Canada's shame

[daniel]

The spending on flags and other things are a tricky one.  Firstly, on the flag flap and sponsorship scandal, we were in the midst of another Quebec referendum and who's to know how close the result would be?  It's easy to say that we overspent on both accounts or even that we totally wasted money on them.  Is there any indication that this kind of spending perhaps was the factor that the "No" side prevailed?

Well since it all came about AFTER the referendum - no. There is no indication it achieved anything of substance other than to make some companies rich, and to get money into the Liberal Party's coffers.

Who's to know?  And who can deny it?  If it were any other place and time, Quebec separation could have meant civil war.  In Canada we did it our way.  Scandalous and wasteful?  Maybe, but we had a war to fight.

As I said, this money was spent after the referendum. And nobody asked me if I wanted to fight a war. If they had I'd have said no, not one cent to Quebec to convince them to stay. Let them go and good riddance.

Whether or not you had agreed with me, the former PM iterated what I was saying all along.

Yes, the referendum was over, but there was still a war going on with the Separatistes over the fragility of Canada.

[caesar]

QUOTE

At the time people wanted tax cuts, mainly because it was driven by the right wing who criticized the high rate of taxes Canadians were contributing. Repeating the mantra eventually becomes accepted and so the people selected governments that put tax cuts as the top of their priorities.

They did? When? Not recently. The only government I can recall which made tax cuts any kind of priority was the Harris government in Ontario.

Nope, The BC government made those tax cuts; then raised licences and other fees so that only their rich right wing friends were left with any extra cash.