PHOTOS: The Alberta Government’s Dash-8, used and abused by Premier Ralph Klein so that he could smoke while in transit between Calgary and Edmonton (Photo: Wikimedia Commons). It’s not just what you spend, but what you spend it on, says Guest Post Author Bob Raynard, below. Below him: former Conservative
Continue readingTag: government spending
The Sir Robert Bond Papers: Spending the future (2005) #nlpoli
” [The change in the province’s financial outlook] That’s very dramatic…Some people are going to stand back and say ‘Oh yeah, that’s just because your very lucky. That’s because the oil prices have gone up.’ Well, no. That’s part of it. But we had a tough budget, a prudent budget. We’ve
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The Tory-gram Returns #nlpoli
And there it was. Top of the front page. Screaming headline. Economist warns Liberal plan doesn’t make sense. Right underneath a picture of the new Liberal Premier-in-waiting and the new Prime Minister smiling as they met in Ottawa.…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Two solitudes #nlpoli
CBC and the Telegram carried a story on Tuesday that the province would be hit by a “mild recession” next year. There’s not much real news in that since oil and minerals will all be down in price for the foreseeable future. Major projects a…
Continue readingAlberta Diary: What the Fraser Institute’s numbers actually show, minus the spin: Alberta has a revenue problem, not a spending problem
The Fraser Institute: peddling conclusions that don’t match the evidence and have enough holes to store captured carbon. Actual Fraser Institute “fellows” may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: A piece of Swiss cheese, which may actually resemble the claims in a Fraser Institute press release, metaphorically speaking. If the
Continue readingImpolitical: Your $60 million media monitoring programme
Note: This blog post below was written on March 9th but not published. Given this news of the past day, “Harper Government Spends Millions Monitoring Press Of Own MPs,” thought it would be useful additional context. Also, note to self: Listen more intently to that friend who passes these things
Continue readingImpolitical: Your $60 million media monitoring programme
Note: This blog post below was written on March 9th but not published. Given this news of the past day, “Harper Government Spends Millions Monitoring Press Of Own MPs,” thought it would be useful additional context. Also, note to self: Listen more intently to that friend who passes these things
Continue readingWalking Turcot Yards: Transport Quebec warns motorists: stay away from Turcot Interchange this weekend
It was built below specs and has been poorly maintained. Saving on maintenance costs in the first 3 decades created full time maintenance contracts that has cost, and will cost taxpayer’s, over 100′s of million of dollars to maintain a structure that is scheduled to be torn down. Somebody has
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: Some Numbers
Government spending per capita, Toronto: $24,000.Government spending per capita, Attawapiskat: 11,355. That is all.
Continue readingCanadian ProgressiveCanadian Progressive: Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Officer to take Harper Gvt to court
Make no mistake about it: Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) is on a mission to save the soul of Canadian democracy. Kevin Page is proceeding with his earlier threat to sue the Harper Government for its refusal to comply with his repeated requests for financial information relating to the 2012
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Some NL cabinet ministers bill taxpayers for work commuting #nlpoli
Almost half the money (46%) spent on ministerial travel by the municipal affairs department between December 2010 and November 2011 went to cover travel by minister Kevin O’Brien from his home in Gander to St. John’s for cabinet meetings and other government business. O’Brien billed taxpayers for about $77,188 in
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