Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Today's blog is a continuation of yesterday’s blog, courtesy of NDP leader Howard Hampton: "The McGuinty government decided to embrace the privatization efforts of Mike Harris, especially when it comes to healthcare. Each patient bed at Brampton’s William Osler Health Centre, constructed as a so-called private-public-partnership, cost taxpayers double what it would have cost using public not-for-profit methods"...Ouch!

Monday, December 22, 2008 
Today's blog is courtesy of Ontario NDP leader Howard Hampton who commented on the Auditor General's most recent report: "A court backlog of 275,000 criminal charges that could be tossed out, meat processing plants with close to 30 per cent deficiency rates, the inspection of only 3 out of every 1,000 commercial vehicles on our roads, and 10 per cent of water systems operating without proper licences - it all points to a public safety crisis in Ontario"...Ouch!

Thursday, December 18, 2008 
An Audit of Vaughan Mayor Linda Jackson revealed that some $14,000 in claims without receipts as well as claims for lavish lunches and dinners...Ouch!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008
The Canadian Taxpayers federation reported that at least $25,907 was spent on mementos for the Western Premiers Conference in 2006. Items included were golf shirts, fishing reels, jackets, and scales for weighing fish...Ouch!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The USA with a population of 135,000,000 has 100 Senators, 2 elected from each State regardless of its size or population. How come that we with a population of 33,000,000 have 103 Senators? This is one of the many reasons for the high cost of government in Canada ...Ouch! From NCC Member Bill M. Senators make $133,000 a year and The Senate of Canada Annual Report for 2005-2006 reported a cost of $76,526,904.

Monday, December 15, 2008 
On November 14, 2008 the Toronto Star reported on the questionable expenses filed under the Toronto Catholic District School Board. In total $19,747 in questionable expenses have not yet been repaid. Expenses include a gold ring, vanity plates, sports equipment, alcohol charges, duplicate claims, and a shoe repair ...Ouch!

Friday, December 12, 2008
The Honourable Lise Thibault was sworn in as Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec on January 30th, 1997. She remained in this position until 7 June 2007. More than $1.7 million was paid to the former Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec between April 1997 and the end of March 2007. Of this amount, approximately $1 million was spent on official duties. The other $700,000 was questioned by the Auditor General of Canada due to missing documentation, illegible documentation or expenses simply not within the Lieutenant-Governor's role...Ouch!

Thursday, December 11, 2008
Ontario Auditor General, Jim McCarter reported on Monday, December 8th, 2008 that Ontario correctional facility workers average 32 sick days a year and that is costing an extra $20 million in overtime and contract staff costs...Ouch!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008
In May of 2003, John Williams reported on promotional and in-house government purchases. His report included  $121,159 on golf balls, $15,886 for golf tees, and $1,488,581 for cameras...Ouch!

Tuesday, December 09, 2008
An audit of Natural Resources Canada revealed that in 2005-2006 they spent $1.7 million on cell phones and BlackBerries. It was reported that 20% of the employees who had a phone did not need a phone. Also, by negotiating individual contracts rather than as a bulk package, Natural Resources of Canada could have saved nearly $500,000 a year. Finally, Natural Resources has no policy to recoup the costs of private use of the phones...Ouch!

Monday, December 8, 2008
For the 2007 Cannes Festival Fil Fraser spent a total of $10,961.90 in eight days. This included $5,433.31 on air fare, $4,534.80 on accommodation, $638.13 on meals and incidentals, and $355.66 on other transportation...Ouch!

Friday, December 05, 2008
The $4.7 million program PromArt administered by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (that has since been cancelled) provided grants for international travel to Canadian Artists. One of the biggest beneficiaries of the program was the Toronto International Film Festival. Last year it was given nearly $150,000 to bring out of country film buyers to Toronto...Ouch!

Thursday, December 04, 2008
For the 2007 Cannes Festival Fil Fraser spent a total of $10,961.90 in eight days. This included $5,433.31 on air fare, $4,534.80 on accommodation, $638.13 on meals and incidentals, and $355.66 on other transportation...Ouch!

Wednesday, December 03, 2008
A Federal Coalition government requires the Bloc Quebecois cooperation. For their cooperation it has been reported that Quebec will get an extra $1 billion in transfer payments...Ouch!

Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Public Works minister Michael Fortier spent $22,000 on four trips between Montreal and his second home in Maine over two summers (from 2006-2007) ...Ouch!

Monday, December 01, 2008
Rona Ambrose, former environment minister, spent $13,965 to fly to Kenya in November of 2006...Ouch!