Remember the promise of Accountable Government?

One of, among the few, of Stephen Harper's successes as PM is the Accountability Act that was the culmination of Harper's campaign for accountability in government, in the face of the blatant corruption of the sponsorship scandal. However, Harper's governments have gotten progressively less accountable and responsible. The difference between the controversy over conservative logos on government cheques and the sponsorship scandal is that the influence is indirect.

Conservative dye-in-the-wool partisans point to the sponsorship scandal at this time because it would seem that this was a worse transgression. It is possible to get philosophical and wonder whether insidious influencing of the electorate is worse than what the Liberals did, but I digress.

The point is that while the Liberals did grossly abuse their power in the sponsorship scandal, it does not discount what the Conservatives have now done. In fact, bringing these two events together reveals many similarities. Government money being used to influence citizens, in a manner that is not overt.

In addition, when seen alongside the long line of government ads that are really Tory ads, a disturbing trend emerges. Far from being accountable, the Tories may have equaled the sponsorship scandal's abuse of power.

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