Electrify
Senior Member
TrickyRicky - With respect, it wasn't hard for the Liberals to balance the budget under Chretien. They were in power during the largest economic expansion in history and had absolute dictatorial power thanks to their solid majority. Didn't hurt that they were virtually unopposed at every election, either. There was no pressure to compromise with other parties and they could do as they wished; a power that Paul Martin used wisely for the overall benefit of the nation. Harper was in a minority position and had to concede to the will of the opposition, which was to spend stimulus money. Hard to deny that both the Liberals and NDP pushing hard for the stimulus.
I find it difficult to believe that Harper is a spendthrift at heart, but rather he did what he did to retain power - not a laudable move, IMO. With a majority, we will see if the spending spree continues...
Take a drive down Steeles Ave. sometime and you can see that stimulus money was well worth it...