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Through the Looking Glass with Jim Flaherty
On the political art of doing nothing.
Finance Minister James Flaherty
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has said repeatedly in recent weeks that the Canadian economy is "the strongest it has been in a generation." His obvious pride in this situation prompted The Tyee to interview the minister to explore the government's policies that led to this development.
Tyee: Mr. Flaherty, you stated recently that the economy is the strongest it has been in a generation. Could you describe for Canadians the set of economic policies that have led to this extraordinary situation?
Flaherty: Certainly, I would be happy to. Our New Government -- that is the New Government of the New Prime Minister, Stephen Harper -- has taken the view that the economy is best directed by the market itself and that government -- new or otherwise -- should just keep its hands off.
Tyee: So let me get this straight so Canadians can get it straight, too. You are saying that this unprecedented situation comes to us from the marketplace, left alone by your new government to do its magic.
Flaherty: Absolutely, dead on. You've understood me completely.
Tyee: Perhaps you could elaborate just a little on just which policies you have followed that have ensured that government does nothing to interfere in the marketplace. That is to say, which policies is your new government pursing that will ensure you have no policies which will interfere in the economy running itself?
Flaherty: Well, it's pretty complicated, I am not sure you would understand. Our position is that people -- including reporters -- should just be happy with the situation and not ask too any questions.
Tyee: I am willing to give it a try, Mr. Minister. We've been covering economic policy and budgets for a long time. Frankly it doesn't sound that complicated if your basic economic policy is to make sure none of your policies have an effect on the economy.
Flaherty: I can understand why it appears simple. When things work well, of course it looks easy. Take your professional athlete for example. They make it all look easy -- Tiger Woods makes a drive from the tee look easy but it involves all sorts of extremely complicated moves, concentration, follow-through, the right stance, confidence. But you don't see all those things -- you just see the results. It's the same with the booming economy being cleverly guided by our New Government. You see the wonderful results but not the complex set of manoeuvres and nuances behind it.
Tyee: It sounds to me like your economic policy is -- correct me if I'm wrong -- is to get out of the way of the economy so it can just get on its way doing what it does best. Again, I don't wish to sound flippant, but unless I have missed something your policy sounds a lot like doing nothing at all.
Flaherty: That's a very simplistic interpretation of what I have been saying and certainly doesn't give credit where credit is due. Getting out of the way of the market -- or "doing nothing" as you so glibly describe it -- is not easy. There's nothing like it in the history of government.
Tyee: Pardon me for being so obtuse, Mr. Minister, but given what you have said so far our readers might conclude that the best way to keep the economy chugging along is to simply get rid of the government altogether. I mean, if doing nothing is your economic policy, why do we need a finance department and other departments at all. There are thousands of employees in these departments -- all apparently dedicated to doing nothing. How many people do you need to effectively do nothing?
Flaherty: That depends. And let me say that your questions betray a shocking misunderstanding of how government works.
Tyee: Don't you mean how government doesn't work?
Flaherty: Same thing.
Tyee: Let me try another tack as we don't seem to be getting anywhere or, as you might prefer, we're getting nowhere. It seems to me that from what you have said, any political party could accomplish robust economic growth by doing nothing. After all, doing nothing requires no particular set of skills, no experience, no complex vision of what you want to accomplish. Playing the devil's advocate for a second, one could argue that a class of Grade 3 students might be the best bet for running the economy.
Flaherty: Nothing could be further from the truth. Doing nothing in government is actually one of the most complex undertakings imaginable. Doing nothing -- of course we prefer to say "getting out of the way" -- and at the same time getting kudos for good results is a tricky business. In fact, it's nothing short of magic.
Tyee: I would like an illustration -- you know, paint a picture for our readers.
Flaherty: Sure. For example, in the finance department and the industry department -- not to mention agriculture and regional development and fisheries departments -- there are many very smart people who want to do something. It's not for nothing they work so hard. So we need a lot other people -- just as smart or preferably even smarter -- who must counter this quaint but destructive imperative to do something. It's a constant battle. I know it is counter-intuitive, but Doing Nothing requires focused, relentless action.
