Entitlement problem with all politicians won’t go away

You cannot make this stuff up. Once again we have a fine example of our elected officials showing contempt for the taxpaying citizens. We have Derek Fildebrandt claiming $23,160 accommodation expenses to go to his place of work, and then he rents the property out! Now he defends himself by saying it’s “not against the rules and I will pay back to the provincial debt the $2,500 I made.”

How insulting is that? And the stress brought about by this has caused him to go on vacation and temporarily stand down from his position. (Does that include his salary?) It is a classic case of no conscience. Where is his ethical fiscal responsibility? By claiming from the taxpayer and then making money by renting out the same property, the perception only became clear to him when he was caught! And he wants to be a leader.

It gets better. The Liberal leader, David Swann, was so morally upset about this he spoke out and pointed out that his property is mortgage free and all he will be submitting for this year is his $480 per month condo fees ($5,766)!

So we have one who claims the maximum he can from the taxpayer and then deliberately rents out his property to raise more funds towards his mortgage. And another who already owns his property (how much did the taxpayer contribute to his mortgage?) but the honourable member for Calgary-Mountain View thinks the taxpayer should also pay his condo fees!

These two examples are a drop in the bucket, but it does go to show that the “entitlement” problem amongst (all) politicians has not gone away and never will.

Wayne Smith Medicine Hat