Harper's economic record

I really do have to give it to Stephen Harper, he's somehow managed to keep up the charade that he's a "economic steward" or a "steady hand on the tiller", though I guess if you repeat something enough times it can seem like truth. Fact of the matter is, Stephen Harper has the worst economic record of the any long serving PM of Canada since 1946, this include King, St. Laurent, Diefenbaker, Pearson, PE Trudeau, Mulroney, Chretien and Martin (Clark, Campbell and Turner excluded due to very short tenures).

To back this up with some numbers:

1. During Stephen Harper's tenure, he's managed an average annual real GDP growth rate of 1.6%. This ranks him dead last out of the nine. Second last? Mulroney at 2.3%.

2. For those of you that prefer per capita type numbers. The annual average growth in real GDP per capita under Stephen Harper has grown at 0.4%, easily the worst. Second worst? Mulroney at 1.0%.

3. Since Harper took power, the average annual growth in total employment has been 1.0%, this again ranks him dead last out of the nine. Second last? Mulroney at 1.4%.

4. During Stephen Harper's time in the PMO, the change in the employment rate has been -1.4 points. This ranks him second to last. Only worst record is that of St. Laurent at -1.8 points back in the 1950's.

5. Since Stephen Harper was elected PM in 2006, he's managed to grow Canadian exports by a measly 0.3%, by far the worst in the post-war history. Second to worst was King at 1.3%.

6. It's not all bad for Stephen Harper though since the average share of the top 1% in total income has risen 12.7%, second best (or worst if your not a part of the 1%).

The numbers just don't lie, but Stephen Harper will continue to tell untruths about his economic record and instead try to focus on marginalizing minority groups.

John West