"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Saturday 27 October 2012

We Got Trouble, I think

The Province's Minister of Energy has indicated he will not be a candidate in the next election. Mr. Bentley previously apologized  for not producing all the documents related to the cancellation, during the last election,  of the natural gas  generation plants, already under construction in Oakville, to save a riding held by  Liberals.
The Minister of Finance has indicated he will not be a candidate for the Provincial leadership.
I think we are witnessing  an  unraveling .
I mentioned in the previous post, majority rule doesn't always get things right. Actually, the best we can hope for when we get it wrong,  is  the error will not be catastrophic.
I felt it was, the night Mr. McGuinty made the announcement. 
I could not imagine what spur of the moment,  made him do it .
Frankly, I was aghast.  .
Now we know, understanding  of the enormity has been growing behind the scenes since the decision was made. 
There can be no  satisfaction taken in the face of  political consequences of this mistake.
Provincial finances are  in dire straits. Desperate measures to cut 
expenditures are being witnessed on every side.
Freezing public service salaries. 
If the last figures we saw $640 billion  for cost of the cancellation are close, what might  that mean for the Province's Fiscal
standing?
If revenues are not sufficient to cover expenditures, borrowing has to happen  to make up the difference.
Cutting programs is never enough.Freezing salaries do not reduce them. 
Is it a fiscal cliff?
Does the government desperately need to keep the secret to protect the  public interest? 
Was that  the reason for the unusual step of prorogue of the Legislative Assembly ?
I think we  have every reason  to be concerned.  

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hopefully that wasn't a freudian slip and your anti tory bias showing. It wasn't Mr.Clement a Federal Tory MP involved in the power plant fiasco but Liberal MPP
Chris Bentley who by the way was tasked with taking the fall on this along the lines of David Caplan on E-Health. If anything you should write about the common link between E-Health, Power Plants and ORNGE ...... George Smitherman!

Anonymous said...

I have never seen anything like this before. Is it possible to just call a snap-election? Or do you think we have to wait & watch the wheels fall off ?

Anonymous said...

Mr Clement got embroiled in his own riding.