More OT (it's not like the thread's been all that busy anyway)
The ONLY thing that has saved this guys butt has been the incredible surge in oil and gas revenue that laid more money at his feet than any government has ever seen on a per capita basis in the western world.
That didn't hurt, but it wasn't the only thing. The fact that there isn't a viable alternative government around has helped big time, just like it saved Getty. Frankly, if Laurence Decore (RIP) were still around, I'd consider voting for them (and for me to say that is like a serious cold front moving through Hades). But Nancy and her bleeding hearts club band don't cut it.
You are quite right in your assessment of the Klein government. In 1993 there was an unprecedented concensus that the system needed to be changed. It seemed clear, deficit notwithstanding, that throwing more money at health and education wasn't going to be anything more than a stopgap, because the current structure of the system makes for virtually infinite demand over time. It could have been a time for a thoughtful examination of the problem. We could have implemented a fundamental, comprehensive restructuring, to ensure quality, and by introducing endogenous checks and incentives, to ensure cost-effectiveness. What did the Tories do -- they cut 20% across the board, regardless of department, regardless of need. No thought about whether there were low-priority departments that could be eliminated, so that the cuts in priority areas might be smaller (and maybe thought out?).
Their handling of electricity de-regulation is simply the latest in a series of bozo moves. Ron Southern published an open letter to Klein three or four years ago warning about the fiasco in the making. Think about it -- one of the richest guys in the province, a Tory backer from before Lougheed, and he had to publish a letter to the editor to try to get their attention?
Klein doesn't deserve to be re-elected. I feel like I did in 1982 -- no one to vote for. I almost protested with a vote for the WCC then, but stopped at the last minute when I remembered that things like UFA and Social Credit got landslides on protest votes. So I held my nose and voted Tory. I won't do it again.
Edit: if anyone wants to continue this discussion, perhaps it could move to:
Subject 37211 |
