Money to Burn

I receive a regular newsletter from an organisation called The National Citizen's Coalition. Every so often they send a small report on the latest examples of Government waste. This always greatly encourages me to send in the taxes I owe. I work hard for my money, it is disconcerting to know that someone is not bothered by getting rid of it in the most conspicuously inefficient way possible. A few examples:

Four years ago the Saskatchewan government spent $5,000,000 to renovate a nurses college classroom into offices. They just committed another $11,000,000 to turn the offices back into a nurses college classroom.

The Province of Ontario has paid some $23.4 million in legal fees for a fraud trial that has yielded $3.5 million in returns plus interest.

Shelia Fraser reported that Correctional Services of Canada does not obtain the best value at the lowest available cost. This would contribute to the $2.2 billion budget for Correctional Services annually for its 14,500 inmates. That works out to be over $150,000 per inmate per year.

An audit of the Canadian Revenue Agency revealed that at least $3,000,000 has been paid to employees who no longer work there.

There are more, but you get the picture. The next two months are tax preparation months for most of us and, keeping in mind that our government really needs your funds, this should encourage you to get your tax return in early this year.