How Con government works

In the midst of highlighting that Canadians' greatest economic concern is in the one area which the Cons were supposed to have fixed already, Deficit Jim takes an opportunity to attack government in general to deflect responsibility for his own ineffectiveness:

Mr. Flaherty was speaking in Toronto to announce the availability of the Registered Disability Savings Plan, which was included in the 2007 budget.

“You know how government works, here we are at the end of 2008,” he joked.

Now, keep in mind that Flaherty is the minister in charge of both the development of the plan, and the management of the department responsible for implementing it. Which would tend to signal that if there's a serious delay in putting the plan into effect, that falls squarely on his shoulders.

Of course, it's less than surprising for a Con to refuse to accept any responsibility for his own failings. But it takes an extra dose of chutzpah for somebody who seems entirely happy to have taken a position of governmental responsibility to take every available opportunity to slam the ability of a government to function.

Moreover, the statement looks all the more out of place considering the timing. If Flaherty really thinks that government can't implement a single savings plan in less than two years and runs his department accordingly, then surely he's the last person Canada wants in charge of its finances at a time when virtually all sides agree on the need for quick and effective stimulus to get our economy back on track. And Flaherty's mindset may offer a strong indication that the time it might take to put a coalition government in place would be slight compared to the delays we can expect if the Cons' anti-government governing philosophy is left in place.