Duceppe saw his shadow: 6 more months of Conservative Government

Liberals across the country should be thanking Gilles Duceppe. He has allowed the party to escape a spring election which would be horrible for the party. Why so horrible given the last polls? Well, it would be horrible because this is actually a pretty good budget. No, I haven't become a Conservative. I disagree with the budget, but it is a moderate if conservative budget. I would have liked to see at least some of the tax cuts given to social services like child care and the environment, but you can't expect blood from a turnip. This is the kind of budget Stephen Harper told Canadians he would deliver. Duceppe recognizes that this is a good deal for Quebec. By 'fixing' the 'fiscal imbalance,' Harper has given Quebec hundreds of millions this year alone. However, there are some things even a Liberal can be happy about:

• guaranteed funding for the extension of the Spadina subway and other transit improvements in the GTA. The importance of this cannot be overstated.
  
• More money for post-secondary education. No, not enough, but more money is better than less money.
• The federal debt has been lowered. The Tories have not gone into deficit yet. The burden on my generation has been lowered a bit.
• levy/rebate for fuel efficiency. I have to admit this one floored me because its such good policy. Jacking up the price of an SUV and lowering the price of a hybrid is a good way to start the fight against climate change and meet our Kyoto targets. Whether or not the Conservatives did it for that reason or not is another issue.

All in all, this is not a budget where I could honestly say the government had to be defeated to prevent its passage.