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This one's for Wild Bill

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10/10/2005 9:15 PM

This one's for Wild Bill

You know by now I'm a tireless defender of my government. Well, this Thanksgiving weekend just ending, I found myself wanting to disavow any connection to my employer.

If you listened to the radio, you probably heard that the Canadian Government had initially pledged $300,000 in aid for the aftermath of the earthquake in Pakistan and south Asia the other day.

$300k.

Now, isn't that just about what high-flying patronage appointees get to spend in travel and entertainment expenses? Or am I confusing it with what they apparently get in severance pay when someone finds out about their travel and entertainment expenses and demands their resignation?

To put it bluntly, I was ashamed. Just ashamed. Fortunately, that amount was upped considerably today.

Boy I wish someone would give me a list of natural disasters on the horizon in the next 6 months. I'm running out of disposable cash for relief donations.

10/11/2005 6:31 AM

Ah Grasshopper, your eyes are starting to open!

I wish it didn't have to happen. Folks are happier with their politics when their eyes are closed. Why, they can trumpet their opinion as fact with anonymous postings all over the Internet!

Actually, maybe the Dingwall thing started the process for you.

What really offended me was not the paltry sum involved so much as seeing Pettigrew on the news going for the photo-op! You'd think he'd personally rescued 10,000 of those poor people!

Talk about a reality disconnect. This government must be put out of its misery. Even an inexperienced new crew would be better than a gang of very experienced crooks, barkers and wastrels...

---Wild Bill

10/11/2005 6:51 AM
Mark Hammer	From where I stand, the communications officer who signed off on the communiqué in the first place ought to have their head and resumé examined. That any communications professional would even dream of announcing anything like that is cause for re-evaluation of their employment.

10/11/2005 11:53 AM
Eric H	Isn't shooting the messenger part of the problem? -Eric

10/11/2005 12:17 PM

Not in this instance. There is a whole lot that cabinet mnisters/secretaries sign off for when rushing between flights or meetings. They rely on the advice of bureaucrats to know that it is okay to sign something you don't have the time to fully read. In such instances, the "messenger" is more like the silent partner. I'm pretty confident that the $300k figure was NOT something that emerged out of multi-stakeholder meetings that went until dawn; especially given that it emerged over the weekend. Somebody scrambled, made a few quick phonecalls, whipped up a number that would be deliverable, and never stopped to think.

One would think that the communications team would have: a) realized that something more would be announced when Thanksgiving belching was over and cabinet was re-assembled, and that b) figures in the same range had been flogged throughout every major newspaper in the country in relation to a recent scandal. It's about as dumb an error as when GWB started talking about "crusades" shortly after 09/11. Just serious, big-time forehead-slapping dumb.

10/11/2005 12:26 PM
Eric H	I completely agree, Mark, I just see it as a small symptom of a bigger problem. His/her head will probably roll, either way.

10/11/2005 10:38 AM

quote:
"$300k."

Isn't that, like, one penny per Canadian? But what's really important to know is whether that includes the native Indians.

But recently, as the thermometer topped 100, I was reminiscing about my years in Vancouver. I guess no government can screw up the weather. Though, it seems, George W. Bush can cause hurricanes...

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