Dollar-conscious Canadians may be hoping for a majority government on Oct. 14.

That's because our short-lived minority governments are costing taxpayers a fortune in election expenses -- in the neighbourhood of $1 billion.

This is the third time Canadians have gone to the polls in four years.

Elections Canada estimates this round of voting is going to drain about $290 million from the public purse.

The 2006 election, which saw Stephen Harper's Conservatives fall 31 seats short of a majority, cost an estimated $278 million.

And the 2004 outing, in which Paul Martin's Liberals came up 20 seats short of a majority, cost about $274 million.

That's a whopping $842 million in four years.

That price tag doesn't include the millions of dollars political parties raise and spend on their feverish vote-for-us campaigns.

But it drives home the astronomically high administrative and logistical cost of publicly financing an election from sea-to-sea-to sea.

The money is spent on everything from the training and payment of election officials to renting polling sites and running ad campaigns to encourage people to get out and vote.

It includes the cost of maintaining a national register of electors, millions of dollars in donor tax credits and reimbursements to parties and candidates as governed by the Canada Elections Act.

Let's put the cost in context.

Let's look at what those kind of big dollars could buy for a cash-straitened city like Hamilton.

Consider:

* The $290 million being spent on this year's balloting comes within $20 million of the replacement value of this city's entire inventory of community facilities, from parks to community centres, from museums to arenas.

* A mere $228 million would buy this city spanking new waste management services, from landfill to transfer stations to recycling centres.

* A mere $153 million would replace all of Hamilton's public transit services, including 204 buses, 66 DART vehicles, 500 bus shelters and 1,200 bus stops.

OK. Maybe that's comparing doughnuts to bagels.

The truth is, nobody objects to spending money on the electoral process. It's simply the price of democracy.

But let's not confuse democracy with partisan political manoeuvrings.

Since federal elections are worth a king's ransom their timing shouldn't be subject to the whims or calculations of party leaders.

As you know, Harper set October 2009 as the fixed date for the next election and then chose to ignore it on the pretext of no longer being able to govern, even though he didn't bother to try after the summer break.

We all know this election is not about making Parliament more productive, it's about Harper trying to win a majority.

In essence, he's gambling $290 million of taxpayers' money that conditions are favourable for gaining more seats than he did 2 1/2 years ago. If he's right, at least we won't have another election for four years.

But if Harper is wrong, if once again we end up with a minority government, we could be spending another $290 million next year.

Or the year after that.

Or anytime the opposition parties, or whoever the prime minister is, decide it's once again time to dip into the public purse to play the ponies.

There may be all sorts of legitimate reasons for voting for a Harper government.

But don't kid yourself. It's also a vote for bunkum and brinkmanship.

Andrew Dreschel's commentary appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

adreschel@thespec.com

905-526-3495