Reflections on the Canadian Budget

I'm was listening to CBC Radio yesterday afternoon (yes, it was a pretty slow afternoon around the office) as the federal budget was broadcast live. Most of the people interviewed said one minor positive thing about the budget and most representatives of various groups (NDP party, Canadian taxpayers federation, etc) expressed serious complaints about the budget. The CBC host was actually trying to say, "But is your group not pleased to see..." and the answer was generally, "well, sort of, but..." Interestingly, there was great uproar two months ago when the initial budget showed that there was no "stimulus package" or tax-breaks so that the budget would be balanced. Now that the budget has been announced, its all wrong too!

So... this brings me to reflect on a significant leadership concept: If you are a leader, some people, perhaps many people, will not like your ideas (or you). Whatever you do, it will be wrong and it will be critic ized. So think through fully what you are about to put forth as a leader - whether a vision, a budget, a new idea/program - be willing to get input from many sources before you announce something, and then believing that you have decided wisely, stick with the plan. Acknowledge the problems and explain why you chose that problem to live with rather than an alternate problem.

I must say, I'm rather disappointed with the Conservative Party and Prime Minister Harper for not getting their "ducks in a row," deciding what the non-negotiables should be, and then living with the criticism of their decision and reasonably explaining what the dangerous alternatives could have been. Today, a day after the budget, I'm again impressed with Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff's reported actions plan: to accept the budget provided that the Conservative party is prepared to give quarterly updates on the progress being made as a result of spending stimuli and tax-breaks. He admits there is a lot of good stuff in the budget but wants to make sure the Tories don't just make promises that go nowhere.

In other words, Ignatieff is saying: I'm going to distance myself from the NDP and Bloc Quebecois and the "coalition" idea, I'm going to realize that Harper & the Conservatives essentially released a "liberal" budget and not be stupid and criticize them doing exactly what we as liberals would have done, and then I'm going to pounce on them in a few months/year when they've run us into a horrendous deficit and show myself and the new Liberal party as the party Canadians should elect to "clean up the mess the conservatives have made" ...when the recession is over and money is starting to flow again!

Not a bad strategy, eh?