Tax Dollars Wasted Archives - Monitor Telegram

20TH ANNUAL CTF TEDDY AWARDS FOR GOVERNMENT WASTE

April 11, 2019

Federal – Heritage Canada for the $8.2 million Canada 150 Parliament Hill rink
Provincial – Ontario’s $39 billion Fair Hydro Plan
Municipal – The City of Montreal for $34 million Formula E subsidy
Lifetime Achievement – The City of Calgary’s gaffe-prone public art program

OTTAWA, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today held its 20th annual Teddy Waste Awards ceremony, celebrating the best of the worst in government waste from the past year. CTF Federal Director Aaron Wudrick served as host, joined by the CTF’s pig mascot Porky the Waster Hater and talented event hostess Jessica. The awards event took place on Parliament Hill in the Charles Lynch Press Theatre.

The Teddy, the pig-shaped award given annually by the CTF to government’s worst waste offenders, is named for Ted Weatherill, a former federal appointee who was fired in 1999 for submitting a panoply of dubious expense claims, including a $700 lunch for two.

“Every year, the competition is stiff, but we narrow it down to a handful of the most ridiculous stories,” said Wudrick. “Sadly, we are never short on nominees, as governments seem to be very good at finding new ways to waste money.”

The most outrageous ways the Canadian government is spending our money

April 11, 2019

It appears that when Canadian politicians smell cash in the public trough, they go glassy-eyed and drop all restraint. Federal, provincial, and municipal governments have an ongoing history of outrageous spending, including paying big bucks for non-exploding sausages, softer couch cushions, giant duck mascots, and fake lakes. Death, taxes, and misspending are apparently life’s only certainties.

Ontario’s trillium logo getting makeover under Doug Ford government: sources

April 11, 2019

Redesign costing taxpayers $89K, less than half what Liberal government spent to alter logo in 2006

The Ford government isn’t just putting a new slogan on Ontario licence plates, it’s redesigning the province’s logo too, CBC News has learned.

Two government sources say the province’s trillium logo — reflecting Ontario’s official flower — has been given a makeover.

The updated logo will be deployed across all government branding, which means it will appear on provincial websites, signs, advertising and letterhead.

The cost of the redesign is $89,000, a senior government official told CBC News. The fee is “less than half of what the Liberals spent on the previous logo,” said the official.

In 2006, the Liberal government of then-premier Dalton McGuinty redesigned the trillium logo at a cost of $219,000.

At the time, the PCs slammed the move as a waste of taxpayer dollars.

EXCLUSIVE: Docs reveal costs not considered in Canada 150 ice rink “wish list”

March 22, 2019

You may recall the Canada 150 project known as the Parliament Hill ice rink. It was a boondoggle that the Canadian Taxpayers Federation awarded with a federal “Teddy Government Waste Award.”

We finally received access to information documents from the federal government to give us an understanding of how this sesquicentennial-inspired monster came to fruition.

Who knows why the idea of building a temporary ice hockey rink on Parliament Hill was deemed of paramount importance for the Canada 150 celebrations, or why a simple patch of ice surrounded by a few plywood boards wouldn’t do the trick.

The project was spearheaded by Ottawa bureaucrats using taxpayer money, so of course it would have to be the Rolls-Royce of ice rinks.

And, since this was a federal government project, it missed its original deadline and the off-the-lot price was $82.M, translating into a staggering $100K per-day cost.

As this Franken-Rink evolved from harebrained idea to entrenched reality, the correspondence between bureaucrats responsible for this fiasco makes for unintentionally funny reading.

$173K spent to trumpet PST cut a waste of taxpayers’ money, Liberals argue

March 21, 2019

PCs promised to eliminate partisan ads, but say Manitobans should know they’re keeping promise on PST cut.

The Manitoba Liberals are accusing Brian Pallister’s government of going against its word by using tax dollars to promote a PST cut.

During the 2016 Manitoba election campaign, the Progressive Conservatives promised to eliminate all public spending on partisan advertising.

The party also said it would empower the auditor general to review all advertising and dismiss any promotional materials found to be in violation of the rules.

Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said the government is breaking its promise by advertising an upcoming reduction of the provincial sales tax to seven per cent.

“There’s no public service element to this,” Lamont said. “It’s not telling people to go get vaccinated. It’s not telling people about a new program they can take advantage of. It’s really just spending public money to promote the party in power.”

‘Waste of money’: $300,000 CPP ad campaign sparks outrage

January 11, 2019

A $300,000 ad campaign from the Canada Pension Plan has landed some prime-time slots on Canadian television, but has critics decrying it as a waste of taxpayer money.

The two-month campaign is designed to promote the work of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, using slogans like “investing today for your tomorrow” as a cover of Great Big Sea’s “Ordinary Day” plays in the background. The spots have appeared during breaks in the NFL playoffs and during the IIHF World Junior Hockey Tournament.

Canadians are required by law to contribute to the CPP, which has critics questioning the need to advertise something they are forced to participate in.

Corruption, wasted taxpayer money has become the norm in Albany

August 20, 2018

As Sheldon Silver, the former New York State Assembly Speaker was sentenced to seven years for kickbacks, I was appalled by the state that the Albany legislative body is in today. All the corruption and wasted taxpayer dollars seems not to anger the incumbent elected officials. I know there are some that are upset, but not enough politicians are speaking out on the rampant corruption that Albany is faced with.

Parliament Hill rink wins dubious award for waste of taxpayer dollars

August 13, 2018

The $8.2 million temporary outdoor skating rink built on Parliament Hill to celebrate Canada 150 won the well-known Teddy Awards for government waste this year.

A brainchild of the Department of Canadian Heritage, the structure topped the ranks of the federal government nominees for the dubious prize. The rink, which opened in early December and will remain open until the end of February, will have cost taxpayers approximately $100,000 per day and $53 per skater, calculates the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, which organizes the annual Teddy Waste Awards.

Dr. Atul Gawande: Amazon-Berkshire-JPMorgan venture will tackle 3 types of healthcare waste

July 2, 2018

Atul Gawande, MD, a surgeon at Boston-based Brigham and Women’s Hospital who was named CEO of Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase’s health company last week, said the corporation will take aim at healthcare intermediaries and attempt to tackle three types of waste prominent in the industry, Bloomberg reports.

The venture, which the companies announced in January, will seek to develop ways to improve care for the three companies’ more than 1 million employees who receive health insurance from their respective employers. If their efforts are successful, the companies will reportedly make those innovations freely available to other firms, according to the report.

Sloppy management, not corruption responsible for wasted tax dollars, says Quebec auditor general

June 14, 2018

Quebec’s auditor general, in her second report this year, pointed to sloppy practices, not corruption, in the wasting of taxpayers’ money.

Auditor General Guylaine Leclerc examined leases signed by the Société québécoise de l’infrastructure (SIQ), which rents office space for provincial entities.