Poinsettias, the mesoamerican plant that has traditionally become a symbol for Xmas is now also a symbol of vote-buying in Edmonton. An NP’s piece on Anne McLellan this morning has her going from one senior’s place to another in her riding delivering Poinsettias.

Ms. McLellan admits [that] the seniors have come to expect the poinsettias. They must have them.

“If they don’t, they complain,” says the Deputy PM.

If you are senior citizen outside of McLellan’s riding, however, do not expect flowers or anything else from the Minister. It’s election time: Her caring for seniors is limited to riding boundaries.

Like much else, Liberal governments in Canada create expectations based on the most innocuous things, and then deliver. Delivery of “goodies” becomes somehow synonymous with good government while at the other end of the country the Liberals built expectations about delivering brown paper bags filled with money stolen from the same people who expect and receive the Poinsettias with a smile.

Anne McLellan has delivered. She delivered the Gun Registry to Albertans, which has wasted billions in public funds, while the murder rate in Edmonton has increased this year triggered by rival gangs. She did nothing for seniors while in the Health portfolio other than withholding federal money from Alberta when the provincial government passed its Bill 11 in an attempt to deal with the long waiting lines for basic care. McLellan delivered a vote for homosexual marriage even though she had promised to do the opposite. She has done precious little as the person in charge of state security to the point that the US government has been issuing arrest warrants for terrorists operating in Canada in the absence of Canadian government action. Oh, and she also delivers Poinsettias.

Crossposted from Civitatensis.ca