Truth will out on the stimulus program

LAUNCELOT: Nay, indeed, if you had your eyes, you might fail of
the knowing me: it is a wise father that knows his
own child. Well, old man, I will tell you news of
your son: give me your blessing: truth will come
to light; murder cannot be hid long; a man's son
may, but at the length truth will out.

Merchant of Venice

William Shakespeare

I believe that Harper and the Goon Squad have never had their heart in the stimulus program. The court of public opinion seems to have decided that the primary focus has been on partisan goals.

A new poll suggests the Harper government's multimillion-dollar, taxpayer-funded ad blitz to promote its stimulus plan doesn't seem to be having the desired effect.

The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey also suggests most Canadians believe Liberal claims that stimulus spending favours Conservative ridings.

Less than a third of respondents to the poll said they were aware of any stimulus projects underway in their areas.

Now the Harperians (N.B.: Harperite would be a mineral) are scrambling to maintain the opacity of their government.

The parliamentary budget officer got a welcome surprise Thursday when the federal Transport and Infrastructure Department submitted a list of infrastructure projects for analysis, even if it was two months after they were requested.

The only problem? Instead of receiving a spreadsheet via email, public servants at Transport delivered four boxes, with 4,476 pages of paper documents, which means the accountants and analysts in the parliamentary budget office will have to figure out a way to turn the paper back into an electronic file.

"We were expecting to get a spreadsheet," Kevin Page, Canada’s parliamentary budget officer, said in an interview Thursday.

Desperate times call for self-incriminating optics. Back in February, the Conservatives displayed an unseemly eagerness to have a free hand to spread out $3 Billion dollars. They would have loved to have been given a carte blanche with all the CRAP (Canada's Risible Action Plan). They resent having to be accountable for the taxpayers money. But I don't predict much success for this latest shell game.

Mr. Page’s staff will now set about turning the printouts back into an electronic file, likely with scanners and character-recognition software.
"We got some really smart guys here, so we’ll figure out how to do it in a hurry," he said.

To quote Shakespeare again:

In the poison'd entrails throw.—

Toad, that under cold stone,
Days and nights has thirty-one;
Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot!
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

There is no direct evidence for it (yet), but I get the feeling that we will soon find out that the Toad is massive misappropriation of taxpayer money. Once Page digs the amphibian out from under the cold stone and boils it up in his computer cauldron there will be loads more toil and trouble for the worst Prime Minister in history.

How did things turn out for MacBeth again?

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