labradore

"We can't allow things that are inaccurate to stand." — The Word of Our Dan, February 19, 2008.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Habemus porcum

With ten of forty-eight districts reporting, the labradore decision desk forecasts the Progressive Conservatives will form a Provincial Roads Improvement partisan Porkbarrel, and that the porkbarrel will be a majority. Repeat, a Progressive Conservative majority PRIP porkbarrel.

7 Comments:

At 1:27 PM, February 23, 2006 , Blogger Table Mountains said...

maybe you have it upside down, : )

 
At 10:33 AM, February 25, 2006 , Blogger Mark said...

good work.

(a) graphs like this will remind people the consequences for voting against the government.

(b) the guy who campaigned on "change" still has only road work to point to as anything he's actually done. When the "change" comes around, someone wake me from my slumber.

 
At 12:16 AM, February 26, 2006 , Blogger WJM said...

graphs like this will remind people the consequences for voting against the government.

So, does that mean that the ruinious practice of porkbarrelling should never be called out, at least not while the other guys are in power?

Like being on the government side of the aisle has done a whole lot for the district of Lake Melville...

 
At 3:22 PM, February 27, 2006 , Blogger Clinton P. Desveaux said...

New column over at my place

 
At 3:13 PM, February 28, 2006 , Blogger Liam O'Brien said...

I don't disagree on the point that there is a problem here. There has been a problem on this front under every government over both stripes since 1949. That's not an excuse, but it is important context.

Your graph may somewhat leave the wrong impression. As it stands, about 1/3 of the Liberal MHAs represent districts that have virtually no highways/roads (ie - Torngat) or very little highways or roads to improve in the first place -- (ie - Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune, Burgeo & La Poile etc. . .). This doesn't explain the difference you note completely, but it may mean the graphs would be a little flatter. . .

 
At 3:43 PM, February 28, 2006 , Blogger WJM said...

As it stands, about 1/3 of the Liberal MHAs represent districts that have virtually no highways/roads (ie - Torngat) or very little highways or roads to improve in the first place -- (ie - Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune, Burgeo & La Poile etc. . .).

The same is even more true of the PC caucus, many of whom represent St. John's districts that have little, if any, provincial highway mileage in them, that you can almost fire a gunshot over.

In any event, this is not an average per MHA; this is an average per district that actually receives PRIP funding. Torngat Mountains is already excluded, as is any district, on either side, that doesn't get PRIP funding. So, my figures for 2005, for instance, not only excludes Torngat Mountains, it excludes all the St. John's area seats except North, CBE, Cape St. Francis, Topsail, Kilbride, and CBS if you count that far out.

I would imagine the two South Coast Liberals each have more highway mileage in their districts than any of the MHAs within St. John's and Mount Pearl city limits.

This doesn't explain the difference you note completely, but it may mean the graphs would be a little flatter. . .

Again, it's not calculated per MHA; only per district that actually gets PRIP funding.

 
At 7:39 PM, February 28, 2006 , Blogger Liam O'Brien said...

Wow. Ok. Didn't know that. Thanks!

This is a sad situation indeed. There is no reason they can't even this out.

Even if one was to view this through a completely jaded partisan lense, there is no *political* utility in denying opposition districts PRIP funding.

More importantly, it's just not fair.

 

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