There was a time when vote-buying was done with a modest degree of nuance. The government of the day might pledge a tax cut or a baby bonus or a subsidy you could get if you filled in the right form. No longer: now they just stick a cheque in the mail and fire it off to the population at large. Vote for us and you get money! No questions asked.
Justin Trudeau sent out $300-$500 to 6.7 million seniors — tax free and no need to apply — while preparing his bid for a majority government. Quebec is sending $500 to every Quebecer earning less than $100,000 as Premier François Legault heads to an October election. Ontarians have lately been receiving government cheques for hundreds of dollars just weeks before Premier Doug Ford’s government goes to the polls.
Shame must be a diminishing quality in political circles, not that it ever existed in much abundance. Or perhaps electees figured voters have become so inured to the usual levels of flimflam they had to step it up a notch.
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