Craig Read Posted October 1, 2003 Report Share Posted October 1, 2003 Government - Socialist government in today's modern 'welfare-capitalist/third way/Social Democratic/buzz word of the month' - is about as wasteful a collection of useful idiots as could be devised in a good novel. The latest from Ms. Fraser on the scandal with Radwanski - I would hazard a guess that at least 1/3 of goverment spend is pure waste. [sce: NP Oct 1] In turning over the report to the RCMP, Ms. Fraser flagged two issues, including two $15,000 advance payments paid to Mr. Radwanski for which she found no justification.One payment has been repaid, but the second is still owing. The Mounties have also been asked to examine $150,000 worth of cashed out vacation leave Mr. Radwanski and three of his executives collected even though they had taken the time off as vacation. Ms. Fraser said police may also examine senior executives who falsified financial statements to Parliament to hide the fact that the commission overspent its approved budget by $234,000. Ms. Fraser found executives were overpaid to the tune of more than $250,000 due to manipulating the rules for reclassifying jobs, promotions and performance bonuses. She also estimates that at least $200,000 of misused money can be recovered -- half of which would come from Mr. Radwanski. The Privacy Commission is now at the centre of at least a dozen investigations, probes and reviews. Ms. Fraser called in the RCMP to investigate several breaches of the Financial Administration Act, as well as the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency to investigate unclaimed taxable benefits enjoyed by senior executives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost in Manitoba Posted October 1, 2003 Report Share Posted October 1, 2003 I've always appreciated the role of the auditor general. Sure there is corruption in our gov't, in any gov't to be honest. People will abuse, lie, cheat, steal, and act in a dishonourable manner. I find it encouraging, though, to see the truth come to light. Or, at least, someone up there in the gov't commissioned and empowered to do so. From what I hear of Fraser's reports, the majority of all waste and 'scandal' comes from the Feds (liberals). If the trend of politics is going towards openness, transparency, and accountabillity, then I would say this is a good start. It's naive to think that if the CA or PC party was in charge that there would be no crooks in office. The A.G. would likely still be releasing reports on waste and underhanded dealings but she would be pointing the finger at the new guys in charge. What needs to be improved is the accountabillity factor, ie. prosecution, demotion, and firing. As I said though, I am encouraged and hopeful that watchdog positions will improve the overall honesty and efficiency of our gov't (who's being naive now right ) and as an extra comment: Coming from MR. Useless Nattering Organization, Dumbocrat, lie-brals, and so on... the buzz word of the month comment means very little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Read Posted October 2, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 Good points. I would say Gov't needs to be far smaller. Separation of powers far more rigorous and more checks and balances. The US model could teach us about checks and balances. At the Fed level the PMO's office has far too much power. Provincially it is estimated that in health care alone about $2 billion is wasted. I know people working in the Ministry of Health and basically the left hand has no idea what the right hand does. Money between various groups in health care is not tracked, audited, check to budget nor is it transparent. In Toronto many projects [like the sale of Union Station or the Waterfront] are pushed through to appease special interests and various friends of politicians [MFP computer scam in which overbilliong for $60 million occured on computer contracts is a classic case]. Fraud is rife within Canada. Small time mafia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost in Manitoba Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 basically the left hand has no idea what the right hand does. Last week a friend of mine got a call from Revenue Canada. They were trying to track down his brother because he had not paid taxes in the last 3 years. The reason, unfortunately, was that he was killed in a car accident 3 years before. Now call me nitt-picky, but before the feds want to fingerprint me or tag my DNA for a database, should they not work with and organize the info they've got to at least know which of their citizens are alive or dead? (needless to say my friend was a tad upset) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chater Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 basically the left hand has no idea what the right hand does. Last week a friend of mine got a call from Revenue Canada. They were trying to track down his brother because he had not paid taxes in the last 3 years. The reason, unfortunately, was that he was killed in a car accident 3 years before. Now call me nitt-picky, but before the feds want to fingerprint me or tag my DNA for a database, should they not work with and organize the info they've got to at least know which of their citizens are alive or dead? (needless to say my friend was a tad upset) That is a little sad. I can only imagine the reaction from the them as he told them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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