He claims responsibility when the economy is performing well, but shirks responsibility when it is doing poorly.
Harper's words a gift for opponents - Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg Free Press - Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada
BRANDON -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants his government's management of Canada's economy to be the ballot-box issue in this October's federal election. He should be careful what he wishes for.
The PM argues his government deserves credit for the nation's economic performance over the past decade, and only he can be trusted to safely lead us through fiscal challenges that threaten the nation's finances. It is an assertion that helped carry him to victory in past elections, and there are those who contend recent economic instability will only strengthen his case in the coming campaign.
Perhaps, but that assumes Canadians will remain oblivious to the gaping flaw in Harper's argument.
Consider this. In less than a year, the price of oil has dropped by half, resulting in a significant cut in government revenues that forced the Conservative government to delay the delivery of its budget by several weeks.
In addition to causing thousands of job losses in the energy sector, the rapid decline in oil prices is the reason for the loonie's plunge in value against the U.S. dollar, making many products and services Canadians rely upon more expensive.
Canada has built up a whopping $13.6-billion trade deficit over the first five months of this year, with exports declining by 4.5 per cent since the end of 2014. The government had predicted a modest recovery in May but instead saw the second-highest monthly trade deficit in our history. The highest occurred in March.
Over the past two weeks, a number of institutions and economists have concluded Canada is in a recession, which is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. Economists at both TD Bank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch say the economy shrunk by 0.6 per cent in the second quarter of 2015, following an identical contraction in the first quarter.
Statistics Canada revealed last week the Canadian economy lost another 6,400 jobs in June. Sadly, that figure was received as good news, as economists had predicted 10,000 jobs would be lost. Also last week, the International Monetary Fund cut its projection for Canada's economic growth in 2015 from 2.2 per cent to just 1.5 per cent.
On Wednesday, the loonie dropped by 1.2 cents U.S. to a post-recession low of 77.29 cents after the Bank of Canada cut its key interest rate to 0.5 per cent from 0.75 per cent.
In response to the cascade of troubling economic news, Harper told an audience in Pickering, Ont., last weekend "there has been a downturn and the reason for that has been the downturn in the global economy. It's really that simple... those things have obviously affected this country and in particular through oil prices and some commodity prices."
The prime minister's comments are a gift to NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, who can now use Harper's own words to dismantle and discredit the core of his case for re-election.
They can point out the PM claims he alone can protect the nation's economy from the impact of external economic pressure, but admits he is powerless to protect us from the harm caused by collapsing oil prices.
They can credibly argue he claims to have a superior understanding of the world economy, but failed to anticipate how a rapid increase in the world's oil supply in mid-2014 would affect Canada a year later.
They can remind Canadians he takes credit for leading the country out of the 2008-09 economic downtown, but his government's economic stimulus program actually commenced after that recession had already passed.
They can accuse him of taking undeserved credit when the economy is performing well, but deflecting blame to others when it is not.
Moments after Wednesday's interest rate cut, Harper warned now is not the time to take "unnecessary risks" by electing an NDP or Liberal government in the coming election.
With the country mired in its second recession in less than a decade, job losses mounting and the dollar in free fall, however -- and a prime minister who now concedes he is largely impotent to do anything about it -- Trudeau and Mulcair are in a stronger position to suggest he isn't the solution to the situation, but rather the problem.
Deveryn Ross is a political commentator living in Brandon.
deverynrossletters@gmail.com Twitter: @deverynross
Harper's words a gift for opponents - Winnipeg Free Press
Harper's words a gift for opponents - Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg Free Press - Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada
BRANDON -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants his government's management of Canada's economy to be the ballot-box issue in this October's federal election. He should be careful what he wishes for.
The PM argues his government deserves credit for the nation's economic performance over the past decade, and only he can be trusted to safely lead us through fiscal challenges that threaten the nation's finances. It is an assertion that helped carry him to victory in past elections, and there are those who contend recent economic instability will only strengthen his case in the coming campaign.
Perhaps, but that assumes Canadians will remain oblivious to the gaping flaw in Harper's argument.
Consider this. In less than a year, the price of oil has dropped by half, resulting in a significant cut in government revenues that forced the Conservative government to delay the delivery of its budget by several weeks.
In addition to causing thousands of job losses in the energy sector, the rapid decline in oil prices is the reason for the loonie's plunge in value against the U.S. dollar, making many products and services Canadians rely upon more expensive.
Canada has built up a whopping $13.6-billion trade deficit over the first five months of this year, with exports declining by 4.5 per cent since the end of 2014. The government had predicted a modest recovery in May but instead saw the second-highest monthly trade deficit in our history. The highest occurred in March.
Over the past two weeks, a number of institutions and economists have concluded Canada is in a recession, which is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. Economists at both TD Bank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch say the economy shrunk by 0.6 per cent in the second quarter of 2015, following an identical contraction in the first quarter.
Statistics Canada revealed last week the Canadian economy lost another 6,400 jobs in June. Sadly, that figure was received as good news, as economists had predicted 10,000 jobs would be lost. Also last week, the International Monetary Fund cut its projection for Canada's economic growth in 2015 from 2.2 per cent to just 1.5 per cent.
On Wednesday, the loonie dropped by 1.2 cents U.S. to a post-recession low of 77.29 cents after the Bank of Canada cut its key interest rate to 0.5 per cent from 0.75 per cent.
In response to the cascade of troubling economic news, Harper told an audience in Pickering, Ont., last weekend "there has been a downturn and the reason for that has been the downturn in the global economy. It's really that simple... those things have obviously affected this country and in particular through oil prices and some commodity prices."
The prime minister's comments are a gift to NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, who can now use Harper's own words to dismantle and discredit the core of his case for re-election.
They can point out the PM claims he alone can protect the nation's economy from the impact of external economic pressure, but admits he is powerless to protect us from the harm caused by collapsing oil prices.
They can credibly argue he claims to have a superior understanding of the world economy, but failed to anticipate how a rapid increase in the world's oil supply in mid-2014 would affect Canada a year later.
They can remind Canadians he takes credit for leading the country out of the 2008-09 economic downtown, but his government's economic stimulus program actually commenced after that recession had already passed.
They can accuse him of taking undeserved credit when the economy is performing well, but deflecting blame to others when it is not.
Moments after Wednesday's interest rate cut, Harper warned now is not the time to take "unnecessary risks" by electing an NDP or Liberal government in the coming election.
With the country mired in its second recession in less than a decade, job losses mounting and the dollar in free fall, however -- and a prime minister who now concedes he is largely impotent to do anything about it -- Trudeau and Mulcair are in a stronger position to suggest he isn't the solution to the situation, but rather the problem.
Deveryn Ross is a political commentator living in Brandon.
deverynrossletters@gmail.com Twitter: @deverynross
Harper's words a gift for opponents - Winnipeg Free Press