Tyee: Give me some examples from the so-called real economy.
Flaherty: That's easy. Take the loss of auto industry jobs. Doing nothing in this situation is extremely difficult. People actually expect governments to do something when thousands of jobs just disappear over night. That's partly due to departmental names like "industrial development" which imply that we are going to develop something. That, of course, would mean getting in the way. Then there is the sell off of all those corporate icons -- Stelco, Noranda, Fairmont Hotels, the Hudson's Bay Company. People get very emotional about these corporations being bought up like so many raw logs. We're working on reframing the names of the relevant departments to begin changing the political culture. It's not easy. We've focus-grouped "Economic Development -- Not" we've tried "Industrial Abandonment Department." The results haven't been what we hoped. Same with words like desist, discontinue, abdicate, surrender, relinquish. People just aren't there yet.
Tyee: But your goal as a government is to do nothing.
Flaherty: That's our long term goal. Our short term goal is to do as little as possible.
Tyee: How would you say that's going -- or not going?
Flaherty: I think we're doing -- or doing not -- very well.
Tyee: Thank you, Minister.
Flaherty: De nada.
Related Tyee stories:
- Harper's Bait and Switch BudgetPhony spending foreshadows future cuts.
- McMartin's Budget PreviewPrediction: Canadians will continue to pay more for less in 2007.
- Enough Tax Cuts!Harper keeps carving away at Canada's soul.
![[Tyee]](http://thetyee.cachefly.net/ui/img/ico_fishie.png){kind=small}
- The Gem of Canadian Science that Harper Killed
- Who Mowed Down the Premier?
- Canada's Economy, Deconstructed (by a 12 year-old)
- Death in Remand: a Tyee Inquiry
- Now Is the Time to Talk up Big Ideas
- Sexism Tinges Criticism of Teachers' Job Action
- Bill C-38: the Environmental Destruction Act
- Death In Remand: 'A Gut Feeling'
- Bias in BC's Pesticide Decision? Follow the Bouncing Verbs
- The Ethics of Addiction Studies
- The Gem of Canadian Science that Harper Killed
- Sexism Tinges Criticism of Teachers' Job Action
- Now Is the Time to Talk up Big Ideas
- The Ethics of Addiction Studies
- Bill C-38: the Environmental Destruction Act
- Alberta Fills Pipes with Corrosive Denial
- Bias in BC's Pesticide Decision? Follow the Bouncing Verbs
- How Our Immune Systems Exaggerate Fear
- BC biotech company seeks approval for GM apple
- What's Behind BC's Doors?
- The Ethics of Addiction Studies
- What's Behind BC's Doors?
- The Gem of Canadian Science that Harper Killed
- Sexism Tinges Criticism of Teachers' Job Action
- Should You Run from that Medical Test?
- 'The Dictator'
- Death in Remand: Stacked Deck
- 'Moonrise Kingdom'
- From Financial Advisor to Occupier
- Seven Goals to Build the Conservative 'Dream'
52
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lynn
4 years ago
Really "something", Mr. Dobbin. Well done.
And so free market zen of you, Mr. Flaherty....
I dunno but I think Erma Bombeck has it all over Aristotle, and nails it when it comes to defining the innermost dark....and not so deep.... but definitely hidden urges at work in the apparent philosophy of apparently "doing nothing" Harper/Flaherty style:
Quote:
"When a child is locked in the bathroom
with water running and he says he's doing nothing but the dog is barking, call 911."
The brain
4 years ago
Just another corporate lobbiest...
And one of the worst. I wonder how many directorships he'll get when he's finally voted out of office.
I'm not quite sure why the public is so sssllloowww to catch on to the fact that Stephen Harper, David Emerson, Jim Flaherty, Gordon Connors, Peter Mackay and Jim Prentice to name a few, are nothing but a bunch of corporate lobbiests that work for U.S. multinationals!!
