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| No shocks left: After 10 years of spending abuse - Friday, October 31, 2003 at 13:34 |
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PUBLICATION: Montreal Gazette ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The federal auditor-general has come up with some crackerjack reports, but at this point what can Sheila Fraser tell us about Liberal spending that would shock? The Chretien Liberals have already been outed. Beyond balancing the budget on the backs of the citizenry and provinces, few would credit them with being prudent custodians of the public purse. So the fuss over a possible delay in the release of Fraser's latest report is puzzling. It was to be tabled in Parliament and made public around Nov. 25. However, the Commons might break for Christmas earlier than that because of Jean Chretien's retirement shenanigans. This would delay release until early 2004. Were I an opposition MP, I'd say "dandy" - that would spill the dirt just before Paul Martin calls an election. Examples of frenzied spending would then be fresh when voters cast ballots. But the opposition wants Fraser's critique out pronto, to embarrass both Chretien and Martin. This isn't necessary. Chretien has quite ably built a reputation as a profligate politician prepared to blow cash on partisan pursuits. The little guy from Shawinigan grew up fast after moving to 24 Sussex Dr., morphing into an insufferable spendthrift. Martin - for nine years - was the PM's fiscal front man. He played Dr. Jekyll, looking like the determined budget-balancer he was. But behind closed doors he was Mr. Hyde, sanctioning or at least countenancing every bit of sloppy spending that went on. As finance minister, he should have been aware. If he was, why did he never denounce it? If he wasn't, why not? For those with any doubts whatever the Chretien government threw around tax cash like confetti, let's review. In the PM's home town of Shawinigan, remember the fountain featuring lights and music, at a cost to the public of $500,000; the Equestrian Fantasy show, $1.65 million; the $10-million Cite de l'energie that accommodated a $4.9-million National Art Gallery exhibit? Then there was that failed, politically motivated lawsuit against former prime minister Brian Mulroney, at about $5 million. The Chretien government was determined to establish a gun registry, budgeted in the mid-1990s at $2 million. With overruns, the final tally in 2005 will be $1 billion. The budget of the governor-general, a Chretien choice, grew from $11 million in 1999 to $19.2 million today. Privacy commissioner George Radwanski, another Chretien appointee, spent without conscience. Example: $294,000 in unnecessary travel advances and half a million dollars on travel and hospitality for himself and his communications director. This went on for nearly three years before he was tapped on the shoulder. The Chretienites, fretting about their image in Quebec, operated a scandal-plagued $40-million sponsorship program whereby they sucked up to Quebecers by funnelling grants for cultural and recreational events through Liberal-friendly ad agencies. The aim: Enhancing Ottawa's image.
A great source of pride for Chretien was his cancellation of the Mulroney government's pricey EH-101 helicopter deal. Never mind the government had spent nearly half a billion on the proposed purchase and penalty costs for cancelling totalled hundreds of millions. Moreover, to this day, search and rescue crews use 40-year-old old Sea Kings. And yet, Chretien managed last year to find $101 million to award an untendered contract to Bombardier for two "executive jets" for himself, cabinet ministers, foreign dignitaries and the governor-general. All of which goes to demonstrate while it no doubt will be freshly infuriating to read Fraser's next assessment of government spending, any delay of her report's release is of no consequence. We can predict its contents. What voters are left to contemplate is, where the heck was former finance minister Martin while all the disgraceful spending was going on?
Vancouver Sun |