Two little words

I'm sorry. Just those two little words from Stephen Harper would go a long way to diffusing the political fallout from his income trust flip-flop. Instead, Harper remains smugly unapologetic and we get his un-elected minister, Michael Fortier, telling investors that lost half their life savings overnight to "take a valium." How Conservatives can still talk of Liberal arrogance with a straight face I'll never know.

I actually think the decision on income trusts, policy-wise, was the right move. It was a tough decision to make politically, but I give the government credit for making the right call based on policy, not politics.

It was also going against a major campaign promise, which makes it doubly difficult politically, and even tougher to put that aside and make the right call. I wish more governments would have the courage to do so though, when they realize a change is necessary and would be the best policy decision for their jurisdiction.

For example, when the BC Liberals were in opposition and about to break into government, and reduce the NDP to a scant two seats, Gordon Campbell campaigned on a major, across the board tax cut. When he got into office and cracked-open the books, he saw things weren't as rosy as the NDP had claimed and we really couldn't afford the tax cut. Instead of making that case and canceling/delaying the cut, he pushed ahead. And to pay for it, he raised the sales tax, increased MSP premiums, and jacked-up user fees across the board. Most people ended up further behind, and the province's economic turnaround was delayed, but at least Gordo could say he kept his promise. That's one of the reasons I stopped supporting the Campbell "Liberals."

It's also a lesson the Liberals learned, or I'm sure Sheila Copps did, around the GST cut promise. I think making unrealistic promises is a nature of prolonged periods spent in opposition, as was the case with the Campbell Liberals in BC, the Harris Tories in Ontario (another ill-advised tax cut), the Chretien Liberals with the GST, the McGuinty Liberals in Ontario with health premiums, and now the Harper Conservatives with income trusts.

Opposition is black and white while governing is shades of gray and compromises, so that's why I give Harper credit for not taking the politically-expedient way out.

That said, he could be handling the political fall-out a helluva lot better. That he will take a political and electoral hit is undeniable, but he's making the hit bigger than it need be.

In the last election he made a clear and unequivocal promise that income trusts would not be cut. He saw a political opening with the Liberals "dithering" on the matter, and the Scott Brison Blackberry story. It was a chance to buy votes and many voters bought in, voting Conservative based on that promise.

With the assurance that a Conservative government wouldn't touch income trusts, investors, many of them seniors or people nearing retirement, went ahead and invested much of their life savings, their retirement funds, into income trusts. With a stroke of a pen, they lost much of their life savings. These aren't business moguls, these are average Canadians. Don't they at least deserve an apology?

While the Conservative campaign promise was naive, I don't think it was dishonest. They could well have felt they could have kept it. And I don’t deny they were forced to act with the continuing momentum toward income trusts, although to industry observers that trend has been clear for some time.

While he made the right call, Harper is digging himself a hole with his messaging. Any respect he might have gained by making a tough but right call is being negated by his arrogant response to the thousands of investors that took it up the you know where. We Canadians are a forgiving lot though.

I'm sorry. Those two little words would go a long way, Stephen.

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