply low-balled in at least six notable ways (GDP, natural gas etc.), non-tax revenues are being hiked sharply in numerous ways (Hydro, ICBC, MSP etc.) and that the real main priority of the budget was and is to suppress union wage demands in contracts now expired (notably the teachers) or soon expiring (BCGEU and others in April), as well as to build up cash reserves for the pre-election period (next vote is May 14, 2013), the latter to be padded with about $700 million from sales of supposedly surplus assets featuring the Liquor Distribution Branch's warehouses and transportation systems (but not yet its retail stores) as well as untold other properties and parcels of land.
Though Clark and Falcon frequently claimed they were acting to avoid tax increases, many critics and pundits correctly noted that agencies such as B.C. Hydro, Insurance Corporation of B.C., B.C. Ferries, B.C. Lotteries, the Liquor Branch and other entities such as the Medical Services Plan have been sharply hiking their fees, and that government revenues will climb in other ways too (e.g. post-secondary tuition and drivers licences) - most of which go into general revenues and so are de facto tax increases. Not to mention that keeping the hated HST in place until March 31, 2113 will pour an extra $500 million into general revenues.
Gov't seen milking a herd of cash cows
Province columnist Ethan Brown described all that as "massive hidden grabs at citizens' money" then on Sunday his colleague Mike Smyth said it was "milking Crown corporations like a herd of cash cows" with Hydro delivering $1 billion in "dividends" and ICBC delivering $1.2 billion in "excess optional capital" even though Hydro is hiking its rates by more than 7% and ICBC is raising driver premiums by more than 11%.
Though the government's contingency and forecast-allowance funds were symbolically reduced by several hundred millions dollars from their previously-bloated levels (from about $1 billion to $500 million), a closer inspection shows some of that was moved for urgent use in the troubled Justice system (where probably even more money is needed) and some simply went into new slush funds ($100 million for Innovation and $70 million for technology).
Despite the conservative rhetoric there was still lots of room in the budget for such things as a $120-million royalty credits program in oil and gas, a $7-million sweetener to dividend tax credits (which was virtually hidden and thus widely over-looked) and several other somewhat vote-driven new handouts were announced such as $10 million for senior citizen home renovation tax credits up to $1,000 each, a $10,000 bonus for first-time buyers of newly-built homes and tax credits worth up to $50 per child in arts and sports activities, among other moves such as removing a surtax on jet fuel for international flights which has a price tag of $12 million.
So though the rhetoric made it sound like an austerity budget, the details suggest it is business as usual with tightness in some areas - notably the frozen or below-inflation budgets for most ministries - and looseness in others, notably favours for business and incentives for commerce.
Yes the budget cancels a plan to remove the income tax on small business (i.e. reducing it from 2.5% to zero) and it includes a modest provisional 1% increase in corporation income tax that will kick in next year only if it's needed then but those moves are more symbolic than substantive and clearly were intended to portray the Clark Liberals as more even-handed than they really are.
Low-ball forecasts suppress union wage demands
The main reason for the government's supposed austerity and low-balling of revenue forecasts was readily evident from the text of the budget speech, which duly began by citing the "new paradigm" in a world "littered with governments that have forgotten the importance of managing spending and taxation prudently (and which) now find themselves in very dire situations" but the text soon segued to the need to balance the province's budget and therefore not countenance any public-sector wage increases that if granted as requested would cost billions of dollars.
"We are not prepared to borrow money to pay for public-sector wage increases today and send the bill to our children tomorrow," said Falcon in the speech, after noting that the "tax, spend and borrow approach" is wrong and has already proven catastrophic in parts of Europe.
Falcon of course is correct about the financial follies in Europe and elsewhere but he exaggerates too greatly about B.C.'s supposedly similar perch on a precipice of doom because the budget also cites the province having and wanting to keep a triple-A credit rating which the speech itself notes is the highest possible rating and which has been maintained despite the unmentioned but execrable financial mismanagement of former premier Gordon Campbell such as his butchering of the Harmonized Sales Tax process and getting caught by the Auditor General in hiding hundreds of millions of dollars of debt in Crown corporation deferral accounts.
Nonetheless there IS merit in wanting to maintain a top credit rating, if only because it lowers the borrowing costs of the province's eternally-massive capital programs (such as the multi-billion-dollar dam-building program in B.C. Hydro and the nearing-completion Port Mann bridge project [which according to blogger Laila Yuile may be experiencing some construction delays and financial problems]), so setting budget targets in ultra-conservative ways has some merit too, but the question is whether the present approach is prudent or extreme and the answer in my opinion is it's towards the extreme because of the extreme low-balling in the revenue forecasts and the piles of slush still stashed around the system (such as $300-million freeboard still left inside ICBC).
