Turns out that his campaign spending was the third smack troubled Tory cabinet Minister Peter Penashue took.
First, there was the story that Penashue porked out his campaign manager with an appointment to the offshore regulatory board, something for which his campaign manager was spectacularly unqualified for.
Then there was the story that Penashue had personally called federal employees in his riding to assure them their jobs were safe from cuts or relocations.
Now it turns out that, during the federal election, Penashue was the top spender in the province. He shelled out $115,000 compared to only $37,000 spent by his main opponent, Liberal Todd Russell.
Why is this a smack, you ask?
Well, for starters, Penashue is likely to be a source of continuing political controversy, nay even scandal. He won the seat by only 79 votes despite spending $60,000 on advertising alone. That means Penashue is a lot less secure in the seat than he might otherwise seem. People who are insecure tend to do things like his first two smacks that will leave him open to further political scandal. The more he tries to shore himself up, the more likely he is to shag up.
And then there’s the question people will be wondering about, given the way politics tends to go in the Big Land. People will wonder how you spend $60,000 on advertising in Labrador. And for the rest of the cash, people will wonder what else Peter spent his cash on given the way politics goes in the Big Land.
Three stories in such a short space of time?
Count on more.
- srbp -