What a difference $50 and a few months can make.
That’s about how much a barrel of oil has dropped recently, more or less, as we watch Harper’s Conservatives dance nervously to the tune of lost loonies jingling down the pipeline.
Everyone at the top appears to be a bit twitchy these days – they remind me of something I saw when I was a kid watching the Shrine Circus at the Fort William Gardens.
In the mezzanine where all the goodies and novelties were sold they used to sell skinny, bamboo canes with a small, plush monkey tied to the crooked end with string.
If you talked your parents into buying one you could walk around the Gardens, jerking on the string and making the monkey dance at your will.
When I saw Finance Minister Joe Oliver tap-dancing around the budget last week, it sure looked like somebody was pulling on his strings while he danced.
Like most of my fellow Canadians, I am not an economist and I don’t know what to make of the global economy, falling oil prices, imports, exports and trillion dollar budgets.
However, there is one thing I do know – it feels pretty good to fill my tank and walk away with an extra $50 in my pocket.
I feel like I’m finally getting some benefit from all that oil Canada has been pumping and every time I fill up I get to keep the profits from one oily barrel.
I know this is a simplistic view and I read a statement from a Bank of Canada official warning that even though this may be good for consumers, it is bad for Canada.
It seems like only weeks ago that Steve was boasting rosy economic forecasts and budget surpluses while he pounded his chest like a well-fed gorilla.
But now the piper is playing a different tune and it appears that forces beyond Mr. Harper’s control are jerking his string and making him dance for petro dollars.
He’s putting on a brave face but the fact is Canada’s status as an oil superpower (the PM’s own words) may be his downfall as he heads into another election.
Harper’s future for Canada was based on an average oil price of about $80 a barrel but it has already dropped below 50 and is headed lower still.
Alberta, home to the dirty, expensive oil that fuels our economy, is desperately fighting off a deep plunge into recession due to falling oil prices.
It looks like only increased taxes or decreased government spending will save our oil dependant country from a similar fate.
The monkeys in Ottawa are already dancing to that tune as they struggle to make ends meet.
This is the scenario we face as our country, powered by cheap gasoline, drives to the polls for a federal election in the fall.
The lies and half-truths will be flying as our national leaders try to entice us by spending money we no longer have.
In the meantime, let’s enjoy the $50 or so we save with every fill-up, but be forewarned.
Stephen Harper and his cronies already have their eyes on that money and are devising and scheming ways to get it back into government coffers.
He may tax it back or cut back on public services but in spite of the cheap gas, it will remain difficult for the average Canadian to benefit from Canada’s wealth.
It seems that just when you get a few bucks in your pocket somebody jerks your string and makes you dance like a monkey.
