Canadian Politics Today

That you would lay the blame for the Left's fiscal mismanagement on conservatives 'cutting benefits to the poor' is laughably one-sided.

I really don't think I did that.

The only reason conservatives cut services is because liberals run up deficits to buy votes.

Right.

And since most of the services government spends on (which it has the ability to cut) are for the poor, or various forms of income redistribution, that does affect the poor. When Chretien fought the deficit he did so by slashing social transfer funds, which disproportionately impacted the poor. There is no way to cut government spending without disproportionately impacting the poor.

I don't see it that way.  They cut the poor because it's easy and doesn't cost them votes with their base is one explanation.  But I'm open to this ... Not sure why it goes that way.

I am not poor. I benefit from precisely ZERO government programs or subsidies. The federal and provincial governments could disappear tomorrow and I wouldn't even notice.

Sorry, not true.  You are overstating here.
 

*The exception being Chretien. That, though, was an exceptional circumstance. Having no vision, and no interest in helping people, Chretien withheld spending as long as the right was divided. You see, Liberals only spend money to buy votes, and he had no need to do so. Thus when Harper took over there was no need to slash spending 'on the poor'. In fact, according to the PBO Harper's government made a series of progressive tax changes which disproportionately benefited the poor at the expense of the rich.

I think that was Martin.  Martin restructured EI in a way that didn't cost votes and didn't destroy people.  It was hard on seasonal workers but it flew, politically.  Again, I'm open to looking at it ...

---------

My point is not to criticize conservatives but liberals also.  Having managed projects for decades, I can tell you that anyone "in the know" can figure out a way to deliver more with less.  Liberal friends would kill me but Rob Ford was right: there is a gravy train.