Layton takes to the road to sell budget 
by Romeo St. Martin

[PoliticsWatch Updated 12:30 p.m. April 28, 2005]

OTTAWA  — NDP Leader Jack Layton sounded more like a finance minister than the leader of the fourth party in the House of Commons on Thursday morning as he held a press conference in Halifax where he was selling the merits of the new budget deal reached with Prime Minister Paul Martin this week.  

"This budget begins to invest in people and the environment," Layton said. "It addresses some of the most important social issues facing Canada today that people told us about."

And Layton warned voters that this budget could be lost if the Bloc Quebecois and the Conservatives get their way and defeat the Liberal minority government on a non-confidence motion for corruption allegations from Quebec ad men and at least one former Liberal party official. 

"If we end up in an election that means that those who call it will have taken their mind off people and they will have begun to have focused on their own political interests and I think that would be very unfortunate."

The NDP gained its $4.6 billion in new social spending concessions from Prime Minister Paul Martin this week in exchange for supporting the government on any non-confidence votes in the House until the budget receives Royal Assent in the Senate. 

In addition to the budget implementation bill that Layton is now backing, the Conservatives have three non-confidence motions floating around Parliament Hill. 

The NDP's 19 seats are not enough for Martin to secure a victory on non-confidence matters, but it does mean Martin can secure a tie with the support of three independent MPs. The tie would then be broken by the Liberal speaker of the House. 

Layton's decision to help prop up Martin's fledgling minority was harshly criticized by Conservative Leader Stephen Harper during a speech he made in Ontario on Wednesday. 

In his speech, Harper retold a Winston Churchill story in an effort to compare Layton to Lady Astor who Churchill asked to sleep with him for a million pounds.

"She said `Yeah, I think I would, Mr. Churchill.' And he said `Well, how about I just pay you a dollar, will you sleep with me?' She said `What do you think I am?' And he said `Well, we just determined what you are, now we are debating price.'"

On Thursday, Layton fired back and appeared to have been reading from talking points similar to those originating from the PMO in the past weeks suggesting the Conservatives and the Bloc were involved in an "unholy alliance" to defeat the Liberals. 

"Mr. Harper will be getting into bed with the separatists who didn't support the Atlantic Accord after any election happens," Layton said in reference to the offshore resource deal with Newfoundland and Nova Scotia that was included in the budget implementation bill. 

"If Conservative MPs bring about an election, what happens to the Atlantic Accord? Where's the money? I'm asking Mr. Harper and other MPs to do what has to be done to help Nova Scotians."

But in a sign that Ottawa is already in the midst of what appears to be an election campaign, the Conservative party's communications office quickly sent e-mails to reporters after Layton's press conference aired on television to point out that Layton is now tying the accord to the government's budget. 

"Only three weeks ago, Layton supported removing these agreements from the budget," the Conservative news release pointed out, adding that it was Layton who seconded Harper's motion on April 6 to separate the accord from the budget implementation bill. 

In other developments, speculation is growing around Ottawa about the possibility that Martin may use his patronage power to ensure he has enough votes to survive in the House until the fall. 

That speculation grew after the prime minister wouldn't rule out appointing sitting Conservative MPs to the Senate or other government agencies in an interview with CanWest News. 

"If you look at the senate appointments that we've made in the past, I think I was the first prime minister who appointed an NDPer," the PM said. "We appointed Conservatives in the past. So to a certain extent, I've already answered your question."

But a Conservative insider said it's "highly unlikely" that the Liberals would do that.

"I don't know how they could possibly do that," the Conservative told PoliticsWatch. "The problem with the Liberals on this one is they think everyone would react to this the same way they would. Not everyone has a price." 

© PoliticsWatch® 2005. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PoliticsWatch content, including by framing, copying, linking or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Public Interests Research and Communications Inc. (PIRCINC). PoliticsWatch is registered trademark of PIRCINC.