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April 27, 2005
Martin reneges on deal with NDP
Layton accuses PM of "playing games"
It took less than twenty-four hours for Prime Minister Paul Martin to go back on his word. Last night, his Liberal government inked a deal with the NDP Leader Jack Layton that would see the NDP support the Liberals on non-confidence votes until an amended Budget can be pass by Parliament.
In return for their support, the Martin Liberals promised the NDP they would drop the planned tax cut for large corporations and divert that money to certain social programs.
But this morning, Mr. Martin seemed to be having second thoughts. In the face of significant criticism from organizations representing business, the Prime Minister announced the government would go forward with the tax cut. He told reporters the government would remove the provision from the Budget but was drafting separate legislation to implement the tax cut despite the deal with the NDP.
Mr. Martin went on to say his government would introduce the tax cuts legislation as soon as the "Conservatives or somebody say they will support it."
As puzzling as today's events were for me, they must have been even more confusing for Jack Layton. He went into his negotiations with Mr. Martin with a naive faith that doing good things would be rewarded. Paul Martin had other ideas however, and chose to poke his new ally in the eye at his first opportunity.
It is something that has left Mr. Layton at something of a loss for words.
"It really strikes me as game-playing," he said this evening. "He's once again trying to please absolutely everybody with promises that he's probably not going to be able to keep."
And that's about all he can say once he realizes he'd been had. After all, if you sit behind the goal at a hockey game you know there's a possibility you'll get hit by the puck (even with that new-fangled netting). Complaining about how unfair it is that you now have a concussion won't get you much sympathy - it's best to learn the lesson and buy blue line seats next time.
What the last day has made clear though, is that a Paul Martin promise only lasts as long as the positive coverage it creates.
Posted by maxthecat on April 27, 2005 at 09:14 PM | Comments (2)
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Posted by: Confused on April 29, 2005 at 10:08 AM
As far as I know, the Etobicoke-Lakeshore nomination meeting is still scheduled for next Thursday and I haven't heard anything about John dropping out.
From everything I've heard, Morley has a lock on this one even if John is still in.
Posted by: maxthecat ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.maxsmewsings.com/nav-commenters.gif)
on May 4, 2005 at 10:39 PM
Does anyone know if John Capobianco is still in the race in Etobicoke? I hear Morley Kells beat him 3-1 in membership sales. Since then John has not been campaigning and his website (johncapobianco.com) is taken down. There was an emergency meeting of the riding executive last night was that because he is pulling out. Does anyone know???