Harper couldn't have made himself any more obvious with the National Citizens Coalition. Gordon Connors always was a corporate lobbiest. Peter Mackay is just like his dad... another corporate lobbiest. Mulroney? Only 24 directorships (an old number, by the way) what do we think he was, if not just another corporate lobbiest.
Saddest thing of all, is that corporations, if left unregulated and under taxed, usually choke on their own greed. And the environment comes last. So what Flaherty is really saying, is that "we can't regulate corporations... we like their long sighted vision... the next quarterly. And we love what they do to the environment. And we love to get our soldiers shot up to make lots of money on weapons sales, cause we're corporate lobbiests and we've got the inside track!"
And they do, Tyee readers. They do have the inside track. Because thats their job is to represent the interests of corporations and the sooner voters realize that the job of government isn't to represent corporations but rather the people of the nation as a whole, the better off our economy and environments will be because in case you all haven't noticed, corporations are out for just one thing. Money... at all costs.
To think its otherwise, is to join a rather dullard group we now have as a current federal and provincial government we've got today, who believes money is their God. Its time to vote these bums out of power and send them on their way.
Lorne Mccuaig
Revelstoke, BC
cjkowalc
4 years ago
Please, someone tell me this
Please, someone tell me this is fiction, a satire piece, someone give me hope!!!
cjkowalc
4 years ago
Also, it's always
Also, it's always tremendously easy for a government to ride a wave or high commodity prices. Vice-versa, it's unforgivable to govern in a time or recession...
Frank
4 years ago
Flaherty
A fun read Mr Dobbin, good for a few chuckles.
On the bright side, unlike his predecessors, Flaherty hasn't joined any new NAFTAs, hasn't slashed the budgets of the provinces and was actually able to see a problem with income trusts.
And as for not doing anything, I kind of like a minority government that is unable to enact laws turning its ideology into real-world experiments.
I have no love for Flaherty or Harper but I do wake up each morning happy that Stephane Dion isn't prime minister, like most of Canada I suspect. The exception being our own "Working Man" who thought Dion's selection was absolutely brilliant and proof of how the Libs only elect "winners". Talk about a good chuckle.
G West
4 years ago
Lovely piece of satire Murray
And, like most of the 'best' fiction - so firmly rooted in 'fact' that it tells us something quite profound.
Sadly, this one imaginary quote - from the man who brought Mike Harris's 'economic miracle' to Ontario - tells us about all we really need to know about pee wee's government and its attitude toward both the press and Canadians in general:
Well, it's pretty complicated, I am not sure you would understand. Our position is that people -- including reporters -- should just be happy with the situation and not ask too any questions.
I think it merits a little emphasis...just keep those words in mind as things start to go seriously pear-shaped when this bunch gets its majority.
What was it that Harris and Flaherty called their 'movement' when they ruled Queen's Park?
Oh yeah - The Common Sense Revolution
As the song puts it 'It's all been done before'
You were wrong, I was right
You said goodbye, I said goodnight
It's all been done
It's all been done
It's all been done before
I knew you before the west was won
And I heard you say the past
was much more fun
You go your way, I go mine
But I'll see you next time
It's all been done
It's all been done
It's all been done before
And if I put my fingers here, and if I say
"I love you, dear"
And if I play the same three chords,
Will you just yawn and say
It's all been done
It's all been done
It's all been done before
Alone and bored on a thirtieth-century night
Will I see you on The Price Is Right?
Will I cry? Will I smile?
As you run down the aisle?
It's all been done
It's all been done
It's all been done before
Copyright 2006 www.lyricscube.com
murdock
4 years ago
... as little as possible.
Flaherty: That's our long term goal. Our short term goal is to do as little as possible.
Amazing that this minister is willing to speak such truths!
Consider what this sort of truthiness did to Kim Campbell.
