Who knew an economic crisis could be so boring?

Look at MacKay sleep like a little baby on his tax-payer funded jet. I understand how being the deputy leader of the party which will take Canada into it's first deficit in an decade might not be the most exciting thing in the world, but one would figure he might have a little more spring in his step then this. The Conservatives told us during the election that a steady hand was needed in order to maintain economic stability, that the Liberals would plunge us into deficit and crisis.

Well, with Flaherty and Harper about to proudly unveil the centre-piece of 2 and a half years of Conservative economic policy, a $30 billion deficit after inheriting a surplus, we see now that the Conservative hand on the wheel was asleep, and the car has crashed. Seeing MacKay slump down in his chair only brings one thing to mind: how low can the Conservatives take us?

MacKay's Iran fear mongering doesn't hold up to facts

Peter MacKay dropped a lovely Christmas present on Canadians when on Christmas day he said that:

""We're very concerned that weapons are coming in from Iran, we're very concerned these weapons are going to the insurgents and keeping this issue alive."

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071225/hillier_afghanistan_071225?s_name=&no_ads=

This attempt to link the Taliban to the Iranian government surprised many, as anyone who knows anything about the religious geo-politics (and one would hope a Foreign Affairs Minister turned Defense Minister during wartime would) that the Taliban and the Iranian government have a very poor relationship, almost going to war before 9/11. MacKay was both trying to help out his buddy the American ambassador, whose government was quite embarrassed by the intel report showing Iran had halted its nuke program years ago, and score some points on the domestic front, as most uninvolved Canadians would readily believe that two particularly nasty groups of Islamic fundamentalists would work together.

However, MacKay's beating of the war drum is somewhat out of tune with reality:

"There is no evidence the Iranian government is behind the export of weapons that end up in the hands of Taliban fighters"

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080103/iran_ieds_080103/20080104?hub=TopStories

While the article rightly points out that weapons are coming from Iran, and all parties involved have a vested interest in a secure Iranian-Afghan border, this shows that MacKay and the Conservatives have little real interest in the troops and the Afghan mission beyond how useful they can be used to score points at home or curry favour with the Bush administration. We as Liberals, who believe in a progressive and independent foreign policy can never forget to remind Canadians that the Conservatives would prefer Canada had taken part in the Iraq quagmire, and if the Bush administration in its dying months does anything as foolish as attack Iran, that you can expect Harper, Bernier, and MacKay to be ready to say "Aye, Ready, Aye".

I'll be canvassing for Bob Rae today, so hopefully I can get a reminder of what clear-viewed foreign policy looks like.