Weasel words

John Baird tries to dodge questions about how much stimulus spending is actually underway:

The Liberals have also said that only a small fraction of infrastructure projects announced as part of the Conservatives' economic stimulus plan are actually creating jobs.

"That's a bunch of baloney," Baird said in response. "We see substantially more than 75 per cent of projects that were slated to begin this year... are incurring expenses."

Which leads to some obvious follow-up questions.

First, how many projects as part of a stimulus which was supposed to create jobs immediately aren't actually "slated to begin this year"?

Second, how broad is Baird's definition of "incurring expenses"? Are projects classified as such based on having even a small amount of preliminary organizational or professional work done, rather than any substantial construction? Is there a gap between projects which have "incurred expenses" and ones which have actually received reimbursement, leading to provinces and municipalities being left holding the bag even as Baird claims credit for their actions?

All of which lead to the ultimate question: how much of the money which was supposed to flow quickly has actually been disbursed?

Needless to say, one wouldn't think Baird would be speaking so carefully if the answers reflected well on the Cons. And if the Cons keep their frame of reference limited to such carefully-selected phrases rather than any actual measure of stimulus achieved, that figures to speak volumes about what's included (or not included) in their upcoming propaganda piece.