The reviews are in

James Travers points out that the obvious inaccuracy of the Cons' spin about their G8/G20 fiasco only invites the scrutiny of their wider record that they absolutely can't afford:

The Prime Minister is missing another opportunity. No recent summit made a louder case for ostentatious austerity. None has been as synonymous with profligate spending.

From fake lakes to a welcome stone, federal Conservatives have been dripping anecdotal acid on Canada’s credibility as the post-crash model.
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A closer look should also make Conservatives squirm. Four record spending budgets coupled with vote-buying decisions to cut the GST put this country on track for deficits well before the global financial system imploded. Stimulating the country out of recession merely dug the hole deeper.

Much of this would have slipped past unnoticed if Conservatives hadn’t tripped over their own best laid plans. By failing to correct obvious and continuing weakness in the security system, particularly within the cultish and dysfunctional RCMP, Harper helped perpetuate conditions where top cops—remember Giuliano Zaccardelli?—and senior spooks run rogue. By letting the summits spiral out of cost control, the Prime Minister drew both international and domestic attention to the extravagance of a government that proselytizes restraint.