I suspect that the minister is likely to be dumped in the next cabinet shuffle, as he cannot bafflegab well enough.
tessa
4 years ago
Just curious, what's the
Just curious, what's the point of this story?
I mean, Dobbin, you do know how to do interviews, am I right? You could have done research and interviews and backed up your point very well. Instead, this seems to be the "get out of the way" style of journalism, where, at least in the short term, you do as little as possible and hope everything turns out okay. Does the long-term goal for The Tyee call for nothing? Blank pages? For David Beers concentrating very hard on making sure his contributors don't write anything at all? You've become what you mock in this piece.
All I got from this article was a chuckle I could have easily got from any online comic strip. Next time you might want to try teaching me something new.
Frank
4 years ago
tessa
Murray is trying to show that the Cons haven't done much since they've been in power.
Which I happen to prefer over Paul Martin's huge, breathless, announcements of a new policy direction every 15 minutes a la Gordon Campbell.
I've never been so relaxed.
Frank
4 years ago
On the other hand
On the downside it doesn't make for interesting reading or conversation.
rangergord
4 years ago
Canada's New American Theocracy
Imagine that, after only a year and a half the conservatives have converted Canada into an economic marvel by doing nothing! What a pompous load of horses**t. No doubt that commodity prices and a real estate boom soon to be bust are really more likely to be responsible for the current boom (booms are always followed by busts) Given the current political apathy and lack of electoral reform, things will not change much until the next calamity strikes (just a matter of time).
Frank
4 years ago
Doing nothing
So Flaherty and the Conservatives did nothing today and handed over 14 billion for debt paydown.
Infrastructure? Cleaning up the environment? Health care? Childhood development? None of that's on the table, the Conservatives think its better to take our tax dollars and give it to the investor class to pay back a debt that most Canadians had very little to do with.
No discussion, no arguing, no reason even to have a government. We could replace the Conservatives with a single accountant who could sign the cheques over.
Libertarians must be rejoicing.
robin
4 years ago
...and who would murray
...and who would murray dobbin and the council of canadians have as the finance minister? libby davies, perhaps? how about hedy fry?
realisticman
4 years ago
Makes sence
When things are going well a stab at humour is all one can do, I suppose. Keep it up Murray, I've always thought your writing was humour, thanks for confirming it.
I do know that many lefties strongly supported Flaherty's change on taxing income trusts.
If the above poem (...It's all been done before
Copyright 2006 www.lyricscube.com), is copyright, then isn't it a breach of copyright to publish it?
lynn
4 years ago
Up their sleeve
I dunno my take on it is that that the Cons have been very busy doing nothing...very, very, busy....they're just "doing it" behind closed doors, that's all.
Presto! TILMA like a dove up the sleeve provides the provincial framework that will give all the magical power to corporations.... and none to democracy.
Then Presto! again. The second magic trick, a federal/NAU one this time, almost invisible, (like our future borders) is unleashed ...and out comes the SPP like a rabbit out of a hat singing the not-so-sweet harmony of Deep Integration.
All the while the clever game of distraction goes on, of appearing to "do nothing" ..when nothing involves a lot of heavy duty manipulating... and "moving things about" and "into place" backstage....like yellow triangles.
Much agree with The brain that this is just a ruthless, greedy League of Corporate Lobbyists that cross political party lines....and alarmingly have "the inside track".... because that is where the real enemy can now be found - inside our own gates.
Worth visiting:
www.canadiansnanaimo.com/help/php
lynn
4 years ago
sorry, here's the link
http://www.canadiansnanaimo.com/
robin
4 years ago
'because that is where the
'because that is where the real enemy can now be found - inside our own gates.'
it's always about the enemy with you guys. must be a tough way to live.
anaraescu
4 years ago
Flattering Fla...la...la...ha...herty
Is this a real interview or it is a script for One Hour has 22 minutes? Or... maybe The Colbert Report?
If it is real, and if we are so stupid to understand the government business, and, consequently, won't suppose to ask questions, how Mr.Flaherty has confidence in the New Government we elected, and in himself?
