Go to article index for other editions of Bob Orrick's IN RE (In the Matter of).
Ottawa, before, now and in the future, a wasteland
By
Bob Orrick
Now that U.S. President Bush has introduced an aggressive tax cutting programme to Congress, pressure to do the same has been directed at the federal Liberals in general and Finance Minister John Manley in particular. Canadians ought not to hold their breaths waiting for the Liberals and Manley to follow the American lead. The Liberals would rather see the country stagger and fall by the wayside as the U.S. and other more progressive countries leap to the fore and take away investment opportunities that the Liberals, hunkered down in that wasteland known as Ottawa, dream will come our way. One wonders if when a person puts his name forward on behalf of a political party, wins the election and becomes a Member of Parliament, he loses all sense of propriety.
In response to the American president's bold programme, Manley told reporters that he is unwilling to risk running a deficit. Mention of a deficit is aimed directly at Bush's plan that runs the risk of increasing the U.S. budget deficit. On the other hand, U.S. President Bush's programme features personal and corporate tax cuts as well as the complete elimination of taxes on dividends. The aggressive programme is aimed at creating an economic stimulus for the United States. With the American economy on the skids, Bush's plan might just be the answer to a stagnant U.S. economy. Simply put, the President's programme will put more dollars into the jeans of ordinary Americans who will then have more to spend at their local supermarkets which in turn creates more employment both at the retail level and at the manufacturing level. Both business and unions ought to hug the programme with enthusiasm. In theory, it is a win-win situation. It is a win-win situation except in Canada where the Liberals favour taxing Canadians to the point of exhaustion all the while telling them that the country is doing well. Is it any wonder that Canadians flee the frozen north [and frozen north does not refer to the weather but to the frozen brain cells of the Liberals in Ottawa] and head south to warmer climes and more friendly tax programmes.
The fortunes of Canadians vis-à-vis Ottawa and its inability to see and understand both simple and complex problems are not new. Back in the formative days of the North West Mounted Police, Ottawa took years to implement the programme that eventually became today's Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Sam Steele - he of the North West Mounted Police and after whom Fort Steele near Cranbrook, BC is named - in his book Forty Years in Canada, mentions that the "horrors … were brought to the notice of the government in 1871 by the officers of the Hudson's Bay Company." It was not until May 1873 that Prime Minister John Macdonald "introduced a bill for the establishment of a police force in the North West Territories. This body was not to exceed 300 men."
That was two years after a report penned by a Lieutenant Butler landed on the desk of Ottawa's politicians; granted there was no Email then but two years, lord a backward walking donkey could have travelled the distance from Manitoba [Fort Garry region] to Ottawa in fewer than two years. Yesterday's Ottawa rather resembles today's Ottawa - far away and quite removed from the citizens it is pledged to serve.
One should not be overly harsh with the politicians in Ottawa - after all it is the bureaucrats who actually run the country. The politicians come and go but the mandarins remain. They remain steadfast in their isolated socialist enclaves and put forward plans to weak government ministers who go along with the schemes to rob the country of its destiny. Think back over the past couple of decades. It mattered little which sad sack political party sat on the government benches in Ottawa, nothing much changed. Granted the Tories did introduce the free trade agreement with the U.S. but beyond that, things pretty well perked along at a speed and with intent fully dependent on the bureaucrats. So, Manley's claim that he will not follow the American president's lead should come as no surprise. If Manley were to do the manly thing and reduce taxes, hundreds of bureaucrats would no longer be needed to poke and prod Canadians and force them to 'fess up about their taxes. What bureaucrat, working on a cushy pension, would want to be sent packing simply to improve the lot of Canadian taxpayers? Add to that, which of the far-too-many weak cabinet ministers would want to risk butting heads with those same mandarins and jeopardise his extravagant pension.
Let us leave those questions hanging while Canadians think seriously about how poorly their federal government serves them.
Next time, a humorous look at one of Canada's fighting forces, the navy.
Bob is hoping that readers will take the time to think about his column to the extent that they may decide to send an email to syears@senioryears.com and comment, either positively or negatively about what they have read. We will display letters at Talking Back to Bob.
Bob Orrick is a private tutor of English grammar, literature, poetry and Canadian history to off-shore youngsters. His pupils hail from such places as Taiwan, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Venezuela. He was previously in international marketing, was a ministerial assistant to a provincial cabinet minister, spent a few years as a reporter then editor of a community newspaper and enjoyed a career in the Royal Canadian Navy.
Advertising Information 
