Graham Steele released his summary report today of his travelling (read - taxpayer funded) road show which was advertised as an attempt to get input on the upcoming budget. The minister's road show only wrapped up recently and yet his budget will be introduced Tuesday. It just doesn't seem credible that the minister would have had enough time to include much of the commentary submitted for the budget. If the minister was not going to allow enough time for the input to be considered and studied before introducing the budget, what was the point?
I attended one of the Back To Balance sessions and spoke to many people who attended sessions all over the province. The feeling from pretty well everyone I spoke to has been the same. The road show was designed solely as an attempt to gather support for increasing taxes such as the HST. It didn't work. A recent poll indicated the majority of Nova Scotians want the government to find alternatives to increasing taxes. As a province with among the highest taxes in the country that's no surprise.
This is a government that has already made quite a few questionable decisions. The track record of the NDP thus far is spotty at best. It's unlikely they will have the desire to make the necessary decisions to move Nova Scotia forward on a sustainable path that does not further penalize Nova Scotians.
And in the spirit of non-partisanship and on an entirely unrelated note, let me offer my congratulations to MLA Becky Kent who got engaged yesterday. Becky and I sat on Halifax Regional Council together, and I know this must be an exciting time for her and her family.
