How Ottawa Spends, 1988-1989 : The Conservatives Heading into the Stretch

Regard- less of what issues occupy centre stage in the forthcoming election (likely the aftermath of the Free Trade Agreement, Meech Lake Accord and tax reform, plus the government's record in the areas of regional development, social policy and ethics), it is important to examine the government's record in a wider context to gain a sense of the accomplishments and disappointments. [...] The low key nature of this budget belies a year of major milestones for the Conserv- ative government: Heading Into the Stretch /9 • In April 1987, the Prime Minister and the provincial premiers concluded the leech Lake Accord, maling Quebec a partner in the Canadian Constitution and altering in a fundamental way the relationship between the federal government and all of the provinces. [...] The Nielsen Task! 27 The biases inherent in this philosophy were given further sanction in the way the task force was organized; the study was conducted solely by members of the private sector with the clear purpose of applying efficient business practices to the management of government operations. [...] Two cases in point are the recommendations deal- ing with the abolition of subsidies to the Newfoundland rail- way system and the virtual elimination of the National Capi- tal Commission, reducing the latter to being the nation's custodian of "symbolic facilities." Another was the half-baked recommendation to abolish the dairy subsidies to farmers. [...] First, the government has made much of the linkage between the establishment of an office of regulatory reform and the work of the Nielsen Task Fοrce.80 This contention is somewhat overblown because no credit is given to the previous government's efforts in encouraging the need for regulatory reform in the Cana- dian context.81 The Conservatives, however, have proceeded with further reforms.