The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
More Negative Politics The Conservatives don't have a monopoly on negative political tactics, as the Liberals and NDP are both quite skilled at attacking opponents. During the recent Manitoba campaign, the Doer team constantly attacked PC leader Hugh McFadyen for being part of the Filmon administration, warning that he would do all sorts of bad things to health care and Hydro, and has laid off hundreds of nurses. The latter was really a stretch, as the cuts were due to the Chretien government's cutbacks in transfer payments. The nurses were laid off then re-hired, which was required because of the union agreements. This is not to say that the recession in the '90s did not exist, as it did, but the McFadyen campaign never really effectively answered the attacks. They did try to counter the attack about Hydro (which had no basis in fact) and even went further by promising to bring in legislation to prevent Hydro's sale. What they should have done is to promise to allow the price of electricity to rise to market value and make the province millions, perhaps enough to make ours a "have-province." Of course being a "have-not" province gets us millions in equalization payments for the government to spend. The federal Liberals have long been skilled in using negative politics. Some readers may recall the "Diefenbucks" issue from the 1962 campaign. The dollar dropped against the U.S. dollar and was pegged at 92-and-a-half cents. The Liberals printed thousands of Diefenbucks featuring Dief's picture and used them effectively in the campaign. Remember, it was under the Liberals that the dollar dropped to 60 cents, and only recently has it been back up to over 90 cents. Today the Liberal negativism continues. In June, former prime minister Paul Martin blasted the Harper government for not following up on the Kelowna accord that his government signed in its dying days. Critics say it was just another Liberal promise, and Conservatives claim they are committed to improving native education, employment, health care and living conditions, but Kelowna was not the answer. By going negative, are politicians only reflecting the public's attitude? There are, of course, naysayers to everything. The proposed Oly-West pork plant in Winnipeg is a good example. The plant was proposed by private companies for a vacant industrial area of St. Boniface in or near a former meatpacking plant - not an attractive residential area. It was supported by the city and province, as it would provide hundreds of jobs and considerable tax revenue. The naysayers won and the plant will not be built. The Winnipeg Floodway (or Duff's Ditch) is an older example, as there was considerable criticism at the time of a project that has saved millions of dollars and homes in the city. Duff Roblin, 90 this year, lived to see a solid vindication of his idea. "Bring back the Jets," a forward-looking idea of Hugh McFadyen during the May provincial campaign, was viciously attacked as unnecessary, a drain on tax money, etc. It was really to coordinate private business to buy a team and would have meant millions for the province - now it won't happen! Is there an anti-business attitude in Manitoba? There is certainly no recognition by many that business creates jobs and wealth, and this attitude is supported by government payroll taxes and high business taxes that discourage companies from establishing in our province. The attitude includes a "let the government do it" mentality, which means continuing higher taxes and less wealth. A March editorial in this paper discussed a "let the Company do it" mentality in regard to the proposed CommunityPlex - a local attitude that lingers from bygone days. Roger's Right Corner runs Wednesdays.
