No wonder we’re so cynical

It’s funny how Canadian politicians seem to hate the taste of pork — unless it’s dished up by their own party. Then the flavour’s irresistible. We’re not talking about meat, of course. We’re talking about pork as in those mouthwatering servings of public money so eagerly doled out to tantalize voters.

And Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have just shown how alive the oleaginous tradition of pork-barrelling remains, all the better to grease their own political machinery.

Over an 11-day period that ended May 10, a steady stream of Liberal MPs, cabinet ministers and finally the prime minister himself paraded through the Quebec federal riding of Chicoutimi-Le Fjord delivering a late-spring blizzard of government spending.

In terms of goodies dispersed, it was Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween and your birthday rolled into less than two weeks. The cost to taxpayers of this cascade of Liberal largesse? More than $60 million.

And here’s the kicker. On May 13 — just three days after the spending-spree announcements had ended — the prime minister revealed that the good and amply-rewarded voters of Chicoutimi-Le Fjord will go to the polls in a June 18 byelection. Could anyone call that a coincidence?

We’re sure the good folks of Chicoutimi-Le Fjord are delighted with all this attention — and cash. And the money will arguably do good things for them. Whether it’s the most effective spending of Canadian taxpayers’ money, however, remains debatable.

Keep in mind the Liberals barely won back this riding from the New Democrats in the 2015 general election and want to hold onto it

And remember, too, that as the government with access to the public purse, the Liberals have a distinct advantage over their political rivals. They can spray money across the riding today while hinting at the funding flood to come if voters are smart enough to elect a Liberal.

This is the sort of thing the Liberals denounced when they were the opposition and Stephen Harper’s Conservatives were carving up the pork.

It’s what every party decries when out of government and every party indulges in as government.

It’s unfair. It breeds cynicism. Yet it’s the way Canada does politics.

Sunny ways? Meet porky days.