Budget

Of the three budgets that have been delivered so far, this seems to be the biggest yawner. Nothing too controversial, but nothing really great either. A very average budget, which pretty much means depending on whether you are one of the more hawkish Liberals (like myself) you would vote against it, while if a more dovish one you would vote for it. As we enter a recession, big spending is the last thing we need, so I am glad there was no large spending, that being said I don't think much thought was given into how to manage it. In addition, I am concerned by the government's past projections. Jim Flaherty as Ontario finance minister hid a $5.6 billion deficit and my concern that if prudence isn't shown we could see another deficit. Had the government not gone on a big spending binge in past budgets or provided income tax cuts rather than a GST cut, we might have more wiggle room. I am all for paying down the debt as despite the fact most woud prefer tax cuts or more spending, the lower the debt is, the less interest we pay on it and this frees up more money to spend elsewhere.

As for the Liberals voting for the budget, I suspect that if the Liberals didn't support it, the Bloc Quebecois probably would as right now the polls seem to be bouncing up and down and too volatile for it to be to the benefit of any party going to an election. An election right now would be a roll of the dice for all parties. Now off course, I support parties standing by their principles, but the reality this budget for the Liberals clearly falls in the gray area. It is not good enough to warrant its support on its own, but neither bad enough to warrant defeating it either.