We live in Palliser but for whatever reason we keep getting recorded campaign messages from the campaign office of Ian Shields, the Conservative candidate in Wascana. Just hung up from one now.

The message was delivered by a peppy-sounding young woman chirping about the merits of what Stephen Harper is doing for families. Among the programs she singled out for especially exuberant mention was the Family Tax Credit. Thanks to income splitting, she enthused, she is going to be able to stay at home with her kids!

Oh joy! That means I might run into her at the playground! And then I might have to do myself an injury! Or start with the laudanum!

Um….

Funny that call should come out on the same day as the latest issue. For the election feature, I wrote a piece about the state of the family (fourth item down on this page) in which I speculated — speculated — that the Family Tax Credit might be some form of backdoor social engineering — a $2.5 billion a year investment in getting women to stay at home with their kids. (Because that’s what all young women secretly really want. Amirite?) And here I get a call from a Conservative candidate essentially confirming that that is exactly the desired end goal of the FTC.

Thanks Ian! Keep those campaign messages coming!