Passing the Buck

Dear Premier MacDonald,

I have a few hours to kill, so I thought I'd ask for your thoughts about a problem I'm having.

After a few years of my husband running the family finances, I have, in more recent years, taken the reins. Unfortunately, our roof is leaking, and my husband is demanding we get a new one right away.

We both agree that it has to be fixed, but I maintain that there are more important things to be done with our money. The problems with the roof have existed since he was in control of the finances, and if HE didn't make it a priority, that's his problem. He'll just have to wait until I buy the things I need, and then, in a few years, if we have the extra cash laying around, I'll see about that pesky roof.

The kids have to live in this house, too, but they can blame him for the problem since he didn't take care of it when he had the chance. And besides, this is a good chance to punish them for siding with their father all the time. Maybe if I put the blame on him, next time they'll come over to my team instead.

What do you think, Premier MacDonald? Do I have a point? Or am I passing the buck?

This is, in essence, the same argument you made recently about the Route 4 project between St. Peter's and Sydney. You said the Liberals had the opportunity to "make investments" to that road during their time in power and didn't, then you refused to make a firm commitment as to when the work would be done under your reign.

You're right, the Liberals could have done more while they were in office in the 90s. But as long as we're going back one full decade to pass blame, why don't we go back a little bit further still.

The road in question has needed work as long as I can remember, and I was born in 1979. Unless your government web site is wrong, the party in power in Nova Scotia from 1978 right up until 1993 was the Progressive Conservatives.

That span of Conservative power was 15 years, which seems to me to be plenty of time to make improvements to the roads in Cape Breton. If we want to be more specific, that's a full nine years more than the Liberals were in power. When you also take into account the almost 10 years your party has been in power since then, your Conservatives have had over 20 years of balancing the books without being able to pencil in all the work needed on Route 4. That's considerably more time than the Liberals, who you have been so quick to blame for their negligence.

Don't get me wrong, I'm aware that both parties have done some road work. However, both parties are also responsible for neglecting that particular road in the contentious spots, and since these spots have worsened over time, one might say the blame falls more on your shoulders than the Liberals before you. After all, Route 4 is in worse shape now than in 1999, wouldn't you agree?

Making matters worse, your comments last week pointed, however unintentionally, to a condescending attitude. Is it a coincidence that the ridings along Route 4 are Liberal? Probably. Were you insinuating that the work is not being done because those ridings aren't PC loyal? Probably not. Were you suggesting that, should those ridings vote Conservative next time around, the work might become a priority? Not likely. But, to folks in an area that is so regularly ignored politically on provincial and federal levels, that's kind of how it sounded.

The thing is, Mr. Premier, you have to go back to your days before party politics and remember what it's like to be a guy from Mabou. When you didn't care who in power should have done road work ten years previous, but who was going to do the work now to make sure you didn't tear the muffler off your Honda Civic on the way to work. Then again, considering you had the pristine Highway 105 at your disposal, I suppose you can't really relate.

The bottom line is, putting shovels in the ground will get you farther than reminding voters who didn't.

I should sign off now, as the mechanic has just finished doing the necessary work to my car, which was damaged on the highway between Port Hawkesbury and St. Peter's by the huge, gouging holes and missing pavement. I don't expect you to understand that either, though; as I understand it, you're partial to travelling by helicopter to our little corner of Cape Breton. Considering the state of the roads, I can't say I blame you.