From the provincial (read: Halifax) media's coverage of the latest trumped-up MLA expense scandal [detailed here], you almost get the impression reporters and editorialists think MLAs from far flung rural constituencies are a luxury Nova Scotia cannot afford. Take the Chronicle-Herald's overwrought assessment of the housing allotment for MLAs who live outside Halifax. The editorial ridicules the idea that any employer would provide "a $1,500 monthly housing allowance to lease a second residence near our workplace but only 40 kilometres from our home." I agree with Tory leader Jamie Baillie's view that the 40-kilometre threshold dates from the “horse and buggy age,”...