To the cynics among us, whenever politicians show up with money to spend and chequebooks in hand, an election call is seldom too far behind.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald were both in Kings County Friday bearing good news and gifts in terms of infrastructure spending.
Improvements to sewer and water infrastructure in New Minas, Canning, Wolfville, Port Williams and other local jurisdictions are good news, not only because the upgrades are badly needed, but also because of the job opportunities, both short- and long-term, the projects are likely to create.
After all, it’s generally felt there’s no better way to beat a recession than to put people to work doing useful projects, then encourage them to spend at least some of the money they’re making.
The federal-provincial commitment to install passing lanes on Highway 101 from Coldbrook to Kingston is needed, both in terms of creating short-term jobs and alleviating a long-term traffic concern.
While Friday’s announcements are welcome, we can’t help but embrace them with the proverbial grain of salt.
On one hand, the current economic climate is no time to be cynical. The world’s economy is a mess and while Nova Scotia may not be as badly off as some places, we’ve been caught up in the fallout.
Any economic stimulus, from wherever it comes, is welcome right about now. Cynics, of course, would wonder: what took you so long?
We hate to cast a jaundiced eye or look a gift horse in the mouth, but we just can’t get it out of our heads that there has to be some kind of political ulterior motive behind all this.
We’ve had too many federal elections lately for anyone’s good, though it seems all the problems we had in Ottawa before still exist. Additionally, many of us have been expecting a provincial election for some time now.
We’d like to think politicians at all levels are serious about stimulating the economy and getting Canadians back to work with useful and much-needed infrastructure projects, and that it’s not just a political ploy.
On the other hand, old habits die hard. Just call us cynical.
It's hard not to be cynical
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