As government gets bigger, it doesn’t necessarily get any better

Helping ourselves, and others, gives us a sense of community and independence

It’s a tortuous path, but there’s a connection between a botched federal fund for parents of murdered children, the snow route woes of Calgarians and a successful drive to help families of those six people gunned down in that Quebec mosque.

Two of these disparate issues are in government hands, and subsequently, have resulted in waste, confusion and annoyance, while the third is simple, effective and testament to the goodness and generosity of ordinary folk.

The lesson to be learned is we continuously demand governments get involved in more areas in which they should never set foot; then politicians, eager for votes, oblige and invariably produce a muddled mess of programs that eventually anger as many as they please, costing a bundle in the process.

Look at the boondoggle the murdered kids’ program turned into — where the $2.4 million spent by Ottawa on administration in 2015 was 14 times the amount actually paid to those whose children were slain or snatched.

Small wonder few are interested in applying, considering the hoops grieving parents must jump through to get any cash — capped at a maximum of $350 a week for up to 35 weeks, where the child must be under the age of 18, the parents not working or getting EI, and the cash only doled out within a year of the offence.

Let’s face it: this had little to do with really helping people and more with political gamesmanship. With all the pain going through parents’ minds as they bury a murdered child, is it surprising dealing with government red tape for a few cheques is the last thing they care about?

Of course, once in place, such programs become a public-relations nightmare to cancel, even when a compete bust. What politician wants to be the one ending grants to parents of slain children?

At least the kerfuffle over snow routes in Calgary isn’t as emotive as cash for murdered kids, but it too is another example of government getting dragged into a no-win situation by trying to please everybody, and eventually, pleasing few.

Earlier this month, the city ended up handing out 2,600 tickets and towing 11 vehicles after the parking ban on designated residential streets came into effect.

It wasn’t just those folk left unhappy. Others complained the plows pushed snow onto their sidewalks, forcing them into another round of unwanted shovelling, while residents in areas not cleared asked why they were being treat as second-class citizens. Sadly, we’ve reached the point where everyone claims victim status at the drop of a hat and expects “they” do something about it. “They” being some level of government, and no matter how daft you’ve been — maybe building a house on a flood plain that, surprise, surprise, subsequently floods — it’s up to “them” to make it right.

Once, we looked out for ourselves by taking individual and collective action after a big snow dump caused neighbourhood problems before dialing a city help line. And when we did, the result was often cheaper, quicker and brought us something government never can — a sense of community.

Which is why the solace needed in Quebec City these days comes courtesy of people, rather than government programs. An online fundraising drive has brought in close to $250,000 to help the loved ones of the six men slaughtered while at prayer a few weeks ago. Other than a few percentage points going to the website, all that money donated will go to where ordinary people intended.

Such generosity — it’s not the cash, but the spirit of helping and trying to share a little of the grief — reaffirms our humanity in a way governments never can. It reminds us that we should not look to the state to fix everything, because if we do, there are longterm consequences.

As Thomas Jefferson is supposed to have said: “A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have.”