Mcneil sheds ray of light on spending
Out here in the Little Tartan Republic, our sultan decided to drop us a few crumbs of democracy this week when he told us how he is spending COVID stimulus money.
Mind you, the crumbs didn’t exactly fall casually from his hand, as you might expect in a robust democracy, when $228 million is involved.
Stephen Mcneil didn’t drop this information without an awful lot of badgering from journalists and opposition politicians who have been asking the government to itemize the projects.
Even former members of his own caucus — now Liberal leadership contenders — turned up the heat on the premier when they said the information should be released, and that if they were premier, this is what they would do.
In the greater body politic, there’s been some low-level grumbling about the absence of a legislative sitting, transparency and accountability, but it hasn’t amounted to seething masses taking to the streets with burning spears. The ramparts of Nova Scotia aren’t being stormed over the failure to elaborate on these projects.
Premier Stephen Mcneil is no fool. He can read this. He knows he isn’t dealing with the French Revolution here. He was happy to ride it out and let reporters and opposition parties keep banging away at the democracy thing.
All he had to say, in essence, is this: “It’s all there, go look it up yourself. Don’t bother me. I’m busy with important things like COVID.” (I actually tried to look it up myself. Let’s just say, they didn’t make it easy. I gave up.)
And he is busy with COVID. Judging by the numbers right now, he and Dr. Robert Strang are doing a good job managing the pandemic. We can be grateful to them for that.
But this week — for whatever reason — the sultan finally gave it up.
Almost half the money is going towards infrastructure and renewal — roads and bridges, in other words. The rest is going towards projects in the departments of health, justice, advanced education, education, business and community services.
There are still a few little devils missing in the details. For example, what are the departments of health and education doing with their COVID money? Specifics have not been divulged.
The COVID stimulus program was announced in May to generate jobs and economic activity in the province during the first lockdown. Fair enough. That conforms to the Keynesian school of economics, which says governments ought to spend while the economy is faltering.
I don’t think many would argue with that right now. The federal government has been shovelling out gobs of money to keep the country going. And governments around the world have been doing the same.
Who among us wants to look a gift horse in the mouth? True, the debt worriers will scratch their chins and concern themselves about the payback plan. But most of us are living day by day right now — trying to survive — and government spending is helping with that.
What I don’t understand is why Mcneil wouldn’t want to hoist these projects up the political flag pole and show Nova Scotians what his government is doing to take care of us. This is standard practice in government communications.
What advantage is there in obscuring the details of these projects?
Maybe more money was being spent in areas with Liberal representation?
Who is getting those jobs? Are the roads and bridges jobs being filled by more white men, for example?
Those details aren’t revealed either. Maybe Mcneil doesn’t want to get dragged down into those ratholes of democracy right now.
I can’t help but think a little part of Stephen Mcneil might enjoy this. He has a strong position in this political chess game. He doesn’t have to face an election. He doesn’t have to answer questions in the legislature because he will prorogue the session later this month.
He will finish his tenure as the benign sultan, which is really where he is most at home.