Falcon in the Voice of B.C. show on Thursday noted that bond raters and investment bankers are among the most negative and distrustful people you can meet so he was relieved to see the bond market respond with confidence in the budget and the bank analysts say the budget is credible and doable, but on the other hand he betrayed his own trickiness when he was asked about the credibility of his budget numbers and responded by noting the government had met its budget targets in 9 of the last 10 years but he failed to mention that the province also has produced deficits in 7 of the last 12 years.
What that shows is the Liberals' tendency to produce extremely conservative revenue forecasts, which is a strategy that goes back all the way to W.A.C. Bennett in the 1950s and is in large part a convenient way of dampening public-sector wage demands as well as pleasing bond traders though as a public policy it is somewhat disingenuous. (Indeed the fact that the budget speech text writers felt they had to explain that triple-A is the best possible rating shows that the budget speech text is aimed mainly at voting taxpayers while the budget numbers are aimed at bond-raters and bankers.)
But it seems that in current circumstances the Clark-Falcon Liberals have made forecast fudging into a new art form because so many items were diddled, some so obviously that they sort of boasted about it, such as undercutting the Economic Forecast Council's consensus on nominal GDP growth (the ECF forecast 5% but the budget used 4.5%), and some others so subtly that they might never be revealed elsewhere than here, or anywhere (such as omitting the recently-announced Site C power dam go-ahead from the major projects lineup and the debt forecasts).
Low GDP forecast hides $600 million
The difference in the GDP forecast was analyzed in some depth by Central 1 Credit Union chief economist Helmut Pastrick, who estimated that the 0.5% difference would be worth roughly $200 million in general revenues [which was based on a government estimate that also could have been low-balled], but Pastrick went further and noted that his group's GDP forecast is about 6% - which if extrapolated would produce roughly $600 million in "extra" revenues for the province (my wording and calculation there), which is approaching real money, as they say, and is a significant chunk of money hidden in the budget.
In terms of real GDP, the Falcon budget has lowered the forecasts from the previous year's budget to only 1.8% in 2012 and only 2.2% in 2013, which implies either that inflation will be unusually high or growth rather low, neither of which appears likely.
What is the supposed reason for the pessimism? The budget documents cite "significant downside risks" due to ongoing uncertainty around global economic activity, notably a possible return to recession in the U.S. (which I believe is highly unlikely in a Presidential election year and when foreign money is fleeing into American safe havens).
"We are being extremely prudent and very cautious in our forecasts," Falcon told journalists and experts in the budget lockup, even claiming to have not been involved in setting them, but his name is on the document so those dubious forecasts are his numbers whether he likes them or not, and some of the numbers are suspect, as are some of the policy choices.
Furthermore Falcon on Voice of B.C. sounded quite proud of his budget's "extremely conservative" forecast of U.S. GDP, noting it was using only 1.4% real GDP growth in 2012 while other forecasters are using 2.2% even though U.S. employment has been trending upwards for more than a year and more recently consumer confidence, housing starts and stock market indexes have moved upwards too.
The budget also worries that the sovereign debt crisis in Greece, Ireland and Portugal could spread to Italy and Spain, destabilize global financial markets and trigger a credit crisis. Well maybe, but how bad and how likely would that be? It would help to know that B.C.'s trade with Europe is negligible and its credit rating and export patterns would make it relatively sheltered from a European crash.
Another downside risk cited by the budget is slower demand from Asia for B.C. products, along with exchange rate volatility and a possibly lower dollar disrupting financial and commodity markets, none of which seem likely, and actually a lower dollar would help sell more B.C. outputs in Asia.
China's bullish growth was ignored
An interesting example is China, which gets a few mentions in the economic outlook but as Pastrick noted it is not included in the GDP forecast even though that country is now B.C.'s second-largest market. Meanwhile two paragraphs on page 91 of the hard copy (if you have one) note that China's real GDP may have slowed to 8.2% in the last quarter (annualized rate) - the lowest in 10 quarters - but the forecast for 2012 is still 8.0% real growth which would still be a very robust and healthy rate of growth.
But note the spin: the B.C. budget seems to fret about a possible slowdown in Asian demand even while it remains near double-digit expansion and even while Chinese companies pour billions of dollars into new energy projects in Western Canada.
So let's pause for a minute and consider B.C.'s economic outlook: is it in the doldrums and shedding jobs like a dog sheds hair in spring? Obviously not, and the budget is forecasting jobs growth of 0.9% in 2012 (which sounds to me like another low-ball forecast) and 1.4% in 2013 (ditto).
