Canadian, Governments of the “Western World” Best Described as TOO.

TOO: BELLIGERENT, COMPLACENT, COSTLY, CORRUPT, EASILY BRIBED, EASILY BOUGHT AND PAID FOR, GREEDY, HARD OF HEARING, INEFFICIENT, INEPT, SLOW MOVING—YOU CAN ADD YOUR OWN WORDING.

It still all amounts to:

A flash of light, a thunder clap, billions of dollars going up in smoke.

November 3, 2015; The City of Victoria is the nation’s worst offender when it comes to municipal spending.

When Victoria’s new mayor and council took office in 2014, there were 254 city employees earning more than $75,000 dollars a year. Those numbers have proven costly, totalling 44 per cent of the city’s salary costs. “I’ve heard really clearly that, yes, spending has gone up and up and up,” said Mayor Lisa Helps.

Yes, I should say it has.

A new report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business is calling Victoria the nation’s worst offender when it comes to municipal spending.

“We saw operating budgets grow six times faster than the population growth,” said the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’s Richard Truscott. “Six times faster than the ability for the tax base to pay for that. That simply is not sustainable for the long term.”

B.C.’s capital is not alone. One, real, look at major cities across Canada show the trend is widespread; the norm; rather than an exception.

In Canada, between 2003 and 2013, real operating spending increased by 43 per cent across the board. During the same time period, the population only grew by 11 per cent.

The biggest drain? A rapidly expanding workforce paired with higher wages and expensive benefits. During the past decade, that’s up 23 per cent in Victoria and 15 per cent in Vancouver.

To reverse this trend, will not be an easy task; if indeed it is any longer possible. All government, at all levels; rural, urban, municipal, provincial, Federal, GLOBAL; will have to freeze additional funding to and for anything WHATSOEVER; until all government can better manage their spending--WASTE. Conditions, THE DRY ROT, THE RUST, THE USELESS UNDERGROWTH; such as exist- in every political machine, every government in the “WESTERN WORLD” take years OF CITIZEN/TAXPAYER COMPLACENCY in order to develop. It will take years of diligent effort-BY THE PEOPLE, OF THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE-in order to correct them.

Our goal must become: TO ACTIVELY work with local governments, ADMINISTRATING, CONTROLING, DIRECTING, SUPERVISING challenge them as we’ve challenged ourselves-in short; TAKING OVER THE JOB which we HIRED and long believed we could rely on politicians to do. We need to look at ALL spending and make sure we make decisions with one thing in mind: there is only one who really pays-can really pay- and that is US- the working taxpayers –the citizens of CANADA.

Some cities have made progress. Ottawa and Toronto have kept their spending close to the population growth benchmark, while surprisingly-or maybe not, depending on who OR WHAT, else is paying; Montreal has reduced personnel costs. Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps, and council; plan to follow the lead of these cities. Positions have been cut, and the budgeting process has been overhauled. Well, hopefully they have been.

It will take time.

Since the recession hit in 2008, Ottawa has added more than $150-billion to the national debt. Provinces piled on a further $217-billion.

February 16, 2015; OTTAWA — the federal government says Canada’s war in Iraq has cost at least $122 million, not including salaries and other fixed costs.

September 18, 2015; Niqab-ban case has cost government $257,000, so far.

 A major theme of this year’s federal and various provincial budgets is continuing deficit spending and growing government debt. The result of recent deficits and debt accumulation is that the combined federal and provincial net debt has increased from $823 billion in 2007/08 to over $1.2 trillion (or $34,905 for every man, woman, and child living in Canada) in 2013/14.  This type of debt accumulation has costs. One major consequence is that governments must make interest payments on their debt similar to households who pay interest on borrowing related to mortgages, vehicles, or credit card spending. Spending on interest payments consumes government revenues and leaves less money available for other important priorities such as spending on health care and education or tax relief. Canadian governments (including local governments) collectively spent an estimated $61.7 billion on interest payments in 2013/14.  To put that in perspective, it is more than Canada’s public spending on primary and secondary education ($61.0 billion, as of 2011/12, the last year for which we have finalized data), or more than the three major federal-to-provincial government transfer programs comprising Equalization, the Canada Health Transfer and Canada Social Transfer ($58.6 billion).~~Al (Alex-Alexander) D Girvan.