The Liberal Government Boondoggles Go On and On

The federal Liberal government has always taken pride in its supposed talent for managing the taxpayers' monies. This pride has taken quite a beating recently. The mess created by Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) and the $1 billion it "lost," is an obvious example. At the time of writing, there are now 9 ongoing RCMP investigations into job grants by the HRDC - four of which are taking place in PM Chrétien's own riding, which has received more grant money from the HRDC than the province of Alberta.

Don't think, however, that the Liberal government's ineptitude with regard to money begins and ends with the HRDC scandal. There's more, much more.

Canada International Development Agency (CIDA)

CIDA is responsible for delivering 80% of Canada's foreign aid to other countries.

Internal audits of CIDA reveal that it is riddled with the same sort of accountability problems similar to those uncovered in the Human Resources Development Canada.

The shoddy management of millions of dollars in foreign countries is a consistent pattern at CIDA: poor planning, lax monitoring and inadequate follow up to ensure money has been properly spent are common.

For example, CIDA spent more than $6 million on projects in South America during 1996-97 and 1998-99, for which there has been no accountability. Feasibility studies were not done and there was no monitoring carried out with respect to what might be accomplished by the projects, or in what way they would improve the lives of the residents.

An audit of a project funded by CIDA in 1994, in Tanzania, found that because of a lack of "due diligence and probity," $360,000 had been pilfered from the project. This, in addition to problems with the design, management and operations of the overall project.

It is significant that some of Canada's largest and most lucrative companies receive grants from CIDA under its controversial Industrial Cooperation Program. Bombardier, Trans Canada Pipelines and SNC Lavalin, for example, have all received millions of dollars from CIDA between 1996 and 1999. Significantly, they are among companies which have given generous contributions to the Liberal party. (See Reality, November/December, 1997, "CIDA's Gender Seeking Opportunities Abroad," p. 13.)

According to MP, Keith Martin, the Reform Party's Foreign Affairs Critic, these examples of the financial incompetence of CIDA are only "the tip of a very large iceberg."

Indian Affairs

An internal audit of the Department of Indian Affairs in March found that $4 billion in transfers to first nations were not monitored. These monies are given to bands for education and social services in their communities. According to the audit, some of the band chiefs and councillors used the funds to pay themselves huge salaries and large expense accounts. For example, one chief in a Nova Scotia band was paid over $400,000 annually, while his fellow band members on the reserve continued to live in abject poverty and despair. The audit concluded that the Indian Affairs system to monitor the administration of these funds was highly inadequate and that it had failed in its overall "purpose and monitoring responsibilities."

Mr. Chrétien's Reaction to these Scandals

Mr. Chrétien cares not a whit for this vast mismanagement of taxpayers' funds under his watch. He believes that these boondoggles are merely mismanagement technicalities, about which we shouldn't be concerned. He is also not the least bit embarrassed that job grant funds have been showered on his own riding, acquaintances and supporters. To Mr. Chrétien, this is just how politics is done in Canada - if you pay off the voters with grants, they will be appropriately grateful on election day, and "remember" the Liberal Party. Mr. Chrétien first entered Parliament in 1963, and this was the way politics was carried out then, and will continue to be done this way as long as he remains Prime Minister.

Canadians React to Federal Boondoggles

The financial scandals and "pay-offs" by the Liberal government are apparently beginning to have an effect. An Angus Reid Globe and Mail survey released in the middle of March shows that trust in the Liberal government has decreased by 15 per cent. Perhaps Canadians have a different view of the political pay-off system that has been in effect for generations than does Mr. Chrétien.

It is important to note that Canadians pay the highest taxes in the industrialized world. In fact, for middle class Canadians, income tax rates are as much as 20 per cent higher than those of middle class Americans. It's not difficult to understand why.

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