I can’t stomach it anymore. If I hear “42 billion dollar deficit” lobbed at the Tories one more time I’m going to lose it.

There’s this misconceived notion that it was the Liberal Party of Canada that eliminated the federal deficit left by the evil government of Brian Mulroney.

In fact, this is an important piece of Liberal propaganda designed to undermine the man that won the largest majority government in Canadian history.

The truth of the matter is one the Liberals don’t want you to know about. What is it you ask? Well, let’s have it.

The cause of the federal deficit was none other than Pierre Elliot Trudeau.

“…Between 1970 and 1976 under the leadership of the Liberal leader Pierre Trudeau, government spending grew to a record level of almost 22 per cent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in 1976. In 1978 the Trudeau government recorded a fiscal deficit greater than five per cent of the Canadian GDP.

During the brief government (1979 - 1980) of Conservative Joe Clark, government spending actually declined to less than 20 per cent of GDP and by 1980 recorded a corresponding reduction in the federal deficit of slightly more than four per cent of Canada’s GDP.

Between 1980 and 1984, under the leadership of Liberal Pierre Trudeau, government spending skyrocketed to an all-time record in 1984 of greater than 24 per cent of the GDP along with an all-time record fiscal deficit of almost nine per cent of Canada’s GDP. This record government spending and fiscal deficit as a percentage of Canada’s GDP has never been matched by any other Canadian federal government.

Between 1984 and 1990 under the leadership of Conservative Brian Mulroney, government spending was reduced to less than 22 per cent of Canada’s GDP in 1990 and the government fiscal deficit also declined to less than 4.5 per cent of GDP. In 1987-88 the Mulroney government actually recorded an operating surplus of more than $2 billion, but the public debt charges of $31 billion forced the government to record a budgetary deficit.

From 1987-93 under the leadership of Conservative Brian Mulroney and Kim Campbell, the government recorded operating surpluses of $2 billion, $7.5 billion, $12.1 billion, $11 billion, $11.5 billion, $2.3 billion and $1.5 billion dollars respectively but the public debt charges forced the government to record a budgetary deficit in each year.”

What saved the country and allowed the Liberals to “eliminate the deficit?” First, the Free-Trade Agreement and later NAFTA. You know, the policy the Liberals promised to scrap as soon as Canadians elected them in 1993?

Second, and most importantly, the hated GST. Again, the policy the Liberals promised to scrap as soon as Canadians elected them in 1993.

Instead, they embraced, and even strengthened both policies, reaping the massive revenues, while arbitrarily starving the provinces by deeply slashing transfer payments.

So deep were these cuts, in fact, that the provinces were forced to download onto municipalities and cut social services themselves in order to avoid running a deficit. (I always wondered why it was okay for Jean Chretien/Paul Martin but not okay for Mike Harris.)

Anyway, let’s cut the crap once and for all. Michael Wilson planted the seeds and Paul Martin got to pick the flowers. The Tories did all the hard work running the ship, all the Liberals had to do was take the wheels and hold ‘er steady.

I hope this is the last time I hear this nonsense.