Canadians waiting with baited breath for application forms

By Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, PEI January 26, 2009 3:15 PM EST

The Throne Speech is over. Canadians yawn and wait for tomorrow. On Tuesday they will learn how to apply for their share, if they get a share, of the $64 billion deficit spending bonanza being sold by the Stephen Harper Conservatives. The rhetoric is for pundits. Canadians will want to know how much and where they get paid. The Throne speech’s 6 point plan for recovery is the usual talk-talk-talk about “direct government action..private expenditure…invest in infrastructure …protect stability…access to credit…support forestry, manufacturing, automotive, tourism, agriculture… and to protect the families and communities”. For Stephen Harper this is probably his last and best hope at making friends with Canadians and a faint hope at that. Let’s hope the government web-sites and offices have the application forms on Wednesday. It’s a cold winter of our discontent.