Posted on 12/15/2002 2:26:17 PM PST by Clive
December 15, 2002
Feds running on empty
Because our parliamentary system dictates that the party with a majority of seats in the House of Commons calls pretty much all of the shots, all of us on the outside of the government are relegated to the roles of spectators.
Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) came and went. The shame of the helicopter contract is upon us again, but it will disappear as soon as the ink is dry on the new agreement. And, just recently, we have become awash in the freshest of all scandals, the Gun Registry mess.
But this is Canada, which means the government calls all of the shots, so there will be an inquiry into the cost overrun, and that will be the end of that, right?
Not necessarily.
The Liberal government finds itself in an extremely fragile position: It is completely out of political capital.
The current federal government is just trying to get to February of 2004, "the date of Prime Minister Jean Chretien's send off," as quickly and as quietly as possible. The federal Liberals are a battered Chevy Nova, desperately hoping that a single tank of gas will be enough to get from Montreal to Toronto, because the driver is fresh out of cash.
It might have worked, had the government not taken a detour into Gun Registry City. Now it finds itself low on gas with one more stop before it reaches its destination: A little town called Kyoto.
Prior to the Bullet-gate, the Chretien government's money management skills had already been called into question.
Acronyms such as HRDC and BDC (Business Development Bank of Canada) became synonyms for "waste" and "irresponsible government spending." With this latest crisis arising in the middle of a national conversation over the looming cost of implementing the Kyoto Protocol, the question must be asked: Are we setting ourselves up for another ambitious program that will cost Canadians more than anticipated?
So far, Ottawa's response has sounded a lot like its official Gun Registry line: It's not going to cost very much at all. We don't know how much exactly, but it won't be a lot. And even if it is, we will be saving the planet from complete destruction, so isn't that worth a higher cost? And, for the record, that higher cost won't be very high. It will be low. Probably.
Let me be clear: I am not against the concept of Kyoto. But the question must be asked: Can this government be trusted to implement a protocol which, by its very essence, requires a seismic shift in the way we live our lives?
In light of the registry fiasco, it is neither partisan nor mean-spirited to ask our government to go the extra mile and convince us that Kyoto will not turn into another Gun Registry.
Lack of trust
Set up a First Ministers' conference and listen to the voices of dissent coming from across the country. The government is asking Canadians to take a leap of faith into a better, greener tomorrow, but how can anyone have faith in someone or something they don't trust?
So as that Chevy Nova plods its way to Montreal, with a tired driver at the wheel, a man who probably should have retired his licence a few years ago, we wish him safe travels, and we wonder how much a tank of gas is really going to cost after that Nova finally gets out of Kyoto.
Maybe Al Gore has given up here to go North and save Canuckistan. We can only hope.
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