Gov’t doing poor job of handling our money

LETTERS

In reading the Lethbridge Herald article “Taxes only way to reduce deficit; ‘Slash and burn’ attack won’t work SACPA told,” (Sept. 21 Herald), I get so angry, when the “socalled experts” tell us the only solution to government’s mismanagement of our tax dollars is to give them more.

There’s an old saying that the definition of insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting a different result. The answer to our deficit problem is control spending and taking advantage of our province’s wealth in natural resources. The recent auditor’s report in Ontario that I read in the Toronto Sun speaks volumes from my perspective on how poorly governments at all levels handle our tax dollars. “Poor access to data and analysis of how every dollar of public funding is allocated and spent, and whether this has resulted in the most efficient and effective outputs and outcomes, impedes overall fiscal management. It also impedes government’s ability to prioritize its investments and budget allocations and weakens overall performance.

“The result is … it cannot assess whether the investment has maximized returns when measured in productivity and performance terms (i.e., how public money has been spent and what it has achieved). This must be changed and … is the single most important thing government can do from a financial management perspective.”

So, not only did the Liberals overspend, they didn’t develop any system to correct it. The audit’s key finding: explaining why Ontario after 15 years of Liberal rule “has the highest subnational debt of any jurisdiction in the world.”

Alberta under the NDP government is moving in the same direction; we are already 20 per cent higher on a per capita basis on expenses compared to other provinces. Notley and gang are talking a pretty strong game, now that the Trans Mountain pipeline is in jeopardy and the election is just around the corner. Where was she when her buddy Trudeau cancelled the Northern Gateway pipeline and, the biggest tragedy of all, the undermining of the Energy East pipeline?

The world and investors must be shaking their heads and wondering the mentality of a country (Canada) if they are buying oil from countries with questionable human rights standards and poor environmental standards compared to our own, and with us having one-third of the world’s petroleum reserves. Collectively, Notley and gang and Trudeau are destroying Alberta and Canada. Will the madness ever stop? We can only hope at the next election.

Barrie Orich

Lethbridge