Dr. Phil’s Formula for Economic Recovery

Renovate houses.


That's basically it. And build some other things, like a few roads. Never mind that property values in Canada are falling as fast as Conservative poll numbers.

In his maiden speech in Parliament, Phil meandered on about his years spent working in construction, and how every Canadian wants a bigger house. Then he proclaimed the virtues of a new construction tax credit, and infrastructure investment. You could almost see the gears slowly turning in his head:

1. I like construction!
2. But housing sales are falling…
3. People can renovate their houses instead!!

Since then, Phil has been rushing around to get Brantfordians building. He went to Brantford city council and told them to 'pick an infrastructure project, any infrastructure project.' Then he did the same thing in Paris. He announced funding toward a new ice arena. He let us know that he's been having lots and lots of meetings with Infrastructure Minister John Baird (who must be pretty darn patient to put up with all Phil's pestering).

All of this is good news for Brantford. But if it stops there – and it does – it is not nearly enough.

In his Parliamentary speech, Phil noted a similar initiative in the early 1990s that kept workers working. It is true that in the recession of the 1980s/90s there was a lot of federal money coming into Brant projects – that's how we built the rail trail, for example. But it was a band-aid solution: Brantford continued to deteriorate throughout the '90s, the downtown crumbled, unemployment stayed high. Why? Because at the end of the day, when the federal money dried up, the workers had the same unmarketable skill-set, and the same reliance on heavy industry that continues to leave town.

What we need to do is invest in retraining our workers with marketable skills, not just keeping them busy for a little while. Invest in people, not just in edifices. We need a government that will invest in sustainable, long-term solutions, such as wind and solar energy manufacturing, and building more hybrid/electric autos. The Conservatives' unimaginative economic plan, on the other hand, says, "Here's a hammer, get to work until the money runs out again."

Brantford is less-educated and poorer than average. This is a huge turnoff for investors choosing where to place their money, and renovating houses isn't going to change this. Let us remember that the single greatest factor for downtown Brantford's turnaround was the construction of a university campus in 1998. That's the type of forward-thinking investment that's needed, in addition to building houses and roads.

In a weary voice, a downtown businessowner once told me, "Brantford's always been a day late and a buck short." That, in as many words, perfectly describes the economic plan of Phil McColeman and the Conservatives.