On May 19, 2010, provincial Progressive Conservative MLA Len Derkach rose in the legislature and accused the NDP government of
“spending money in this province like a bunch of drunken sailors.”
As the provincial NDP have increased spending at more than double the combined rate of inflation and population growth over the past decade, Mr. Derkach’s words were right on the money.
However, Mr. Derkach’s political “cousins” in Ottawa, the Conservative Party of Canada, has an even more troubling spending track record than the NDP in Manitoba.
Consider that when Paul Martin’s government fell, federal spending was at
$209.0 billion. However, after five years with Prime Minister Harper at the helm, spending is now
$277.8 billion.
That’s an increase of
32.9 per cent
By comparison, spending under Manitoba’s provincial NDP over the same period increased from $8.3 billion to
$11.0 billion; a 32.5 per cent jump.
Even if you take out funds the federal government transfers to other levels of government, spending increased at 33.4 per cent; still a higher rate than Manitoba’s NDP.
No doubt federal Conservative party loyalists would retort with - “but Harper has a minority and the opposition made him spend so much.”
Yet when the opposition threatened to form a coalition government back in 2008, they quickly backtracked because the public wasn’t on their side. A national poll conducted by Angus-Reid found that
62 per cent of Canadians were “angry” with the thought of the coalition taking control of the government.
Therefore, the three opposition parties were in no position to “force” the prime minister to run massive deficits. The prime minister could have easily kept his
2008 election promise to continue to run balanced budgets.
Instead, Prime Minister Harper shed his
previous contempt for stimulus spending and went on a wild spending spree; expected to increase the debt from $458 billion to
$628 billion by the time it’s done. That will wipe out more than $100 billion in debt repayment from 1997-2008.
Worst of all, it appears all for naught.
The Harper government’s Parliamentary Budget Officer has noted the government’s stimulus plan spent
“a lot of money and it’s not creating very much in terms of jobs.”
Further, the
Fraser Institute examined Statistics Canada data and concluded most of the economic recovery had little to do with the Harper government’s stimulus spending spree.
Clearly, politicians of all political stripes are susceptible to wild spending and coming up with all kinds of reasons for doing so.
To prove his party is different, provincial Progressive Conservative Party leader Hugh McFadyen should offer taxpayers two guarantees.
First, he should commit to keep spending in-line with inflation and population growth, and immediately bring back balanced budget legislation. Such legislation would require governments to do the same thing families do during tough financial times - cut back on luxury spending and focus on the basics.
Second, he should copy British Columbia and introduce “
recall legislation.” It allows citizens to start a petition drive and remove a sitting MLA if they collect enough signatures. You can see how it would keep politicians on their toes in between elections.
One thing is for certain, taxpayers can’t afford any more “drunken sailors” at the helm. Mr. McFadyen needs to prove he’s not the next one in line.
Colin Craig is the Prairie Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
