Budget leak falls short of a scandal

As a scandal, it is not very scandalous.

If the confidential cabinet document obtained by Ontario's opposition Progressive Conservatives means anything, it suggests that the government's budget — expected in May — will be difficult for Andrea Horwath's New Democrats to oppose.

The 11-page document indicates that Premier Kathleen Wynne's Liberal government is planning to spend more on infrastructure, help front-line workers who care for the vulnerable, eliminate an unpopular electricity charge and increase the Ontario Child Benefit for poor families.

Entitled "Confidential advice to cabinet," it recommends a schedule for the government to roll out a series of good news announcements before the budget is introduced next month.

As usual, Horwath remains coy about her plans. But she might find it tough to force from office a government promising these NDP-friendly goodies.

Not so Tim Hudak. The Tory leader did his best to paint the document as part of a nefarious scheme.

Calling it the work of Wynne's "budget leaking team," he said it was unconscionable that the government would use public servants to confect and sell Liberal political schemes.

Unfortunately, for Hudak the facts don't back his charges.

Formal announcements made before a government brings down its budget are commonplace. They are also, by definition, not leaks.

Four days before the last federal budget, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced it would include plans to spend more on aboriginal education.

Whatever the merits of his timing, it was not a leak.

Moreover, governments of all stripes employ civil servants to talk to reporters. When Conservative Mike Harris was premier, his government used ministry staff to roll out communications strategies. I expect if Hudak takes the top job, he will do the same.

So what is the significance of Tuesday's Queen's Park brouhaha?

First, keep in mind the items on this confidential list are referred to as "possible proposals." Clearly, they weren't cast in stone. If they had been, Wynne would have released a planned poverty reduction report Monday, which she did not do.

Second, nothing on this list is embarrassing for the government.

Reasonable people may disagree with proposals to help out poor families, repair schools and invest in highway expansion.

It could be argued that the plan to spend $3.5 million over five years to subsidize a food-processing company's expansion in Woodstock is a waste of public funds. But clearly, the Liberals don't think so. Neither, perhaps, do the voters of Woodstock.

Thirdly, the list lacks crucial details. The Tories totalled whatever numbers they could find and came up with $5.7 billion in proposed new spending. What they didn't point out is that some of this spending is scheduled to take place over 10 years.

Conversely, other planned initiatives, including Wynne's crucial transit plans and a scheme to build access roads for a mining company in Northern Ontario's Ring of Fire, don't include any price tags at all.

In the end, here's what we know. We know that disgruntled government insiders (the Tories say several) are leaking cabinet confidences. Sometimes this signals a government in its last days. Sometimes, however, it just means that some insiders are disgruntled.

We know that the Liberals plan to veer left in the upcoming budget. But that was already pretty clear.

Over 11 years, the Liberals have accumulated an array of scandals, ranging from the Ornge air-ambulance affair to the gas plant mess. A less forgiving electorate, or one faced with more appetizing alternatives, would have kicked them out long ago.

By comparison, Tuesday's budget leak imbroglio barely registers on the scandal scale.

It is a tale full of sound and fury. It is not much else

Thomas Walkom is a news services columnist