Just a quick comment on the annual budget, which was released only a few days ago, but it is somehow irrelevant today, under the new political circumstances in Ottawa.

Just when I thought, no action or statement produced by any politician could surprise me, there comes the secretary of state for finance Ted Menzies with his brilliant quote. In the budget, there are some small, rather insignificant pittances, sprinkled all over the board, aimed to help the different causes and various citizen's groups. When asked about a monthly $50 pension increase for impoverished seniors, Menzies
replied: "look, the opposition parties don't get it. These are the people
who lived through the dirty thirties. To them, $600 a year is an incredible
amount of money."

One couldn't make up a better example
to illustrate a government's absolute detachment from the reality and hardship
many of the low income citizens have to face day in and day our. Secretary's
wife probably spends $600 daily shopping for a new pair of shoes or on a beauty
parlor visits, but an extra $1.64 per day is "an incredible amount of money" for
a senior? Well done, Mr. Menzies! You should really get off your high horse and
try to walk for a while in regular folks moccasins. Only then you will be
qualified to say how far an extra $50 per months really goes.

Milo.