???? !!!!!
Frank
4 years ago
batman
Why do you come here Elliot/Truman/Robin/Nemesis?
You were banned. So why the new nickname?
Frank
4 years ago
Reality
It isn't. Unless you and murdock really believe Flaherty sat down with Murray Dobbin.
Frank
4 years ago
batman
Its sure a lot better than creating 5 different aliases so you can stay on this site. Man, that is truly sad. You need a new hobby.
monty
4 years ago
Flaherty
This is a hilarious but tragic story. Perhaps we can all forward it to Harper to let him know we're on to his do-nothing group. Everyone should forward this story to their entire address book. It's a wake-up call that's badly needed.
G West
4 years ago
It's not a poem r'man
It's the lyrics to a song by the Barenaked Ladies...you really do need to get out more.
I'd say they're more than happy that the words are out there in the public domain as a simple google search would have indicated.
Maybe you'll pick up a couple of their CDs on the weekend r'man.
I don't think they're quite Jefferson Airplane quality but they're pretty good.
And anyone who thinks one of the architects of the mess that Harris made in Ontario is going to be good for the longer term good of the country is pretty funny.
By the way, all the predictions are that we are heading into a bear market of sizeable proportions.
And, in case you missed it, here's a little more about that Chinese miracle for your files:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/world/asia/28water.html
BC Dude
4 years ago
Thanks to Flaherty and his
Thanks to Flaherty and his do nothing dicktator boss (Bush) S Harper is selling at fire sale prices all Federal buildings and everything Canadian so Canadians can lease them back from Larco at huge profits, sad, shameful and possibly illegal.
http://www.harperindex.ca/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=0088
\http://www.vivelecanada.ca/index.php
Maude Barlow: There’s a California company suing the Canadian government because British Columbia banned the export of bulk water. Bechtel, a great big global ...
www.thecorporation.com/media/Barlow.pdf
http://www.bushwatch.com/harper.htm
What the hell are our people fighting and dying for in Afghanistan when we have traitors in our Federal and Provincial Governments?
Our SCofBC has taken four years to bring Gordo's ministers and ex-ministers to justice as this should have been enough to bring down this dispicable bunch. WHY?
http://bctrialofbasi-virk.blogspot.com/
"ENOUGH"
robin
4 years ago
flaherty's got some balls
flaherty's got some balls anyway. taxing the income trusts was risky. mr. dithers balanced the books by increasing taxes and starving the military, which the liberal intelligentsia actually thought was a good idea. tell me that dion's guys would do any better, and don't even talk to me about layton the used car dealer's guys. we'd be in an 80% tax bracket in no time and our infantry would be wearing crocs.
Frank
4 years ago
Nemesis/Elliot/AdamWest/Robin
What's banning mean on the Tyee, just a polite asking that you don't use the same name anymore?
As for Paul Martin, he balanced the books by doing many things, the biggie being the slashing of federal transfers while all the time talking about his father's legacy and sacred trusts.
robin
4 years ago
the slashing of federal
the slashing of federal transfers = higher provincial taxes and less money for health and education. how brilliant was this guy? and for all his talk of his father's legacy, why is it that no one knows what it is? unless becoming uber-wealthy through shipping automatically creates a legacy. politically he was rather insignificant.
Frank
4 years ago
Nemesis/Elliot/AdamWest/Robin
I know, and yet there are people that think Paul Martin was a good guy and that the Libs "care".
robin
4 years ago
the libs are as phony as
the libs are as phony as they come. i detest the ndp's policy and philosophy, but at least i respect that they have some conviction and commitment. the libs have been a joke since trudeau took power.
ov
4 years ago
Is this satire
I honestly had to google to find out if there was a Jim Flaherty that was a finance minister. Now I have to ask if this was indeed the interview that he gave or if it is a piece of satire.
Mel from Calgary
4 years ago
Do Nothing government
This truly is the philosophy.
