Don't borrow more - Cut spending!

Recently, two very different approaches to public finances were highlighted in statements made by representatives of two provincial governments in Canada, ironically both liberals. In Ontario, Dalton McGuinty’s finance minister Dwight Duncan announced that the Liberal government would post a budget deficit of at least $500 million in 2009 despite the fact that he is dipping into the province’s reserve funds to the tune of another $550 million.

Better to remain silent and let people think you’re a fool

On January 12 The Guelph Mercury published a column by Geoffrey Stevens on the subject of abortion and the ongoing debate among members of the federal Conservative Party and its parliamentary caucus over what position the party should take on this issue. It’s hard to imagine a more inane analysis of the topic making its way into print in a mainstream newspaper, even a relatively small-town paper like the Mercury.