Monday, April 25, 2011

Finally, someone attacks the NDP's candyland platform

The NDP platform has been given a free ride this campaign. Luckily, there are people out there willing to put the NDP's platform promises under scrutiny. Those people? The NDP:

NDP casts doubts over its own green spending promises

OTTAWA — The federal New Democrats say they might not be able to pay for $3.6 billion worth of green spending initiatives that were promised in their platform for the first year of a new mandate if elected to form a government.

The party quietly explained in a statement over the weekend that it would be forced to delay the promises, in government, if it is unable to launch a market-based system forcing polluters to pay for greenhouse gas emissions by buying credits from those that reduce emissions.

"We do indeed propose that revenues from pricing carbon (dioxide emissions) be put back into improving the environment — that's how carbon use will be reduced," the NDP said. "If revenues from pricing carbon are delayed or are lower than planned, then the investments will also be delayed or will be phased in more slowly than planned."

But they have failed to identify what measures, which appear in Year 1 of their platform, would be chopped or delayed.

posted by calgarygrit at 2:48 p.m.

6 Comments:

  • The only thing Layton is going accomplish is to hand Mr. Harper a majority government. Harper will be so happy that he'll offer a Senate seat to him and we'll see both Layton and Duffy talking about it on Power Play.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:59 p.m.  

  • It's the friggin' NDP. Did anyone actually expect their platform to be properly costed?

    By Blogger Tof KW, at 3:09 p.m.  

  • So in other words the orange team is just as qualified as the red and blue teams to run the big show haha hahaha ha haha hahaha ha haha hahaha HA HA HA HA

    By Blogger Joseph Kerr, at 3:16 p.m.  

  • Well, the Conservatives are worried, that the NDP is doing a bit too well. So, the Post papers attack the NDP. No real surprise.

    By Blogger Greg, at 4:51 p.m.  

  • "Candyland?" As opposed to the Red Book fairytale? Haha! This is not a strong point for a Liberal critique of any party

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:16 p.m.  

  • Harper ain't gonna get a majority. Latest Ekos poll: Cons 33.7%.

    I like how the NDP is saying sensibly that if they get less revenue they will spend less, and some commenters are claiming this means their platform isn't properly costed.
    So presumably if the Liberals get less revenue than they anticipate, such as from their own cap-and-trade that phases in, um, two months to a year later than the NDP one, they will just spend regardless. That would be proper costing, right?

    By Blogger Purple library guy, at 10:11 p.m.  

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