Check It Out: How to root out waste and inefficiency?

By Joan Janzen

An employer said to his employee: “You’ve got a problem with avoiding personal accountability.” The employee responded, “Ya, and whose fault is that?”

A man stood up at a board meeting and announced to one of the members at the table, “The Board has decided to let you go for poor performance and needless overspending. So take your measly quarter billion severance package and hit the street!”

Ian Madsen from Troy Media addressed the topic of overspending and government waste in a May 1 article. Overstaffed departments, subsidy giveaways, and unchecked government waste are prompting Canadians to recognize the need for an agency dedicated to rooting out inefficiency.

He acknowledged the Office of the Auditor General is efficient at identifying waste and poor performance but is not proactive and lacks enforcement powers. He also expressed the need for a Canada Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency Team.

So what is the most cost-efficient and non-partisan means of rooting out waste and inefficiency? In his article, Ian commended the work of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) on tracking government spending, waste and extravagant programs. One example is CTF’s tracking of $30 billion in subsidies to multinational corporations like Honda and Volkswagen.

The National Citizens Coalition is another non-profit organization that has been advocating for less government waste and greater individual freedom since 1967. They stand for common-sense policies that put Canadians first.

As you can see, both the Auditor General and non-profit organizations are very adept at identifying government waste and inefficiency. It is true there is an urgent need for a Canada Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency Team, but would it be possible for such a team to remain non-partisan if it was funded by the government?

What would happen if a non-profit organization such as the CTF was allowed to form a Canadian accountability team and was given enforcement powers? If that were the case, Canadians could be certain that the team would be independent of the government and non-partisan while reporting directly to Parliament.

Wouldn’t it be another waste of taxpayer dollars if the government were to duplicate the work of organizations that are already doing a great job? CTF has a proven performance level, and given the opportunity they would be equally as effective at enforcing efficiency.

While Parliament was delayed and now plans to close from June 20 to September 15, non-profit groups such as CTF will keep on working. They are the ones who are engaging with Canadians and asking for their input. And they’re not doing it because they’re getting compensated by a huge government pay cheque followed by a large pension. They’re doing it solely because they are committed to action rather than half-promises.

The group is also proactive, pushing the government to cut spending and stop increasing the debt and wasting billions on debt interest payments. 

In their most recent newsletter, CTF warns Canadians about future plans to tax home equity.

“Since 2016, the federal government has forced Canadians to report the sale of their homes to the CRA, even though it’s presently tax-exempt,” the report stated. “There is no need to require this unless you were planning to tax home equity at some point.”

They also took a look at the forecasted $225 billion federal debt over the next four years. “How will the government pay for all this spending? It isn’t likely to come from building pipelines and developing Canada’s natural resources,” CTF reported.

One of the best ways to push politicians to act is by conducting polls, which politicians care about. CTF reported polls made a big difference on issues like the capital gains tax hike.

Meanwhile, the Fraser Institute’s policy report stated, “Over the past decade, the size of government in Canada and the overall government debt burden have grown faster than nearly every other advanced economy in the world.”

During a CTF podcast, Franco Terrazzano mentioned elements of the throne speech that jumped out at him. One was a vague commitment to cut the waste, but very little detail. If you want to hear more vague commitments, all you have to do is listen to the answers given during a session of Question Period.

Canadians have become weary of hearing words. They want to see waste and inefficiency eliminated, tax cuts enforced, pipelines built, natural resources developed, and censorship laws trashed. Stalling on all of those things makes it apparent that the government has a different set of values and ideologies than most of the people who live in Canada.