For some reason the new Tory government feels the need to be Shermanesque in its pronouncements. We have “no raising of the HST”, “no closing of hospitals” and a round of other absolutes that either restricts their ability to make decisions or forces them down the road to renege on a promise.
They should avoid these Shermanesque statements. When a province is running such a significant fiscal deficit and is facing a number of other challenges, why make them? I guess they feel they want the public to be able to trust them (“Alward is a man of his word” kept being invoked during the election) but that makes it all the more problematic if you have to change your mind – or if you should change your mind but won’t because of your absolute pronouncements.
That’s one of the biggest problems with politics today. People can’t trust even the absolutes. I say don’t make them in the first place.