5-0-1 Campaign

Coming out of a harmful recession, the obstacles confronting us are quite ominous. Canada’s spending and debt are both climbing at an unsustainable pace, and it is necessary to take steps to curtail and rectify this today. With our national debt above $500-billion, and our combined provincial debt estimated at $350-billion, our government has become too big while accomplishing too little.

Entrepreneurs and small business are, and will continue to be, the real engine of job growth in Canada. So these are our recommendations to get Canada back on the right track.

5-0-1

We call this our 5-0-1 Campaign for better government. This is a framework to begin working towards fiscal prudence and to bring our public debt under control.

• The 5 stands for an immediate five per cent pay cut for all provincial and federal elected officials. As elected officials you have been very fortunate to have some job security while the rest of the population faces uncertainty in almost every sector. This action may be seen as symbolic in nature, yet it is also a real way to begin lowering the cost of government. We need to reduce the disconnection that Canadians feel towards government, and leading from the top would be an effective start.

• The 0 stands for zero-based budgeting. This is a practice that rejects the yearly, unquestioned growth of departmental and agency budgets. Rather than simply building on the previous years’ spending by a set percentage, budgets should be built from zero for all departments and wasteful spending thus prevented from persisting into subsequent budgets. This will also allow a constant reappraisal of priorities, and will serve to significantly reduce the gap that has grown between Canadians and their government over recent years. With the runaway growth in spending over recent years it is now incumbent upon this government to ensure that departmental and agency budgets are decided upon with care and that value for taxpayers is attained.

  When any government contracts expire and are to be renewed, or new contracts are established, they must reflect proper market conditions. The compensation of some of our public servants is out of control. A zero-based budgeting approach has been embraced by many jurisdictions around the world for its efficiency. When this same approach is utilized for an economy like that of Canada, the year-over-year cost savings can be extraordinary.

• The 1 represents a commitment on the part of the government to limit program spending growth to one per cent per year. This is a necessary step to prevent the development of a structural deficit, especially with an eye to the mid- to long-term future.  The federal government has incurred spending increases averaging around 5% each year, not even including the massive spending increases associated with the stimulus program. Provincially, the situation is quite bleak as well with Ontario and British Columbia both tallying record deficits and increasing spending around 5% per year.

The 1 also represents a new direction for public service hiring practices. For every two public servants that retire there should be only one new hire. This is a responsible measure to reduce the size of government in a harm-free way while also avoiding conflict with public unions. With an aging population, this practice can yield results very quickly. Indeed, salary and benefit considerations are the most costly element of the public service. This money can be saved in a harm-free way, without sudden or mass-layoffs and it is in the best interest of Canadians to do so.

National Citizens Coalition President, Peter Coleman, has gone on the record against government waste (available here) and public servant salaries (available here in text and here as a graphic). The NCC will continue to do so until fiscal conservatism is back in Ottawa.

Now we have a radio ad (available here) to bring government waste back onto the political agenda. We need your help to get as much air time as possible for this campaign.

Click here to donate and help us in this most important campaign.

Click here to contact your MP and tell them what you think about government waste.

We know this will be a tough fight!  But with your support today, we will continue to run newspaper ads and radio commercials to advocate on behalf of you, the over-burdened taxpayer.