Monday, June 29, 2009 2:03 PM
The light of Lisbon
Tim Powers
This morning I find myself sitting in a frighteningly empty airport in Lisbon, Portugal, listening to the Tragically Hip awaiting a connecting flight to Faro. If the vacant terminal is any indication the global recession still has some teeth.
Flipping through my news clips while managing through an Air Canada-like delay I caught up on Brian Laghi and Kevin Carmichael's story from last week concerning our Prime Minister's call for a coordinated exit strategy from some of the programs established to combat the financial crisis. Good Canadian leadership!
The PM often gets unfairly criticized by the Opposition for not having a plan to get Canada through the recession and on the path to recovery. Look, I'll freely admit some of the criticism that gets thrown at the government is legitimate but not this stuff about being at sea in this tsunami. Numbers and dates might alter slightly based on what is happening in other jurisdictions or truly unforeseen circumstances alter realities, yet Harper has been solid in combatting this economic hell. Even the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, who had been critical of the speed of the government's infrastructure spending, now says in this week's Hill Times more money is flowing .
I suspect at next week's G8 we will hear more about both a global and Canadian exit strategy.
It is not even worth building up the energy to slap Iggy around on his lack of a plan. That is better saved for pouring a glass of port. Iggy is as lost as my luggage when it comes to finding his own way forward here.
