[Sam]

You guys kill me. Yeah, the only places where the government can cut is programs and services that impact the poor. There are no inefficiences or redundancies anywhere else. Take a look at this page and tell me that everything listed here directly impacts the poor:

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Atlantic Pilotage Authority Canada?
Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation?
Interagency Advisory Panel on Research Ethics?
National Battlefields Commission?

And those are but a few of the dozens and dozens that I see there.

I'm not sure that I follow you. Are you saying that these agencies have suffered cuts in funding in the Liberal tenure? And that these cuts (?) will have less effect on the poor than the rich? Or the same? Or no effect on either?

Actually, cutting funding to the Museum of Civilization (for example) may adversely affect the poor in that rates for admission may be raised - thereby removing the Museums from the reach of the poor. As well, education programs may be curtailed or become more expensive. This could adversely affect poorer constituents since they wouldn't be able to offset the loss through private education.

You see, you have to look past the surface of things and examine the external costs of 'doing business,' so to speak. It's next to impossible to anticipate the longterm and myriad effects of spending cuts, but it behooves us to atleast try.

Having said all of that, I hope that Harper is elected. Liberals have been quietly running this country like Conservatives for the last 15 years. We've lost more social services under them than we did under Mulroney, but the media never seems to talk about it.

Now, if Harper was elected, the media would be on his cuts like white on rice. Then Canadians might actually get pissed off about something other than their cable bills. It would be better if Harper was like Ralph Klein though - a bit more arrogant about the spending cuts.