The looney tunes of privatization
Posted By Paul Whittaker, Gilmour
Posted 3 months ago
To the editor:
The last bi-weekly pre election flyer from our Conservative Member of Parliament suggests that there are no other parties in the government of Canada at this time. This may come as a shock to many other MP’s, some of whom have kept this minority government in power.
The Government of Canada is correctly just, that, when material is printed at the taxpayer expense, and sent to all residents of the riding regardless of who they voted for.
As usual in these party ad pieces, it is also suggested that the above party gave us some money, nothing could be further from the truth. The government goes to the bank just like you and I and borrows that money (now that the surplus has disappeared), It could borrow from the Bank of Canada, in effect itself, but chooses to enrich private banks instead. Whether we are given actual cheques or tax credits, the money (forgone taxes) will have to be paid back with interest, by you guessed it us the taxpayer, whether by income, GST, HST, PST, excise tax etc.
Which brings me to how much of this money is dished out. When Bancroft hired a consultant company to make an application on the town’s behalf, at a cost of $25,000 per month, to lobby the government for $2.4 million to hire more highly paid consultants to provide feasibility studies, on how to spend 50 million? Most people seemed to miss the point that this is borrowed money on our behalf, and we will be stuck with paying it back with interest, and very little of the $2.4 million is even being spent in Bancroft.
As an outsider (two Townships removed) I am still one of the payees in this comedy, as all taxpayers are.
Not too many years ago, the Ministry of Transport had in-house engineers on staff who would advise local Municipalities with few resources on what they needed to fix the road, Ontario Hydro was publicly owned and could do the same. Then privatization came on the scene and with that a whole industry of lobbyists, consultants and hangers on.
While not in the same realm as the USA, Canada is quickly catching up in the army of ex-politicians and party hacks who now have their own consulting companies, because of who they know and knowledge of how you get to talk to the ministers, they are hired by anyone who wants to simply communicate with our own government. Should this not be easily done with the help of our MP, who showers us with his party pieces?
I understand the possible need for this kind of structure when the coup leaders in Honduras need to soften their image; the military overthrow of an elected democratic president is not to be taken lightly. Honduras is Canada’s largest recipient of foreign aid they do not want to see any interruption of the flow of money from Canadian taxpayers, but for our own citizens to have to go this route seems bizarre.Money is not free, never has been never will be.
