With its spin machine at full speed, the federal government yesterday painted a glowing picture of the success of its economic stimulus plan.
"In just 72 days, our government has 80 per cent of the largest economic recovery plan in Canadian history underway," boasted Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a speech in Cambridge. Echoing the Prime Minister in Parliament, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty called it "an unprecedented accomplishment."
Their rhetoric was backed up by a glossy 230-page "report to Canadians" updating the stimulus plan first outlined in the January budget.
But a close reading of the report suggests the 80 per cent figure is inflated. Much of it is attributable to tax cuts, employment insurance enhancements and the auto bailout, which have been almost 100 per cent implemented. A much lower proportion of infrastructure funding – less than half, it would appear – has been allocated.
Furthermore, much of the infrastructure money has not yet actually flowed to the provinces and municipalities. Rather, "there are commitments in place that will allow the funds to flow," says the report. That means the funding has been announced – in a series of flashy press conferences – but it might not be spent for some time.
As the opposition parties pointed out yesterday, in past federal infrastructure programs there have been delays of up to two years between announcements and actual spending.
The governing Conservatives argue that this time is different. And, indeed, the provinces and municipalities say they have noticed a new determination from Ottawa to get the money flowing. That is encouraging, but it also presents the opposition parties with a dilemma: do they give the Conservatives' economic plan a pass or vote non-confidence in the government, thereby forcing an election that would, in Harper's words, create "needless political instability."
The New Democrats and the Bloc Québécois vowed to defeat the Conservatives at the next opportunity – a week today, when the government's spending estimates come up for a vote. But Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said he needs more time to think it over. Said Ignatieff: "What's the right way forward for our country? That's the question I'll be asking myself tonight."
If there is not to be an election, however, the opposition needs to keep holding the government's feet to the fire on the economy and prevent the Conservatives from slipping back into their laissez-faire ways.
- Raphael Alexander: Stephen Harper's new 'fast-acting' stimulus. Cures recessions before they occur
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The Conservatives delivered their quarterly economic report today, one of the “conditions” for passing the January budget, otherwise known as the day that Michael Ignatieff put Stephen Harper “on probation”. The Prime Minister said Canada’s economy is in recovery mode partly because of the government's $62 billion “shot in the arm to the economy”. Mr. Harper said that 80% of the funds outlined in the stimulus plan are flowing, or are committed to flow shortly when specific projects are approved:
“Some signs of stabilization have been appearing in the world economy. The effects of the recession are beginning to ease.”
Trying to derail Opposition attacks on Employment Insurance, Mr. Harper said more than 100,000 Canadians are participating in federal work-sharing programs, and the government will spend an additional $5.5 billion on the EI program. He said an estimated 3,000 infrastructure projects are getting started under the $22.7 billion stimulus plan, but was vague on the details. He then issued a warning against "needless political instability," -- i.e. bellyaching by other parties -- during this time of economic recovery.
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