Conservative Watch: Mr Flaherty Knows our Pain!!

In Manitoba they call a wet foot that you get while wearing a pair of boots or shoes a "booter" ... today while I was out I got a booter. My shoes, one of the three pairs of outdoors shoes and boots that I currently own, has a split in the sole, and replacing them is simply out of the question any time soon ... so, with the mild temps, the growing puddles and the mushy snow, I have to assume today's booter is simply the first of many I will experience in the coming days ...

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Last week Mr. Flaherty, as part of the long standing tradition associated with presenting the budget, bought a new pair of shoes before rising in the parliament to share with Canadians his vision for the economic future ... As I stood cursing my bad luck and the discomfort of a wet foot, I thought about how lucky Mr. Flaherty is to be able to enjoy a Emelda Marcos like lifestyle that affords him new shoes on a regular basis, while rising to convince his fellow Canadians that he understand the pain they are experiencing as the economy continues to crush down on more and more people ... despite the assurances of Mr. Flaherty, and the bankers who are stashing away remarkable profits that the economy is turning around - it is a reality that too many of us simply do not see, and are not experiencing ... for too many Canadians today, multiple part time jobs, minimum wages, food support AND utter exhaustion are the economic reality they are facing day in and day out.

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Fortunately for those of us who are today's working poor, Mr Flaherty wants to share that sacrifice we are experiencing by freezing the salaries of the MP's, Senators and other associated officials for the next two years ... this MILLION dollar savings may sound significant until you take a moment to consider what these folks are taking home already ...

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For example - Prime Minister Stephen Harper is currently making a salary of $157 731. BUT, his total take home pay is a paltry $315,462 (marking an increase from 142,300 in 2000). I'm sure forgoing a 1.5% salary rise this year and next will be a significant loss for him and his family ... makes me feel badly for him !!!

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Mr Flaherty himself makes a mere $75,516 per year and took home a mediocre $233,247 at the end of 2009. His predecessor in 2000 was making a mere $117,500. I'm curious to know if Mr. Flaherty is receiving a pension for his 10 years as an MP in the Ontario Legislature, and for his time as Minister in the Conservative government there ... I'm sure the 1.5% increase would have been beneficial to this gentleman who had to give up his legal practise when he entered politics in the 1990's. Hopefully his spouse Christine, who replaced him in the provincial riding he vacated in 2005 to run Federally, doesn't face such an economic set back when the Liberal Government in Ontario sets its budget for the coming year, surely the Flaherty family can't expect to survive solely on Mr. Flaherty's various investments, pensions and the pathetic salary he is expected to take home as Finance Minister during the recession recovery.

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Looking at other members of the ruling class we are left to scratch our heads about how these folks will be able to make ends meet with the loss of that 1.5% increase this year and next ...

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The Government Leader in the Senate will have to stretch her annual $207,800 take home pay a little farther because of the wage freeze. Her fellow senators will have to make due with thier $132,300 as well ... it hurts to think that in the year 2000, these folks made only $68,200.

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Even our backbencher MP's are feeling the pinch with their annual $157,731 salaries frozen ...

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I guess as I head out this afternoon to deliver the weekly newspapers that helps to add a few extra dollars to my already over-stretched budget, I can be appreciative that the Government in Ottawa understands what it means to make sacrifices. I can be thankful that Mr Flaherty and the rest have felt the pinch of an economy in decline for themselves, and they are more than willing to make amazing personal sacrifices to show us all that they are willing to experience the same pinch as the rest of us. I guess it means that our MP's, Cabinet Ministers, Senators, and our Prime Minister really do understand what it means to be poor and to work for minimum wages ... afterall, from what I see they are really under paid aren't they ????