When you think of what Stephen Harper said and wrote as a Reform MP and president of the National Citzens Co-alition it was all preaching "less government" so none existent government is the ideal from a business point of view. That is the point of FTA, NAFTA and SPP to stop the tools governments can use to improve our lives so business can remove our wealth outside the country.
Don't forget that while the Conservatives want no government for the business community, they want to use government to control personal aspects of people's lives, hence the security measures that remove our privacy, wanting to involve themselves in a woman's right to choose, even who people can marry. While some may think these are issues done with look at the jobs Harper has given to the president of "Focus on the Family".
Small government for business and BIG government to keep the people in check.
realisticman
4 years ago
Hidden Aggendaphobia
Mel
Maybe my memory's fading but I thought we'd moved on from this stuff. Are they going to bring back spanking too Mel?
avandoc
4 years ago
Flaherty is going to continue...
his reign of "do nothing" by NOT spending 14 billion dollars of our money on investments that will benefit us (student aid, health care, public transit). No, he'll give it to bankers and then promise tax cuts for all, which will mostly benefit wealthy people. And I predict that Canadian voters will fall for this. It's VERY depressing.
Just waiting for the "It's our money, we deserve tax cuts!" crowd to wind up...
Mel, you're absolutely right. The new right wingers, from Sarkozy to Bush to Harper to Howard, are authoritarian. How else can they ensure that their schemes to redistribute wealth upward don't eventuate in a revolution?
realisticman
4 years ago
I thought..
...that wealthy people didn't pay taxes, avandoc. Surely, the only ones that could have a tax cut are the middle class.
G West
4 years ago
r/man
As all the data indicates, the main benefit from neo-con tax cuts goes to the wealthy. The rest of the benefit accrues to them as the result of an evil tax structure which favours the rich and penalizes the poor.
You might want to look at payroll taxes and who pays them as another exemplar of this if you're interested.
Why do you think all that gold is concentrating at the top? Trickle down doesn't work. I've been trying to tell you this for months and the past 30 years is all the evidence I need to prove my case.
By the way, did you look at that story about water in China?
Nice, eh? Such a miracle! [satire alert - after the reaction of some readers to Murray's piece I feel as though I have to mention this]. Through the looking glass indeed.
NoLeftNutter
4 years ago
Lynn
Presto! TILMA like a dove up the sleeve provides the provincial framework that will give all the magical power to corporations.... and none to democracy.
FWIW, TILMA is a provincial agreement.....
BC Dude
4 years ago
$14,000,000,000. surplus is
$14,000,000,000. surplus is just ethically wrong Flaherty!
Homeless, Medical, Education, help the poor people in "OUR THE PEOPLE'S CANADA"!
lynn
4 years ago
NoLeftNutter
NoLeftNutter...I think I made that pretty clear by using the words:
TILMA like a dove up the sleeve provides "the provincial framework".
I'm just not naive enough to believe there is not any connection between the Harper government and the Klein Conservatives...or between Harper and the BCLiberals....yeah, I know they call themselves "Liberals".... but their policies are not....it's a name for appearance's sake only.
"Liberal", "Conservative", "Federal", "Provincial" - it's all just a name game.
They are all alike in that their loyalty is not (as it should be) to the good citizens of this land - but to corporations alone and to the never-ending greed embedded in the corporate profit motive.
arctos
4 years ago
Doing nothing
Great read,
My feeling is this is what makes Canada great.
We are truly excetional at not doing anything.
Er.... ok sometimes no so great.
Arctos
arctos
4 years ago
Doing nothing
Great read,
My feeling is this is what makes Canada great.
We are truly excetional at not doing anything.
Er.... ok sometimes no so great.
Arctos
The brain
4 years ago
Telling it like it is, Lynn!
Monikers are all they are... a brand and nothing more. See it on ranches every spring. Nothing special.
By the way, I luv you, baby!!!!
