Parker Donham, a former journalist turned blogger, has meticulously gone through infrastructure stimulus spending in Nova Scotia, comparing the Nova Scotia provincial government "asks" with the federal "gives". His excellent mapping is set out below. Not surprisingly, it is heavily heavily lopsided toward Conservative ridings. Score it 5 out of 16 (31%) for the opposition parties and 17 out of 20 (85%) for the Tories.
This story is now being picked up by the Chronicle-Herald. It has also gotten the attention of some bureaucrats inside the John Baird's ministry who do not like the way this blatant political pork is being doled out:
"I wondered how long it would take for the media to discover that the infrastructure stimulus spending has everything to with patronage, and nothing to do with what is good for the nation. [Deputy Minister Louis] Ranger [whose retirement was announced yesterday] was pushed out of the job and told, “We don’t want your advice” regarding the spending projects. Indeed, the woman who is the ADM in charge of the file has been specifically told by the Minster’s office, “We don’t want your advice; we want you to do as you’re told.”
Projects are selected based on the needs of the Conservative Member of Parliament in that riding as the first criteria. As a long time bureaucrat, I am used to dealing with politicians who revel in self-interest. Baird however, is the nastiest, most partisan creature to have ever run a large department. What is best for Canada isn’t even remotely of interest to him - what is best for his party and his own political ambitions drives his agenda entirely."
Conservatives: They're only in it for themselves.
UPDATE: It appears that a section of the only project approved in Scott Brison’s riding actually crosses the line into Tory Greg Kerr’s turf. So the tally should read:
Kings-Hants: 0.75 of 6.75; 11%.
West Nova: 2.25 of 3.25; 69%.
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