Is B.C.'s economy performing better than almost all other provinces? Well yes it is, benefitting in particular from its unique trading pattern which sees only about half of its exports targetted to the sluggish U.S. economy (which is another lowball because the U.S. has been gaining surprising momentum in recent months) and half going elsewhere, largely to booming Asia, while most provinces send 90% of their exports to the USA.
And is B.C.'s economy poised to enjoy a phenomenal growth spurt of megaprojects beginning in almost every corner and nook and cranny in the province? In fact it is, from the huge Site C and natural gas projects in the Peace River, numerous mines in the northwest along with enabling transportation projects, a huge new aluminum smelter plus two LNG plants at Kitimat, a $1-billion upgrade of Canadian National Railway's line between Edmonton and Prince Rupert, numerous projects by Teck Corp. at Trail and in northeast coal, various mining and power projects (e.g. Hydro's $1.2-billion John Hart Dam power plant upgrade near Campbell River), plus billions in new shipbuilding projects, plus billions in new transportation projects, and more like Kinder Morgan possibly spending $3.8 billion to twin the old TransMountain oil pipeline to Vancouver, not to mention the Enbridge Northern Gateway oil pipeline proposal that really should use rail cars instead.
In fact if the world outlook was not so gloomy we and everyone would be marveling at the economic boom about to burgeon in B.C. - but is any of that mentioned in the budget? No! Or at least very little, and what there is was mainly in Clark's goofy Jobs Plan, which is mainly a glossy compendium of photos of projects that were already under way or inevitable, but I will give credit for one thing Clark did do shortly after becoming leader and Premier about one year ago and that was to quickly fire up a shipwright training program at Victoria's Camosun College, which was at least symbolically helpful in B.C. shipyards winning a big piece of the federal ship-building program worth more billions of dollars [we only wish she and Falcon could have included more such training in the current budget for other industries, say for heavy machinery maintenance].
And by the way did anyone mention B.C.'s booming housing market and B.C.'s recovering lumber exports to the U.S.? Or the Canucks driving to the Stanley Cup?? [Don't laugh, there is a very large liquor and restaurant trade sparked by Canucks games.]
So 6% growth for B.C. in 2012, as calculated by the financial institution with the broadcast branch network in the province? That could easily turn out to be too low too, given the race for resource spoils now under way and the likely in-migration of people seeking jobs in the process.
Another notable low-ball in the government's revenue forecast was pointed out by David Schreck in his Strategic Thoughts newsletter regarding natural gas prices, in which Falcon lowered the budget's price forecast from about $3 per gigajoule in last year's budget to $2.52/Gj this year which is quite a bit below Alberta's forecast average gas price. Nonetheless B.C.'s budget is still expecting a 64% increase in revenues from gas due to higher volumes, prices and royalty rates. But if B.C.'s gas exports did take off a bit, say to fuel new LNG and power plants in California, then those revenues could soon double or even triple (having previously been over $1 billion a year when demand and prices were high whereas now there is a price-depressing glut).
All of which is to make the point that lots of the forecasts in the B.C. government's budget are suspect, and that the unusually pessimistic or overly-cautious forecasts are done that way for ulterior motives, to make it easier to surpass bond-rating targets, to suppress union wage demands, to build up some pre-election slush funds for better use when they can garner some votes and to justify some draconian clamps on spending to help keep some small-c conservative voters inside the B.C. Liberal Party coalition.
Whether or not that will work for the Clark Liberals remains to be seen but on the level of crass electioneering you have to begrudge them some credit for doggedly trying even though polls suggest they're a lost cause.
But one thing it does suggest is that if the B.C. Teachers Federation and/or other unions were somehow able to extract some wage gains from the government of the day then the minions in the Finance Ministry would be able to find the money without having to borrow huge sums to pay for them.
Of course many other moves could be made too, such as systematically seeking out and eliminating false economies, breaking down some costly professional barriers in the health system and directly creating work-experience jobs in useful areas such as suburban agriculture to move towards full employment, not to mention legalizing marijuana and enabling bulk exports of surplus water. The budget speech did make some promises to eliminate unnecessary regulations but it sounded more like pandering than acting.
Indeed a good example of new things that could be done would be to empower B.C. Hydro to begin selling bulk water from its existing facilities in Campbell River, the proceeds of which could be put towards the costly upgrade of the John Hart Dam and power station instead of relying solely on borrowed money. Hydro owns the water license, and several unused ship docks are nearby, and yes there is ample surplus water in the Campbell River system.
