EDITORIAL: Trudeau out to buy the election

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The polls show the public doesn’t want an election, the opposition parties call it unnecessary and reckless and there’s growing concern among Canadians about a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, fuelled by the Delta variant.

But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants an election — the polls are currently in his favour — so it looks like we’re about to get one.

You can tell because for weeks now Trudeau has been barnstorming across the country bribing Canadians with their own money in a bid to regain the majority government he lost in the 2019 federal election.

That’s the one where more people voted for the Conservatives than the Liberals, but the Liberal vote was more efficient because of how it’s distributed across Canada.

Here are just a few examples in recent weeks of Trudeau playing Santa Claus with our money.

He’s pledged $6 billion for child care in Quebec; $5.2 billion for the troubled Muskrat Falls hydro project in Newfoundland and Labrador; $1.5 billion for a light rail transit project in Calgary; $420 million to phase out coal use at Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie; $400 million to phase out coal use at the ArcelorMittal Dofasco steel plant in Hamilton and a $500, one-time bonus payment to seniors over the age of 75 starting Aug. 16.

And that’s all before the election is officially underway.

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Trudeau is hardly the first prime minister to empty the federal vault leading up to an election but it’s one of the reasons many Canadians are disillusioned with government and with politics in general these days.

When public spending is triggered leading up to an election call, it justifiably raises the concern of whether taxpayers will be getting good value for money spent.

Or whether, as countless federal auditors general reports have documented over the years, public money spent in this way often ends up going down a financial black hole, resulting in throwing good money after bad.

Yves Giroux, the independent, non-partisan parliamentary budget officer, warns that if Trudeau calls a snap election, he won’t be able to fully assess the financial credibility of Trudeau’s election promises, or those of other parties.

In other words, it’s situation normal in Canadian politics — hold on to your wallet.