“Westerners
are having trouble with 1% of the money spent here.”
Yorkton
– Today,
Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, had a few things to say about the
proposed “Chretien
Highway”
on a Toronto radio station. “If
the Prime Minister really does have $10-15 billion to spend, the first question
must be, ‘Where is it best spent?’ We shouldn’t be concerned about what’s best for Jean
Chretien but what’s best for the Canadian people and our economy,” said
Breitkreuz.
Breitkreuz
was commenting on a front-page story in today’s National Post titled, “Liberals
push ‘Chretien highway’: Minister says expansion of Trans-Canada to four
lanes would give PM a legacy.”
The
Saskatchewan MP continued, “Any highway project, or any infrastructure project
for that matter, should be done for economic reasons
- NOT for political reasons - and, certainly not as a legacy for a Prime
Minister under pressure from within his own party.
I’m sure if the Liberals, who dreamed up this scheme, ask the
provinces, they would have many infrastructure priorities that require federal
support, but the ‘Chretien
Highway’
would not be on the top of many of their lists.”
The
National Post article quoted Liberal Cabinet Minister Herb Dhaliwal as saying
that “part
of the costs could be defrayed by having drivers help pay for the upgrading
through increased charges, such as highway tolls or a dedicated fuel tax.”
“This
is crazy,” exclaimed Breitkreuz. “The
Liberals already collect $4.8 billion dollars a year in fuel taxes and only
spend $113 million of that on our highways. According to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation less than 1%
of that amount is spent in the West. Mr.
Prime Minister look at a map and spend the money fairly – not to buy votes.
Why should we have to pay even higher taxes to finance a P.M.’s legacy?
I think Canadians will have a few things to say about this political
project before Mr. Chretien hits the road, either to resign or hit the campaign
trail,” said Breitkreuz.
“We
do need plenty of infrastructure works but it must be done as part of a scheme
to develop the Canadian economy – not piece meal.
Inter-provincial trade barriers need to be brought down.
North-South links also need improvement.
We want real benefits, not cosmetic changes.
Any money spent should be to develop the economy, not to play politics
with,” concluded Breitkreuz.
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