Depending on one's ideological and political leanings, two per cent can either mean next to nothing or a whole lot.
Conservatives defending Canada's reputation on greenhouse gas emissions rightly point out our global contribution is but a mere two per cent or so. The main contributors of emissions are the United States and China, who combined account for almost half of all global emissions.
Seems to make sense when accused of being a foul environmental polluter to point out there are others with far worse track records creating a far greater impact.
Yet it's interesting how in this case, a two per cent contribution is downplayed as all but insignificant, when on other issues, a similar percentage might be greatly over-exaggerated.
Take, for instance, Canada's “contribution” to the US-led bombing campaign against the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, which reports say amount to barely more than a whopping two per cent of overall air strikes.
Suddenly, the Conservatives are drumming up that puny contribution as absolutely crucial. If one was to believe the Opposition's rhetoric, extremists might just get the upper hand without a handful of Canadian fighter jets in the sky, despite the many dozens already deployed in the theatre by the world's powers, including the US, the U.K., France and even Russia, although that country's controversial engagement is another story.
Another insignificant percentage that the official Opposition has really been playing up recently is the puny $1.5-billion or so surplus the Conservatives apparently left the Liberals. That of course sounds like a lot to an individual, but to the entire country, it's barely a drop in the bucket.
Aside from the fact such a “surplus” barely represents a puny fraction of the overall budget, it also overlooks and completely ignores the amount our national debt grew under the former government's watch — from about $482 billion in 2005, the year before the Harper Conservatives came to office, up to roughly $612 billion as of the end of March 2014. It's only continued to rise since, and that can't be entirely blamed on the new government, which has inherited a less-than-desirable situation.
Talking up a break-even “surplus” of $1.5 billion on the national budget as though it were some kind of crowning achievement worthy of accolades while ignoring how much overall national debt ballooned during the Conservatives' time in office is disingenuous at best, outright manipulative at worst. A whole entire $1 billion surplus doesn't magically make up for adding significantly more than $100 billion to overall national debt.
It just goes to show how in one instance, a puny percentage can be portrayed as insignificant, while in another, a roughly equivalent fraction is hyped up as a huge success.
Simon Ducatel is the editor of the Sundre Round Up.
