Expensive highlights

There's been plenty of attention paid to the Cons' pre-election spending spree. But while most of the focus has been on the Canadian Taxpayer Federation's number covering the whole summer (amounting, as Alison points out, to nearly $4 million per hour), the NDP notes that the spending over the last week has been even more appalling:

Only seven days ago, Stephen Harper met with Jack Layton to say he intended to quit his job as Prime Minister.

But in the week since he’s met with Jack Layton, Harper and his Conservative team have fanned out all over Canada to make over $6 billion in flashy pre-election announcements -- $892 million a day.

Or, for those who prefer the per-hour baseline, the Cons are now spending $37 million in public funds every hour in an effort to buy votes in advance of the upcoming election. And the massive change even from the numbers for the rest of the summer should easily put to rest the Cons' claims that the announcements have anything to do with effective government rather than pre-election posturing.

As the NDP also points out, Harper himself observed that similar giveaways from the former Lib government only served to "highlight their own failure". And in this case as in so many others related to government responsibility and accountability, Harper in government has done nothing but embrace and perpetuate the same failed patronage politics that he used to decry in opposition.