The Liberal government announced $3.86 billion in funding commitments just one week before the federal election began on March 23, spread across 411 projects nationwide.
On March 22, the day before the election kicked off, 26 MPs allocated $1.8 billion in funds to 116 projects on that day alone.
According to an analysis by Global News, 38 Liberal MPs issued press releases announcing the funding commitments and distributed cheques to 37 different communities across the country in the week leading up to March 23.
The act of handing out money right before Canadians go to the ballot box has become a common practice in recent elections.
In the final days before the 2021 election, Liberal MPs doled out $3.03 billion in spending commitments to 495 projects.
Similarly, the Conservatives, under former prime minister Stephen Harper, handed out 430 cheques worth $2.7 billion in the final week of the 2015 election.
Liberal MPs announced a total of 22,290 projects that would receive federal funding during their time in office, worth a little over $110 billion combined.
Two major projects to receive funding in the final week of March were the Quebec City Tramway, which received $332.3 million, and $650 million for the Blue Line extension in Montreal.
Liberal MP and then-minister of housing, infrastructure and communities, Nate Erskine-Smith, approved both projects.
However, the press release for the announcement included quotes from MPs Jean-Yves Duclos, Jöel Lightbound, and Steven Guilbeault.
“By supporting these two major projects, we will improve access to modern, efficient public transit, which will reduce congestion, reduce air pollution, stimulate economic development and create thousands of jobs in Montreal and Quebec City,” said Guilbeault on March 22.
All three MPs were meeting with potential voters on the same day as the announcements were made.
Additionally, Guilbeault announced $400 million in funding for 11 “green” infrastructure projects for Quebec on behalf of Erskine-Smith.
The Liberals ultimately won 44 seats in Quebec following the election, marking one of their best performances in the province in decades.
Meanwhile, the Carney government has already made four spending commitments, the largest being to build a federal Transportation Safety and Technology Science hub in Ottawa, which will cost taxpayers $410 million.
The Liberal government’s failure to present a detailed federal budget before the fall has been a major bone of contention among opposition parties and many Canadians.
It’s now been over a year since the last complete budget was tabled in Parliament.
However, opposition parties successfully amended the throne speech to call on the government to table an economic update before Parliament breaks for the summer on Monday.
The vote was not a confidence motion, but the throne speech vote could result in the Carney government being toppled if the House loses confidence.
The throne speech vote is expected to happen later this week after its response debate concludes.