(The following Canadian Press story by James McCarten was circulated on October 28.)
WATERLOO, Ont. — Liberal leader-in-waiting Paul Martin repeated his promise to review every one of his predecessor’s spending decisions Monday as he refused to say whether Transport Minister David Collenette’s plan to spend $700 million to improve Via Rail is back on track.
Every decision the Liberal government makes before Prime Minister Jean Chretien steps down early next year will be examined to ensure it fits into the new government’s priorities, Martin told a news conference in this southwestern Ontario city.
“We are going to review every single government decision,” Martin said.
“The current government has the right and the responsibility to make decisions, and that’s what they have done. It will be the role and the responsibility of the next government to review those decisions in light of the circumstances it sees and the priorities it feels are there for Canadians.”
On Friday, Martin’s camp warned Via not to spend any of the new funding until Martin has a chance to review it once he takes over for Chretien, who’s expected to step down in February.
There are other more pressing priorities for Ottawa’s transportation dollars, including the needs of inner-city transit services and solving the growing problem of urban gridlock, as well as the government’s massive financial obligations in areas like health care, Martin said Monday.
On Friday, no sooner had Collenette announced the $700-million, five-year plan for new locomotives and rail cars, improved rail beds and refurbished stations than a Martin spokesman was urging the passenger rail service not to spend the money until it gets prime ministerial approval from Martin.
Critics cited the apparent conflict as yet another sign that the federal government is paralysed by a power struggle.
Martin was in Waterloo to attend a conference at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, where he expressed hope that the G-20 – a group of international finance ministers he helped to forge in the late 1990s at the height of the Asian currency crisis – would grow into a more representative council of world leaders and a tool for global co-operation.
“This is an issue that’s of incredible importance to Canada, because we are the most open economy and we have one of the most diverse populations,” Martin said.