Jim Travers (Hat-tip Norman Spector) points out what I fear is the end result of the whole inquiry.
...Some are so significant that they make nonsense of the argument, mostly put forward by those who fear the inquiry, that its costs are not only higher than the sponsorship losses but also greater than any benefits. What's suspected, but not proven, is that sponsorship funding was the most sophisticated iteration yet of a greasy, ingrained scheme that goes far beyond patronage to use taxpayer money to pay ruling party bills for advertising, communications and, of course, advertising.
Are you still mystified? Well, in return for cheap or free campaign services, the party in power could reimburse those friendly firms with inflated, even phoney, government contracts.
I think the Ontario voter reaction will be that this kind of graft has always happened and in the end it is all Quebecs fault anyway.
By the next election we will have the classic "crooks not fascists" campaign (hat-tip Mark
Steyn) with the result being yet an even slimmer Liberal minority.