Meanwhile what should be done about the Carbon Tax? It's sort of an elephant in the living room which costs $1.2 billion a year to feed and is doing little of what it was intended to do when it was created four years ago. The budget has promised to review that tax but so far there are few details of how and when or by whom. But that too could be an opportunity to do existing things much better than before.
So there IS cause for optimism about B.C.'s prospects but it just wasn't convenient to include them in this year's deliberately depressing budget.
I liked how NDP MLA Gary Coons put it: "What we've seen in this budget is no vision. There's nothing to help families, vulnerable seniors, students or children in need. It abandons a huge component of British Columbians, probably close to 99 percent, because the 1 percent will do pretty well under this B.C. Liberal government and this budget."
BC Government Raids Crown Corp Coffers Despite Rising Rates at BC Hydro and ICBC
From COPE 378 Feb. 21, 2012
Instead, both Crown Corporations are funneling money from British Columbians into provincial government general revenue.
“This government is siphoning over $1 billion from ICBC alone,” said COPE 378 President David Black. “When Manitoba’s public insurer was found to have overcharged its customers, it offered a 45 per cent rate rebate. In B.C., the government says thank you very much and pockets the money. And the employees who’ve made ICBC such as success have been told not to expect a wage increase – not even to keep up with the cost of living.”
The government’s 2012 budget and fiscal plan states that they will have taken $1.174 billion from ICBC between 2010 and 2014. This staggering number doesn’t include the subsidy ICBC gives government by providing driver licensing, vehicle licensing and registration for free – services ICBC’s own estimates say would otherwise cost $110 million each year.
BC Hydro also pays a dividend to government, despite being burdened by deferral accounts which B.C.’s Auditor General has pegged at a $2.2 billion liability. According to the 2012 Budget and Fiscal Plan BC Hydro will pay 12.75 per cent of its deemed equity to government. Only a few weeks ago the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) increased the interim deferral account rate rider in order to pay down the utility’s deferred payments.
“The government has made a lot of noise about doing everything they can to decrease BC Hydro rates,” said COPE 378 Vice President Gwenne Farrell. “They’ve attacked the workforce and tried to shuffle costs. Well, they’ve done everything except pay down the deferral accounts with the money they feel they are entitled to take from BC Hydro.”
BC Hydro’s deferral accounts cover a variety of costs including the above market rate power from Independent Power Providers and the controversial Smart Meter Initiative. Deferral accounts are typically used by utilities to manage and smooth peaks and valleys in rates. But under the BC Liberals, BC Hydro’s deferral accounts have multiplied from 2 to 27 – far beyond normal utility accounting practices. The deferral accounts have become a source of alarm for both the Auditor General and the BCUC.
“All this is typical of this government,” said Black. “They’re mismanaging two of BC’s most vitally important Crown Corporations to cover for their own financial ineptitude. Because of this mismanagement employees at Crown Corps are being asked to lose ground in terms of wages and the average person will pay more on their Hydro bill and for ICBC premiums. Welcome to Premier Clark’s Families First agenda.”
Budget Squeezes More Out of Average Families While Economic Elite Come Out Further and Further Ahead
From B.C. Federation of Labour Feb. 22, 2012
Vancouver, BC – The BC Federation of Labour called today’s budget a wrong-headed continuation of the policies that have put more money in the pockets of the richest British Columbians and BC Liberal insiders at the expense of working and middle class families.“Working people in British Columbia are having a tougher and tougher time making ends meet because of the policies of this government,” said BC Federation of Labour president Jim Sinclair. “The 2012 budget, again, puts more money in the pockets of BC’s corporate elite while asking average working people to suck up wage cuts and fee increases. This budget reflects BC Liberal policy to reward the one percent at the expense of the 99 percent.”
Sinclair said the budget was a clear illustration of the government’s misplaced priorities. “If a CEO buys a vacation home in Whistler, this budget puts up to $10,000 in his pocket, while average families are paying more in Medical Services Plan (MSP) and Hydro rates and childcare workers, teachers and hospital workers are being told to take real wage cuts,” said Sinclair.
Sinclair said that the BC Liberals will continue the underfunding of healthcare, education, justice and social services, while reckless tax cuts to the extremely well off and corporations starve the province of funds. He noted that despite huge increases in Hydro rates, MSP premiums, tuition fees, and bridge tolls paid by average families, government revenue in 2012 was down $7.7 billion annually from 2001 numbers as a percentage of BC’s GDP.
