So, Dion and his merry gang of abstainers finally voted for something in the house the other day and decided to give $900-million in support for RESPs. Great, more money to support future students, or was it really so great?
Almost immediately, people started pointing out that the RESP support was not exactly good public policy. CASA came out on the matter last week, including an appearance on Mike Duffy Live. The CFS, who’s leadership is not in Ottawa at the present time, finally made a statement in Tuesday’s Globe and Mail.
The government was caught with its pants down on this but, after a weekend to get a new pair of pants, have figured out a way to throw this back on the Liberals – they are making the repeal of the RESP giveaway a confidence motion as part of their budget.
Once again, Dion is in a corner facing more humiliation if he backs down or an election he doesn’t want if he doesn’t.
I’m impressed at the skill of the government to continue to force the Liberals to swallow their own words. Each week, the news only gets worse for Dion. I don’t think this is an election issue they really want to be running on.
"Hey higher income people, we have money for you!" is not really a good campaign slogan.
In the close Hamilton races where the Liberals have a chance of picking up three ridings, this would be the kiss of death. Combine that with an April election where students are able to vote in blocs and things don’t look good for Dion. Of course, by week two, if nobody is talking about the issue that "caused" the election, this may not be a bad jumping off point for Dion.
Personally, this Parliament needs to be put out of its misery.