Harper’s Cabinet Shuffle Preaches Cuts
Since the Conservatives engineered their structural deficit, they’ve been chomping at the bit to pursue greater cuts in funding. Enter Stockwell Day. The Globe and Mail1 (19 January 2010) reported on Harper’s changes to cabinet. It wasn’t a large number of changes, just a few, like the demotion of Lisa Raitt, and the promotion of Stockwell Day.
Stockwell Day is getting “glory” as a no-man. In other words he’s being praised for his ability to cut spending. Apparently Jim Flaherty and Stephen Harper can’t do all the cutting themselves. The article states
“The Conservatives must to find $19-billion a year in savings if they want to balance the books by 2014 without raising taxes, according to the latest analysis from Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page.”
Then again, cuts aren’t the only approach the Conservatives favour, they also seem to like firesales of crown assets. The Canadian Press2 (28 May 2009)
“The Harper government plans to put Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.’s nuclear reactor business up for sale. It’s part of a major restructuring that will also mean private-sector management for AECL’s Chalk River research facility, which makes the medical isotopes used in diagnostic scans.”
Maybe they can sell Day’s “Prayer Force One” bus too.
(Update: 21 January 2010: Scott Ross blogged in detail about the costs of incurred during the prorogue, which seems to rise above $130 million. The CBC has a brief video overview on the cost subject and job/pension losses of many government employees through the unexpected prorogue. The Conservatives’ prorogue isn’t doing anyone any good, especially not our poor, battered, budget.)
