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Monday, November 16th, 2009 - 05:30:55

Stephen Harper’s spending spree by way of Canada’s Senate is a real departure for a fiscal Conservative out to conquer the waste and largesse of the federal government.  You may recall that when he was still running for the job of Prime Minister, Harper was talking about reforming the Senate and moving toward electing Senators and making them more accountable.  Considering that Harper’s roots are in the Reform Party, a party that called for a Triple-E Senate – Equal, Elected, and Effective – there was little to be surprised about when it came to his stand during that campaign.  Also, there was an appetite for his message at that time, Canada being fresh off the sponsorship scandal that ultimately resulted in the Liberals losing their tenuous grip on government.

Despite his previous stance, and most Canadian’s distaste for pork barrel politics, the Prime Minister has appointed 27 Senators in the last year alone.   It is important to note that this represents the most Senators ever appointed by a Prime Minister in a one year period.   Among the most notable of these appointments were Mike Duffy and Doug Finley.  Duffy is well known as a former journalist and Finley was the campaign manager for the Conservatives latest electoral wins. 

What is truly worrisome is that these Senators, Mr. Duffy in particular, seems to be charged with one thing only; promoting the Conservative Party and preparing the ground for the next election.   Mr. Duffy, a Senator for P.E.I., has spent twice what any of the other three Senators for the tiny island has in travel and office expenses - $108,848 over a three month period.   At that rate he will cost Canadians more than a million dollars every two and a half years.  The majority of that will go toward promoting the Conservative Party of Canada.  

Consider also the amount of money spent by the government on self-promotion by way of advertising - $100 million for their economic action plan - and it becomes apparent that the Conservatives will spare no expense to make sure Canadians are receiving their message.

If this type of behaviour continues it will catch up to the current government the way it has with every other government that puts their party fortunes ahead of the job of governing and uses the public purse to do so.

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