KW Record - "It's the economy, Dion"

You KNOW this editorial has made the rounds at the Liberal caucus meeting being held in Kitchener this week. Now that's the kinda "Red Carpet" treatment the Liberals deserve!

Some of the money quotes... "But in Kitchener, at a meeting of the federal Liberal caucus, the best response Dion could offer was a tattered prescription bearing a list of worn-out ideas and the Liberal party logo. He'll have to do better.

There he was, trashing the federal Conservatives for the tough times many Ontario manufacturers and workers are experiencing, as if Canada's current economic woes can all be neatly laid on Prime Minister Stephen Harper's doorstep. They can't.

Let's cut to the chase: The biggest problem facing the Canadian economy is the American economy, which may already be in recession. Nothing done by any Canadian prime minister, Harper, Dion or anyone else, can change that fundamental fact."

The clincher though has got to be the title... you gotta love the allusion to Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign slogan, "It's the economy, stupid".

h/t to Joanne

It's the economy, Dion
January 22, 2008 - THE RECORD

Stephane Dion sure knows how to put the 'con' in economics. In the world's financial capitals, the collapsing American economy has left markets bleeding hundreds of billions of dollars in stock losses. But in Kitchener, at a meeting of the federal Liberal caucus, the best response Dion could offer was a tattered prescription bearing a list of worn-out ideas and the Liberal party logo. He'll have to do better.

There he was, trashing the federal Conservatives for the tough times many Ontario manufacturers and workers are experiencing, as if Canada's current economic woes can all be neatly laid on Prime Minister Stephen Harper's doorstep. They can't.

And there was the Liberal leader, bragging that if it weren't for former federal Liberal governments, Toyota and Waterloo's Research In Motion would have never amounted to anything in this province. Not so. Meanwhile, Dion cheerleaders like Kitchener-Centre MP Karen Redman asked a gullible public to believe his proposed $1 billion rescue package for struggling manufacturers is the tasty little sugar pill that will set everything right. It's not.

This is all presumptuous, self-serving, partisan blather. Whatever good previous Liberal governments did, it's wrong to credit them for the phenomenal success of Toyota and RIM. Yes, the federal Liberals handed Toyota $55 million to build a second Ontario plant in Woodstock. But whether or not that corporate welfare was needed, Toyota opened its first Ontario plant in Cambridge back in the 1980s -- when federal Conservatives were in power.

Likewise, while RIM received a $34-million loan from Technology Partnerships Canada, that loan came after the company had developed its famous BlackBerry pager and was on the rise. At that point, RIM could have likely secured a private loan. Besides, the real reason for RIM's success was the vision and work of local dynamos like Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie. And what Dion failed to mention was that the Liberals had to cancel Technology Partnerships Canada when the program was engulfed in scandal.

Let's cut to the chase: The biggest problem facing the Canadian economy is the American economy, which may already be in recession. Nothing done by any Canadian prime minister, Harper, Dion or anyone else, can change that fundamental fact. This doesn't mean that Canada's federal politicians should sit on their collective hands. They do have a role to play.

But what Canadian manufacturers and workers are waiting for is a comprehensive, well-considered economic strategy -- not predictable, pre-election sloganeering. Let's hope Dion can deliver.