Prime Minister Stephen Harper continues on a regular basis in his attempts to paint a rosy picture of the Canadian economy. His attempts are solely for political reasons. There is very little reason to be optimistic about the Canadian economy. The economy in the United States is going nowhere and as long as that condition exists the Canadian economy will continue to struggle. For every dollar of disposable income in the average Canadian household, there is nearly $1.50 in debt. Canadian families are among the most indebted in the western world and interest rates will rise whenever the economy does improve.

The Harper conservatives have this country in debt like never before due to reckless and needless spending. Stephen Harper even admits we won't see any stability in the economy until late 2012 and that is on pure speculation over the future of the U.S. economy and his ability to get spending under control. Stephen Harper has taken Canada into debt with reckless spending on the G8/G20 summit ($1.3 billion), and $26 billion for new military equipment. New or expanded prisons expected to cost around $13 billion and there is about $6 billion a year in tax cuts for large wealthy corporations. How are average middle income families doing? What has happened to the Canadian standard of living? Are we really better off under the Harper conservative government?

The country is over $50 billion in debt and rising and yet the Harper Conservatives are seen as the best hope to manage our insecure economy. How can that be? Regardless of your personal political bias you still have to consider the facts. Isn't it time for Canadian taxpayers to pay attention and get into the game. It's your money isn't it? It's your future and the future of Canada. Well, isn't it?

Larry Birkbeck

Regina