No, no, no! We just finally start getting some tax relief, and the opposition would just raise taxes back up again! Cut spending instead! Why does our govt need to spend so much??

Yeah, and the Liberals balanced the books in the 90s thanks in part to the hated GST that Mulroney brought in. What J Teller up there is asking is which party TODAY would do anything differently? Remember, the opposition was screaming for stimulus spending. Do you really think the Liberals or NDP would have spent less? Which party advocated NO stimulus spending? None! Basically, right now our choices are spend, spend more, and spend it all. All the opposition does is complain without saying what they'd do differently. Can you imagine how much the Liberals would spend? National day care program, national drug program, Kelowna accord, etc. I'm not happy with Harper's reckless spending ways, but I don't see any alternative that would do better at this point.

I'm completely embarassed to be a Manitoban some days. Our government makes a big deal about how they balanced the budget again, while collecting 40% of our money from the feds (ie: other Canadian taxpayers). An article in the Free Press actually had the gall to criticise Alberta and Saskatchewan for running deficits while we had a surplus! Are they really that ignorant as to where our money comes from?

Another disturbing trend that I've noticed was touched on here, namely that "Western Canada" no longer includes Manitoba. Having lived here all my life, I've always thought of myself as a western Canadian, and identified more with my fellow citizens out West than East. It's not just the governments of BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan that disregard Manitoba, but the people of those provinces as well. But go ahead Manitobans, keep electing the NDP. The day is coming when we get cut off from the federal teat.