If you like Nova Scotia politics – and statistically you don’t –
then this was a big week for you. It marked the government’s kickoff to
the spring election campaign.
Yes, you’ve heard that before with all the rumours of a spring
election swirling about. But the first kickoff didn’t go so well, so
consider this take two.
The first try involved the RiskyNDP campaign
that revealed billions of dollars of NDP promises. That fell apart once
people realized many of those so-called promises were just random
questions and offhand remarks.
After plenty of ridicule, RiskyNDP got shelved. So the Tories tried to start fresh this week by releasing their stimulus plan. But no one knows where any of the estimated $800 million is going yet.
That’s because MacDonald held back all the details so he can
spend the next several weeks travelling across the province handing out
gifts like Santa Claus.
If the election is in two months, he’s got an average of about
$13 million each day to announce. So if you serve him in a restaurant,
expect a hefty tip.
It will be interesting to watch MacDonald fight the NDP without
playing the role of deficit-slayer this time. Even without the stimulus
it seems his government would have been hundreds of millions of dollars
in debt.
Though he brushed this off by telling reporters “I’m not into
hypotheticals. What I am into is reality.” I guess that’s reassuring.
Hopefully MacDonald can at least recognize the humour in releasing his stimulus package just one day after a new poll put him in third place.
Those same polls showed MacDonald gaining on the NDP in the
fall, but then the economy broke and the lack of a plan seemed to drop
the Tories back again.
In fact, polls have put the NDP on top ever since the Tories
were elected. It seems the only thing Nova Scotians like more than
saying they’ll vote for the NDP is deciding on election day not to vote
for the NDP.
But NDP Leader Darrell Dexter is acting like he’s poised for
victory and will campaign cautiously to avoid screwing that up. So
that’s no fun.
We’ll probably have to wait until May to find out if the
stimulus plan will change things — May because most university
students leave in April and we can’t have them voting. So you might as
well kick up your feet because it should be entertaining – if you’re
into that sort of thing.
– Paul McLeod is a staff reporter at Metro Halifax. He is currently in rehab for being a political junkie. It’s going badly.
