The Liberal government embarked on a massive spending spree in the first two weeks of April, showering Liberal ridings and targeted groups and regions of the country with $1 billion in federal largess. Opposition MPs say Prime Minister Paul Martin has engaged in a "$1-billion orgy" to buy votes in an election that could be called as early as April 25 and reneged on a pledge to spend taxpayers' money wisely. "It looks like Paul Martin is becoming the Prince of Pork as he tries to buy Canadians votes with their own tax dollars," said Conservative MP Jason Kenney. "He can't find money to slash taxes but he can find $1 billion for pork for Liberal MPs and target constituencies." The $1 billion accounts for spending in just five departments and does not include many hundreds of millions of dollars unveiled in March as Martin began cross-country tours and put the Liberal party on election readiness. When he became prime minister, Martin promised to freeze spending on capital projects and to scrutinize every expenditure, but a survey by CanWest News Service shows the new government has been spending freely on wharves, festivals, archeological digs, community centres, performance arts theatres, symphony orchestras, and a host of make-work projects in Liberal ridings. NDP MP Pat Martin charged Wednesday the Liberals are handing out cheques as part of a vote-buying scheme in anticipation of a spring election despite growing pressure from some Liberals to delay the vote until the fall. "It looks like a pre-election orgy of gratuitous goodies-basket goodwill here," the Manitoba MP said. "This amount of largess certainly can mean one thing really -- that they are priming the pump for going to the polls." But Deputy Government Leader Mauril Belanger, who Wednesday announced almost $1 million in government funds for official languages in Sudbury, insisted the Liberals weren't on a vote-buying spree. The rash of spending announcements is because the House is not sitting and Liberal MPs are in their ridings, he said. "We are making announcements on an ongoing basis. At some point the prime minister will call an election but in the meantime, business goes on," he said. A survey of press releases from April 1 to April 14 for the departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Oceans, Human Resources, Canadian Heritage and Industry show Liberal ministers and backbench MPs lapping up the credit for $1 billion of funding announcements.
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