Harper has kept half his promises
Trail Daily Times
October 7, 2008
By: Jim Bronskill

Stephen Harper's government has fulfilled half the promises it made in the last election campaign, an analysis by The Canadian Press indicates.

The Conservatives made at least some progress on several other commitments, bringing the tally of platform planks either fully or partially nailed down to 70 per cent.

…. The Canadian Press looked at 236 campaign promises in the January 2006 Conservative platform on items ranging from agriculture and the economy to social issues and trade.

The examination indicates just over 50 per cent of promises were carried out, with another 20 per cent partially fulfilled. The remainder - just under 30 per cent - were considered broken. The examination looked only at what Harper's Tories spelled out in the election document.

Though the Conservatives made good on most promises in several areas, such as the economy, infrastructure and social issues, it did not completely fulfil every promise in any of 14 areas, according to the analysis.

…. The Conservatives scrapped a Liberal government daycare program struck with the provinces in favour of their own mix of financial measures to create more spaces for children. But child-care advocates say it hasn't done the job.

"It's not any better than where we were last year or the year before," said Martha Friendly, executive director of the Childcare Resource and Research Unit. "So children are really losing out."….