What Will Iggy Do?

Nation, as I write this, we are about 15 minutes from an announcement from the Liberals as to whether or not they'll be supporting the budget.

68% of respondents to the blog poll suggest that the Liberals will, in fact, vote to pass the budget.

The budget has some good points, and some bad points. It helps some sectors immensely, and helps some other far less - if at all. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers have expressed their excitement at the measures the budget lays out to free up credit - so, I suppose that's relatively good news for Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland & Labrador.

I've got to be honest - I'm not exactly enamoured at the thought of tax cuts right now. I'm very aware of the fact that I'm probably alone on this, but the reality of our situation is that while those of us WITH jobs need relief, those of us WITHOUT jobs need much more. Government can't create jobs (unless they're in the public sector), but what government CAN do is make provisions to allow industries to create jobs to replace the ones that are being lost. I'd rather see that money go to that end - I'd rather see my neighbour holding down a job and paying income tax, after all, than see him collecting EI and me being able to afford a nice, big, Japanese television with my tax cut.


Now, don't get me wrong... when times are good, I want us to save for a rainy day, pay down our debt and do our best to get taxes down as far as possible. This is not that time, though... We don't want a multi-billion dollar hand-out, which is the route our friends down South chose to go. We want to apply a shock to the heart of Canada's economy, and hope that it keeps beating.

So, bottom line: What does Iggy do?

He says they'll support the budget, IF the Tories will allow a few specific amendments to plug a few perceived holes. I'm thinking the EI issue will likely be revisited, specifically. He'll deftly smack that tennis ball squarely back into Harper's court: "You say you want to work with us, and you'll take suggestions: PROVE it.".

Check.