Harper's Second Recession: More Than GDP Decline

[Civis Romanus sum]

By your reasoning then Harper and the Conservatives cant take credit when Canada's economy is booming because oil prices are at $100 a barrel and China's economy is booming but they do anyway.

It's all a political game. All a government can realistically do is provide a stable background for industries to flourish. If it keeps taxes reasonably low, and the red tape reasonably scarce, then it's doing an okay job. If it's not actively getting in the way of job creation by business, then it can claim some small amount of credit.

But as you say, much of it is beyond their control, especially with regard to the international demand for our products. That doesn't stop governments from taking credit when times are good, nor the opposition for blaming them when times are bad. There is no real honesty taking place in either case.

If a government can actually point to something it did, and show with reasonable certainty this had a good impact on the economy, on jobs, on business, then okay, they can take some credit. The Conservatives did do a few things, such as lowering business taxes and cutting some red tape, to create a business friendly environment. So they can claim some credit, but mostly it's an international thing, especially since 2008.

[Mighty AC]

Kenney vs. Kenney - Sucking and blowing at the same time.

It's interesting to compare what Jason Kenney has had to say about recessions now vs when he was in opposition.

The Conservatives own law defines a recession as "a period of at least two consecutive quarters of negative growth in real Gross Domestic Product for Canada." Which, of course, is exactly what we are experiencing now.

Jason Kenney has recently tried to invent a new definition by saying "a recession is typically defined as a widespread downturn and what Canada is experiencing is nothing more than a discrete sectoral downturn".

However, here is what he had to say in 2001: "Mr. Speaker, the finance minister likes to blame everyone but himself for the recession that he sleepwalked the country into ... When will he fess up to the fact that Canada is in its second quarter of negative growth, that he has led the country into a recession?"

Oh and this is what Mr. Kenney said about taking credit for taking credit for any economic gains: "Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary seems to have forgotten that the very same finance minister who eschews any responsibility for this recession was quite willing to heap upon himself responsibility for periods of modest growth in the recent past, even though that was contemporaneous with growth in other jurisdictions. One cannot suck and blow at the same time.”

What's worse is that this is the second recession for Harper, Kenney and the boys in blue. Poor Jay...nailed by the Cons own definition and his own big mouth.

[PIK]

Politicians do it all the time.

[cybercoma]

Why hold them accountable, eh?

[Mighty AC]

Politicians do it all the time.

I have a question for you PIK, though I'm not sure your party affiliation allows you to answer anything that hasn't been previously screened by the PMO.

If, like according to your man Kenney, recessions are the result of 'sleepwalking finance ministers' and bad policies; what does that say about the Harper Government that has presided over two of them?