The Conservatives are often aided and abetted by an opposition gang that overreaches, tossing out references to Watergate, Vladimir Putin and fixed elections and muddies the waters itself with charges of late-night prank calls that have been the hallmark of campaigns since the invention of the ballot.

Conservatives don’t want a public inquiry because they need only look to Paul Martin and the quick demise of the Liberals for a reminder of what happens when you cede control to a public entity.

They want to keep this in the hands of Elections Canada, try to keep the damage localized, admit irregularities in Guelph but nowhere else, and keep their argument focused on a pristine national operation.