The Harper budget

The media is abuzz with what is being described as a Liberal budget coming from the Tories, etc etc ...

Given the world economic climate, it's not surprising to see an interventionist budget coming out of Ottawa. First of all, they have no choice whatsoever. Every government on the planet is trying to build levees against this storm. Holding out for ideological reasons just gets one kicked out of the club.

And there's an interesting precedent. Very few of us remember this (and those that do are for the most part confined to nursing homes) but it was the Tories who introduced unemployment insurance in Canada back in the 30's. Then as now, things had reached critical mass. And the previous (Liberal) government's policy of carting off the unemployed to work camps in the bush had yielded dubious results at best: the camps were taken over by the Canadian communist party; the inmates took over Vancouver for three weeks and hijacked eastbound trains with a view to seizing power in Ottawa and declaring a Communist government. It all ended quite badly with a blood-soaked showdown with the RCMP in Regina.

But there are even further parallels to be drawn:

1) The Tory government of R.B. Bennett was under pressure to institute reform due to Roosevelt's sweeping " New Deal " in the US - witness the situation today with Obama.

2) The Liberals (under Mackenzie King) surprised everyone by supporting Bennett's budget. in fact, Mackenzie King was the wiliest politician in Canadian history. He supported Bennett's reforms and introduction of U.I. not only because they were necessary, but because he wanted to leave the Tories in power while the feces hit the fan. Recovery would come eventually, and with it long uninterrupted years of Liberal majorities. Ignatieff ?