Stewing, Together

You can please some of the folks some of the time, but never all of them, all of the time. It's hard to define who is the most obnoxious, however, of the Conservative government's critics; Jack Layton, leader of the federal New Democratic Party, or Danny Williams, premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. Of course there's always the redoubtable leader of the Bloc Quebecois, Gilles Duceppe, but let's confine ourselves to those who purport to support, defend and value Canada.

Jack Layton has surely tried the patience of all Canadians, with his ideology-driven strictures against reasonable accommodation. His benighted accusation of overlooking the needs of the working poor and society's vulnerable while the government is struggling to bring the country back into financial health is ill placed at an ill time in history.

The budget, in fact, has addressed all those issues and more; from social housing, to employment insurance, assistance for seniors and taxpayers, and job re-training. Mr. Layton's avowed determination, along with his taciturn sidekick, Gilles Duceppe, to contest the Conservative government budget sight unseen, labels him a failure as a leader. We expected no better from Mr. Duceppe.

As for Danny Williams, despite that he magnanimously declared ever so recently that his personal campaign to undo Prime Minister Stephen Harper was a thing of the past, and that he was adult enough to behave like an elected official, he has reverted to invective-spouting form. Newfoundland and Labrador has joined the ranks of the 'have' provinces, and as such no longer qualifies for equalization payment.

Which burns Mr. Williams to a writhing crisp of fury. His newly-rich province still receives one and a half billion over the next three years, another $2-billion as a "signing bonus" and remains the second resource-wealthiest province in the country. Alberta and Saskatchewan aren't tearing their hair out in grief over equalization.

Mr. Williams characterizes the prime minister as "vindictive" and "nasty", blaming him for cutting Newfoundland out of the money it no longer has any reason to collect, because of the premier's "anybody but Conservative" campaign during the last federal election. Which successfully left Newfoundland and Labrador without a single representative in the governing caucus.

How's that for bile choking you to death? And then blaming the host for forcing you to eat more than you could swallow?

Well, did I forget Jean Charest? He's squirming with annoyance that under the new funding formula Quebec will 'lose' roughly $770-million over two years in equalization, the balance now credited to suddenly-have-not Ontario, pleasing Ontario's premier no end. Mr. Charest is suffering from amnesia; under the Conservative government his province has seen equalization rise by a whopping 74%.

There's no game like politics, and no entertainment quite like venting spleen.