Harper Government seeks Stimulus Approval
$3 Billion Dollar Request Meets With Stiff Opposition
Mar 5, 2009
The fund, made up of leftover money from last year’s budget could start flowing as early as July. Passage by Parliament won’t be easy, as the opposition Liberals are putting up a fight.
Opposition Reaction
The opposition are concerned over the lack of regulation of such a fund. The NDP (New Democratic Party) has compared it to the infamous sponsorship program, while the Bloc has called it a slush fund.
As the official opposition, the Liberals are requesting Harper report exactly where the money is spent. The Prime Minister’s office responded that they had no problem with providing a list after the fact, but refused to submit an exact list in advance.
Michael Ignatieff has said his party won’t support the stimulus unless that motion was passed. In comments published on cbc.ca, he warned against the lack of accountability: “We cannot write a blank cheque on 3 billion worth of stimulus. We have to have some indication of what this is going to be spent for.”
Liberal Finance Critic John McCallum defended his party’s proposal saying the request would not delay the bill’s passage. He added the money couldn’t be legally spent until April 1st.
Harper Government’s Argument
The Harper government pointed out that measures in the recent budget already provide for $40 billion. In comments published on ctv.ca he stressed the need for the money:
“The country, other levels of leadership are waiting for this. I encourage the Liberal Party to stop playing games, and let the money flow.” It’s expected the additional surplus will find its way into infrastructure projects, and create much-needed jobs.
Visiting Washington for meetings with Obama’s economic advisors Finance Minister Jim Flaherty applauded the passage of his budget. In comments published in the Canadian Press he stressed the need for the $3 billion dollar stimulus quipping: “As you know, construction is about to start. And we want to make full use of the six-month construction season.”
Stephen Harper has declared passage of the extra money a confidence motion. He has a minority government meaning that should the opposition vote against it there could be an election.
Transport Minister John Baird dismissed an election as nothing more than a sign of the Prime Minister’s frustration. In a weekend interview with CTV’s Question Period he commented: “We’ve got a mandate from the Canadian people to make things happen.” Baird is the minister in charge of these infrastructure projects.
Any possible election would be Canada’s second in less than a year.
