Why is Paul Martin not running on his record?

CTV National Business and Technology Correspondent
June 22, 2004 7:57 PM ET

When Bill Clinton beat George Bush in the 1992 U.S. Presidential race, he did it with a slogan that had an immediate resonance with American voters: "It's the economy, stupid!"

In 1992, Clinton was trying to beat an incumbent whose popularity had soared after the first Gulf War. But despite Bush's foreign policy successes, many Americans saw a domestic economy in recession and decided that was enough to opt for change.

So Clinton attacked Bush where he was weakest -- on economic issues -- and won a surprise victory.

Clinton understood that a lot of political heat can be generated by so-called wedge issues like gay marriage or a controversial war in the Middle East. But voters, at the end of the day, want to know that they'll be able to pay the mortgage, help put their kids through school, and enjoy a comfortable retirement.

That's why someone should have sat down with the brain trust running Paul Martin's foundering campaign and said: "It's the economy, stupid!"

Martin, of course, was at the helm for one of the most remarkable periods of Canadian economic prosperity and yet, he's hardly talked about that during the election campaign. Instead, he's letting his opponents set the agenda on ethics, social issues, and health care -- all areas where the Liberals are either weak or where their chief opponents, the Tories, can rely on core constituencies for support.

"Gone are the days when fiscal policies, free trade, constitutional accords, energy security, foreign investment and wage and price initiatives ruled the roost on hustings," David Rosenberg, Merrill Lynch's chief North American economist, wrote in a recent report.

"Perhaps the lack of economic issues in this election reflects the simple reality that the overall macro backdrop in Canada has rarely looked this good heading into federal vote," Rosenberg said.

All the more odd, then, that Martin hasn't run on the kind of economic record that is the envy of the leaders of the G-8.

Consider this:

Since the last time Canadians elected a federal government -- in November 2000 -- the economy has created more than 900,000 new jobs.

Paul Martin became finance minister when Jean Chretien was first elected Prime Minister in 1993. When they took over, Canada's unemployment rate was 11.4 per cent. As Martin fights his first election as Prime Minister, the unemployment rate is 7.6 per cent. In fact, during the Liberal reign, more than 2.9 million jobs have been created.

Interest rates are at generational lows, helping more Canadians than ever before to afford to buy their own home. The Bank of Canada's overnight interest rate in 1993 was 4 per cent. Today it's at 2.8 per cent.

Canada's net debt has shrunk dramatically after 10 years of Liberal rule, from 66 per cent of GDP to 42 per cent GDP. That ratio, by the way, is now the best in the industrialized world.

Chretien often bragged that it was his Liberal government that got rid of Canada's monstrous deficit. But it was Martin's skill as finance minister that turned a 1993 federal budget deficit that was equivalent to 5.6 per cent of the country's gross domestic product and turned it into a surplus equal to 0.6 per cent of GDP.

What do you think? Why is the economy not a hot campaign issue in 2004? E-mail your thoughts to newsonline@ctv.ca. Make sure to include your name and where you're from.