Sinclair noted the budget speech acknowledged that front-line workers in BC’s public sector had already foregone billions in income due to real wage cuts over the past two years. “Front line workers have been falling behind, while Cabinet Ministers and senior managers have been taking double-digit pay hikes. It’s simply not fair. And it’s made worse by this government’s plan to eliminate 10 percent more front line jobs from the leanest public service in Canada.”
Sinclair also expressed concern that an unpopular Liberal government would quietly announce the fire sale of key government assets in the final year of their mandate. Sinclair condemned the move to privatize liquor distribution in particular as an irresponsible giveaway to BC Liberal supporters in the private liquor industry.
Horgan slams Liberals for fiscal jiggery-pokery
Excerpt from Hansard Feb. 20, 2012
Speech by NDP House Leader John Horgan
It's a pleasure to rise on a non-partisan Monday. I throw that out there early on to try and keep the member for Kamloops–South Thompson at bay as I speak for my six minutes that I've been allotted today to talk about ensuring that taxes remain low for B.C. families.
Of course, you would wonder how that sort of motion could come from a government that has been systematically raising taxes since I arrived here in 2005. Of course, the pinnacle, the cherry on top, would be the harmonized sales tax — a $1.8 billion shift from the corporate friends of the current government onto the backs of the ordinary families that they allege to be protecting in this motion.
How is it, hon. Speaker, that you can have a government that has imposed a harmonized sales tax on the people of B.C. without warning, without any input from the public, and then they say: "Yeah, we're keeping taxes low"?
Every January since 2009, MSP premiums have gone up — every January. And that's going to continue on for another couple of years. Again, the people on the other side are living in this fantasyland, this dream world that says: "We don't raise taxes." Well, you do. What is the harmonized sales tax if not a tax on families? We've got a whole host of others. We can go into Crown corporations that have increased their costs. My colleague from Victoria–Beacon Hill spoke about being a Vancouver Islander trapped by excessive costs at B.C. Ferries.
B.C. Hydro. We hear of the urgings for fiscal constraint, but we've got jiggery-pokery on the other side. My colleague from Surrey-Whalley highlighted it very well, calling on the Auditor General's report to make known to the public — and hopefully to those on the other side that have got the opportunity to open their ears — that B.C. Hydro has been putting deferred debts into accounts for ten years now.
When we left government there was one deferral account — one deferral account designed to manage rates through high- and low-water years. Now, hon. Speaker, take a guess. Anyone want to help me out on this? Take a guess. Twenty-seven deferral accounts; $2.2 billion, rising to $5.5 billion over the next number of years. If that is not deferring debt to future generations, I don't know what is. How you can go from $2.2 billion to $5.5 billion and somehow claim that you're fiscally responsible is absolutely beyond me.
Now, the best part of the Auditor General's report was when he referred to the fact that B.C. Hydro was in a deficit situation. It shuffled money into a deferral account to give the impression of profitability. And why did that happen? So the Minister of Finance of the day could harvest a dividend when one shouldn't have been delivered. That distorts the books at B.C. Hydro. It distorts the books of the province.
Now, distorting the books of the province has become a fine art with the B.C. Liberals. We could go back to their balanced budget legislation. They hit the desk and said: "We're going to balance the budget." Well, they've missed on seven deficits during that time. They'll be 12 years in power, seven deficits. But they're going to hold fast.
I love these non-partisan days, because it gives us a chance to exchange ideas, to grow as individuals, to put stuff on the table so that we can all have a better understanding of the realities that we live in. Sadly, 11 years in the bunker on the other side has restricted ideas from getting in. So when we talk about trying to reduce costs on middle-income families….
We've got removal of rent protections. We've got costs at parks increasing, generic drugs, seniors care, delisting of some health care services. Medical services premiums, of course, we've already talked about. Tolls, public transit costs — everything going up, up, up, but the government has the audacity, has the gall to come into this place the day before they deliver yet another deficit budget and say they're all about fiscal constraint and propriety. It's absolute hogwash. HST — a $1.8 billion transfer from your corporate friends to the people that you're professing to stand up for in this motion. I don't know how you hide the shame. I don't know how you hide the shame of saying, "We're all about reducing taxes," when you brought in the harmonized sales tax. Don't know how you do it.
What happens….
I know it's not charitable to have sport at someone else's misfortune, but I have to confess that the past 24 months of watching the Liberals stammer from post to post trying to find a wedge issue to run on…. Unfortunately, they're not going to find it today in this place. What they're going to find instead is a competent, responsible opposition ready to take power, and what we've got on the other side is an opposition-in-waiting. I can't wait for to you move over here.
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