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OTTAWA — A Liberal government would devote any windfall budget surpluses beyond $3-billion to fixing Canada's failing infrastructure, Opposition Leader Stéphane Dion promised yesterday as parties gird for a possible federal election.
Mr. Dion's windfalls-for-potholes pledge is a direct attack on the refusal by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government to offer more cash to alleviate what mayors call an infrastructure crisis in Canada.
It's also more evidence of the type of campaign the Liberals would run: one that tries to sharpen distinctions between themselves and the Conservatives over how to respond to Canada's softening economy.
Mr. Dion's pledge echoes former prime minister Jean Chrétien's 1993 campaign promise to create “jobs, jobs, jobs” through infrastructure spending that fires up the economy.
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“Canada is facing an aging population. We will not pass on to our children crumbling bridges, leaky water pipes and insufficient public transit,” Mr. Dion told a Federation of Canadian Municipalities meeting in Ottawa.
He said the Liberals would legislate this pledge, setting up a stark contrast between more spending and the Tory's supply-side approach, which commits surplus dollars to debt repayment, with the resulting interest savings funnelled back to Canadians as tax cuts.
The Harper Conservatives called Mr. Dion's pledge an empty promise, saying there's little chance of fat surpluses in years ahead because the fiscal cupboard is bare.
“Offering future surpluses above three billion dollars is like offering season's tickets to the Winnipeg Jets or Quebec Nordiques,” Conservative Party spokesman Ryan Sparrow said, referring to two National Hockey League teams that no longer exist.
Although Ottawa is expected to run a surplus of more than $10-billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, the Tories have already sworn off spending it as stimulus for the economy and instead plan to use it to repay federal debt.
Even if the Liberals were to win office in an election, there's no chance they could take power before the end of March, after which all surplus cash for the 2007-2008 year must go to debt repayment.
The Liberal's pledge, which costs Ottawa nothing unless government coffers are flush, represents Mr. Dion's attempt to design attractive election promises even though federal coffers are nearly empty.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty doled out $14.7-billion in annual tax cuts last October in a mini-budget designed to empty the kitty and frustrate opposition parties as they drafted election platforms with alternate spending plans.
The Dion promise comes less than two weeks before the Feb. 26 federal budget, a plan the Tories say will be short on new spending, but appears designed to sell the party as prudent economic stewards who would be the best choice to steer Canada through a downturn.
The minority Tory government will need 29 opposition MPs to ensure the budget passes, or its defeat will trigger an election. Neither the Bloc Québécois nor the NDP are expected to lend their support, leaving the Liberals to decide whether to go to the polls.
University of Alberta political scientist Steve Patten suggests Mr. Dion is using announcements such as the infrastructure pledge to try to shift the potential ballot box question away from managerial competence, where the Mr. Harper might have a perceived advantage.
