Final sponsorship report not needed before an election, suggests Harper

OTTAWA (CP) - Canadians don't need to wait until the final report from the sponsorship inquiry before deciding the fate of the Liberals, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper suggests.

Prime Minister Paul Martin has urged the Conservatives to hold off forcing an election until Justice John Gomery issues his final report on the sponsorship scandal, expected in late fall. Voters don't need to wait that long, Harper suggested Tuesday.

"Canadians don't need to form the kind of judgments Mr. Justice Gomery is going to form," he said.

"Justice Gomery has to make decisions about potential prosecutions, about criminality. Frankly, the standards of the electorate are a lot higher than that."

The rest of the story.

If Harper brings down the government before Gomery's final report, it will be political opportunism pure and simple on the part of the Conservatives, and voters (especially east of Manitoba) will be disgusted.

This tactic, I believe, will backfire, and the Liberals will be back with another minority, with the Bloc as the official opposition.

Let Gomery finish his job. Here's just one reason why.