You keep it real. :-D
silvervalley
4 years ago
Through a glass darkly
Gallows and absurdist humour seem more and more appropriate. Waiting for Flaherty would make Becket seem like a writer of frantic French farces. Thanks for the chuckle, Murray.
Why should any ministers exert themselves when the corporate-funded think tanks' policy wonks labour like subterranean dwarves, night and day? All the politicos need to do is their ceremonial duty of fishing out their pens and signing when the North American Union is finally official--and a fait accompli.
Won't be long now. Wonder where one can order a funeral wreath for a country?
ME2
4 years ago
silvervalley
There's probably a few countries that would be more than willing to sell - cheap - a second-hand one, complete with its MADE IN USA tag.
Dave A
4 years ago
Smilin' Jim "Flim Flam" Flaherty
...he wouldn't be related to Donald Rumsfeld, would he?
BC Dude
4 years ago
Well put Lynn! Flaherty's 14
Well put Lynn!
Flaherty's 14 billion surplus is questionable?
Gordo's 4.1 billion surplus is questionable?
Big Banks 19 billion surplus is very questionable?
Equals 37 billions out of the taxpayer’s pockets, why?
Questionable!
Who are their watch dogs? Where and who are they?
Always more questions than answers!
We have to demand that our elected officials be accountable only to US the tax payers! We need perpetual governments so if they do what they are doing today we can throw them out of office and not wait 4 years!
http://www.nowpolling.ca
crash
4 years ago
What's the point?
I can't believe the Tyee published this. I'm not a huge fan of the Federal Conservatives, but this sort of article does absolutely nothing to inform nor further public debate. What it does do is erode the Tyee's reputation as a valid and reliable source of news.
Des Emery
4 years ago
Flaherty
I guess I would be worried about Flaherty's inaction (or his action, otherwise) if I weren't so convinced that in the immediate future he won't amount to a hill of beans.
Global Warming is well on its way and will heat up his cold, cold heart to the point of desperation. He and his colleagues, both those in government and those who influence him, will find that influence rapidly melt away beneath them and they will be as hungry and as thirsty as the rest of us. They will soon enough realize that you can't drink crude oil, and chewing dollars bills just doesn't cut the mustard. Can someone please pass the mustard?
refedmel
4 years ago
Doing Nothing.
If there ever was smoke and mirrors, 'the do nothing' tirade should win an oscar.
First, this guy single handedly destroyed 'trusts' - and $Billions in pension funds. Not only destroyed them, but provided foreign buyers to pick up the rubble for pennies on the dollars - why? Simple --- his government, no the bureaucracy, was losing control over the citizens to regulate from womb to tomb.
Second, His remarks re 'counteracting' the meddlers with the do-nothings.With hundreds of 'crown corporations' doing everything to swindle the masses, we absolutely should note that he does nothing about them.
Mr. Flaherty is an icon of what is wrong with this country-all elected officials, NO MATTER WHAT PARTY,are shills for the new world order - an order that has insinuated itself into every facet of our lives -- maybe that is why he is doing nothing - he and his ilk HAVE WON!
David Beers
4 years ago
Er, folks, this is satire
Some readers have been confused as to whether this is an actual interview with Mr. Flaherty. It isn't.
Frank Lee
4 years ago
I was beginning to wonder...
David: Thanks for clarifying that point.
The interview accurately conveys Flaherty's ideological message, but is far too candid to be the real thing.
Obvious point is that the economy and public finances were in better shape than they had been in 30 years before the Tories even assumed office. Polls indicated no shift in public opinion to the right.
Tories were elected simply because voters were tired of the Liberals. I suppose the irony is that it might have been more appropriate to have Stephen Harper as PM back in the thatcherite/Reaganite 80s; now might be a better time for a pragmatist who woos Quebec, a la Brian Mulroney.
Frank Lee
4 years ago
Or was it atually Paul Martin?
P.S. Intentionally low-balling revenues to build up a big surplus? Who did Flaherty & Harper used to criticise for doing that?
G West
4 years ago
It needed clarifying?
Mon Dieu.