A study in contrasts

Today's headlines offer another opportunity to contrast the leaders of the two national opposition parties in Parliament - and all the more reason to wonder just what the Libs are thinking with their current strategy.

On the NDP side, the Star reports on Jack Layton's efforts to win gains for Canadians in general, and cities in particular, in the upcoming federal budget:

The federal government must do more to help Toronto deal with its infrastructure needs than announce funding every now and then, NDP Leader Jack Layton says.

Vowing to "fight like hell for Toronto" in the coming federal budget, Layton yesterday called on Ottawa to do more to help the city address its infrastructure needs.

A long-term funding plan for Canadian cities is what's needed, said Layton, who was at the University of Toronto yesterday to outline his expectations for the Conservative budget.

The $1.5 billion announced Wednesday by Prime Minister Stephen Harper for better GTA transit and cleaner air does not go far enough, Layton said.

"Cities can't go from announcement and press release to press release," Layton said in a phone interview. "What we've seen for years is these announcements being made and then the money doesn't get around to flowing.

"That's why a predictable financial plan that the federal government will stick to has got to be laid out in the budget."

Layton wants the creation of a national transportation strategy, 20,000 new affordable housing units per year across the country, more money to help cities address climate change, as well as investments in child care and in post-secondary education.

He says the Tories, with a budget surplus that could approach $13 billion in extra cash from last year, should help Canadian cities that are being hampered by a $60 billion infrastructure deficit.

"If we continue to let this slide our cities are going to be less and less competitive, our economy therefore less robust," Layton said. "And we're going to find our economic future is being sacrificed because our governments chose to ignore our infrastructure."

One would think that the combination of identifying problems and making positive suggestions to fix them would be a standard modus operandi for an opposition leader. But then we get to Stephane Dion's latest message:

Canada can't afford another year under a Conservative government, Stephane Dion told about 200 Manitoba Liberals last night in Winnipeg.

"We have wasted a year. We cannot waste another year," the federal Opposition leader told delegates to the provincial annual general meeting at Canad Inns Polo Park.

Dion said Prime Minister Stephen Harper is lacking vision for Canada and re-packaging Liberal programs and claiming them as his own.

Harper appears to be on a pre-election spending spree, said Dion.

"He is spending so much, it is hard to follow and he's mostly unveiling Liberal plans," said Dion.

The East-West power grid --which would transmit Manitoba electricity to Ontario -- was already in the works when the Conservatives took power, said Dion.

"But Harper pretended it was new. It wasn't," he said. "I think it is dishonest that he doesn't have an imagination."

It's hard to untangle all the weaknesses and conflicting principles within the passage. In particular, a seeming criticism of the amount the Cons are currently spending seems entirely inconsistent with an attempt to claim credit for that same spending. And the most basic criticism seems to be one of attribution rather than one of substance...which doesn't seem likely to differentiate the Libs from the Cons in any area that Canadian voters will care about when they decide who deserves a vote.

Mind you, it also doesn't help matters that the "Canada can't afford another year" message conflicts directly with what Dion said just days earlier.

In fairness, Dion has started to announce some policy ideas at other appearances lately - some of which may even be slightly different from his party's previous platform. But it still seems like the Libs' primary concerns right now are personal indignance and navel-gazing, leaving the NDP to lead the charge on policy.

Which can only make the current NDP look all the better if it's able to win real concessions from Harper - or highlight the need for an increased NDP contingent if the Cons are able to pass a regressive budget due to the Libs' political machinations.