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In this season of Thanksgiving, it is tempting — healthy even — to just be grateful for acts of assistance, rather than search for signs of ulterior motives.

Or, for those that prefer a more succinct cliché, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

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And that was how I initially tried to look at Premier Jason Kenney’s modest $100 donation to the legal defence of a southern Alberta property owner being sued by a trespasser he shot on his property last year.

“It’s just a sign of personal compassion,” Kenney said, explaining his contribution to Edouard Maurice’s civil defence.

But if we’ve learned anything about Kenney in his first five months in office, it’s that he doesn’t do much without some political intention. And a closer look suggests this seemingly innocuous move is really another example of a government showing increasing insensitivity to the boundaries between partisanship and government.