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GOVERNMENT GRANTS OUT OF CONTROL

Past Liberal governments burdened Canada with a corrupt system whereby the government collected hard earned tax dollars from Canadians and then re-distributed this money to its own liberal causes and supporters to further the government's own agenda. The Liberals gave $26 billion per year on grants and contributions to individuals, companies and non-governmental organizations. Canadians are generous taxpayers but they have been abused by this over-taxation by the Liberals and excessive government spending - money spent not so much to assist the welfare of the public but rather to promote the Liberal party and keep it in power.

According to a poll of business leaders carried out by COMPAS polling company "business leaders say grants and subsidies to support research and development are inherently unfair and favour politically connected companies." 90% of respondents believe that tax credits available to all are better than grants "because they involve no politics." They concluded that "low taxes across the board are the only fair and efficient way of stimulating the economy." (Financial Post, October 16, 2006).

Auditor General's Role

The Conservative government had wanted to authorize the Auditor General to "follow the money" by auditing any entity receiving grants, contributions or transfer payments of over one million dollars over five years. Auditor General Sheila Fraser however, has rejected this because she stated that it is up to the individual government departments, not the Auditor General, to monitor this spending.

Therefore, the Conservatives have put forward the Federal Accountability Act, which would make ongoing department reviews of granting programs, enshrined in law, to reassure Canadian taxpayers that their tax dollars are used wisely. The plan includes rooting out non-performing or irrelevant programs and establishing a panel to identify barriers to accessing government grants and contributions programs. Unfortunately, at this time, Bill C-2 the government's Accountability Act has been put on hold by the Senate. (See article "Conservative Government Cuts Left-Wing Agencies.)

Public Accounts Canada lists the billions of dollars given to thousands of recipients across Canada. Anyone with a strong stomach who wishes to peruse the tax dollars doled out in 2004 - 2005 to influence every aspect of Canadian society can now review them at the following website, which is only the tip of the iceberg. The website is www.pwgsc.gc.ca/recgen/pdf/transfer05.pdf This site lists in 251 pages the grants over $100,000 a year, made in that fiscal year. This, therefore, does not include the many thousands of grants, which were handed out for less than this amount. It must take quite a bureaucracy to keep track of all the groups receiving this generous funding!

Although it is true that some of this tax money went to some good causes such as disaster relief and helping the disadvantaged, bilingual services, immigration, sports, religious institutions, the arts, music, media, communications, exchanges between citizens, youth, museums of all kinds, all of which are an important part of Canada's society, unfortunately, much of the funding also went to special interest groups promoting the Liberal government's left wing causes. As a result, Canadians have less money in their pockets because of the government's generosity to its favourite groups. Many of these recipients receive grants from other departments as well and most of these grants are given automatically year after year once a precedent is set. It's a great set-up for the government and its supporters, but certainly unfair to the taxpayer.

Listed below are just a few of the happy recipients of Liberal largesse for 2004-2005, soon to become Conservative largesse if the new government does not tackle this serious problem.

Some of the sports associations which received over one million dollars in 2004-2005, were: Bobsleigh, basketball, diving, wrestling, canoe, curling, cycling, hockey, soccer, yachting, coaching, judo, rowing, skating, swimming, and tennis.

Not so lucky in the draw were sports associations receiving only a few hundred thousand dollars: bowling, wheelchair sports, ringette, rugby, shooting, squash, snowboarding, and Sport Dispute Resolution Centre.

Sound fiscal policy is essential to our survival as a nation. Liberal social engineering was a heavy burden on the taxpayer. The whining and groaning from left-lib beneficiaries of this excessive government funding both nationally and internationally, must not deter a level-headed Conservative government from cutting many of these extravagant grants. Billions can be re-directed to more worthwhile endeavours such as broad based personal tax cuts and tax fairness (see Finance Committee Pre-Budget Consultation Highlights, REALity Nov/Dec 2005).

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