GUN REGISTRY: "the cost has ballooned to a staggering $2 billion"

GUN REGISTRY: "the cost has ballooned to a staggering $2 billion"
Date: May 1, 2005 11:16 AM
PUBLICATION: The Toronto Sun
DATE: 2005.05.01
EDITION: Final
SECTION: News
PAGE: 42
ILLUSTRATION: drawing by Andy Donato
BYLINE: KATHLEEN HARRIS, OTTAWA BUREAU

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MONEY FOR NOTHING
TAXED-TO-THE-MAX CANADIANS SEETHING AT GOVERNMENT 'BOONDOGGLES' THAT ARE COSTING
THEM HARD-EARNED MONEY

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THE SPONSORSHIP scandal is touching a raw nerve with Canadians as they scramble
to meet Monday's dreaded tax file deadline.

Because the normal end-of-April deadline falls on a weekend, filers get an extra
two days to wrap up their tax returns. But many see that as the only break they're
getting from the federal government this year.

From AdScam and other high-priced "boondoggles" to the smaller-ticket
examples of wasteful spending, taxed-to-the-max Canadians are seething about where
their hard-earned dollars are going.

Conservative MP John Williams, his party's waste watchdog, said private accountants
are getting an earful as they help Canadians complete their returns.

"They're asking, 'Why do we have to pay all these taxes when all they do is
waste it,'" he said.

"When they have to write the cheques for the balance owing, they're saying,
'There's no value here.' They're outraged."

Let's start with the Gomery inquiry, which is probing how ad companies reaped $100
million from the $250- million sponsorship program for little or no work. Pricetag
for letting Judge Gomery do his job: an estimated $80 million.

As the inquiry unfolds, taxpayer blood began to boil as some of the spending came
to light. Past government promotional items revealed in the inquiry include $121,159
for golf balls, $15,886 for tees, $1,488,581 for cameras and $16,714 for games and
wheeled toys.

Before John Gomery became a household name, we had the the controversial gun registry.
Originally pegged at $2 million, the cost has ballooned to a staggering $2 billion
by some estimates.

Gerry Nicholls of the National Citizens Coalition said people are more resentful
than ever about paying the taxman.

"They're going to be wondering, 'Is this money going to pay for Liberal ad
agencies? Is it going to help Liberal-friendly corporations? Is it somehow going
to be kicked back to Liberal party coffers?" he said.

Nicholls said Prime Minister Paul Martin's reputation as a strong fiscal manager
has been torn to shreds by an "explosion" of spending.

But Liberal MP John McKay, parliamentary secretary to Finance Minister Ralph Goodale,
said the federal government's fiscal record is "unparallelled" in the
western world.

Pointing to successive federal surpluses, a strong Canadian dollar and big strides
in paying down the national debt, he said the government can't be judged on one
"isolated" incident alone.

"I appreciate that some people are upset with the sponsorship issues -- so
are we," he said.

"But Canada's fiscal management is the envy of the world."

Defending the Liberal government's efforts to curb wasteful spending, McKay said
initiatives have been launched to trim bureaucratic fat, consolidate federal purchasing
and rationalize the government's massive real estate inventory.

"One of the quiet success stories of this government has been to bring management
under tight control," he said.

QUESTIONABLE EXPENDITURES

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation takes issue with that, pointing to a number of
questionable recent expenditures, including $700,000 for tattoos for inmates in
Canadian prisons -- a Health Canada initiative.

The feds also awarded $120,000 to a native band in British Columbia to care for
a whale unable to make its way back to sea.

Williams points to the feds' spending $292,000 for initiatives to reduce the paperwork
burden for small business while blowing more than $1 million to shred their own
paper.

Does this get you so mad that you think something should be done about the system?
Good news -- they granted $20 million to the Forum of Federations to study federalism.

This past week, with election fever in the air, the PM and cabinet ministers spread
out across the country making dozens of spending announcements and "reannouncements."

Williams points out that much of the money being doled out hasn't even been approved
yet. Parliament should give its authority before the Liberal government makes the
big announcements, he said. John Williamson, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers
Federation, said this year's tax deadline comes with more than the usual amount
of anger.

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GONE TO WASTE

- Calling it another "$100-million Liberal boondoggle," Conservative MP
Pierre Poilievre has called on Canada's auditor general to investigate after a federal
building sat empty for nearly a year as taxpayers shelled out more than $500,000
a month in rent. The building in Gatineau, Que., is owned by Liberal Senator Paul
Massicotte's company, Alexis Nihon.

- Documents obtained by Sun Media under Access to Information show taxpayers acquired
two area rugs worth $25,000 a pop for Washington digs and a $27,845 dining table
bound for the new embassy in Berlin. Canadians have also dug deep for black and
white photos ($10,000) and a bronze and glass sculpture ($13,500).

- One of the key ad executives at the centre of the sponsorship scandal was paid
more than $15 million in expenses over four years by the federal government. Jean
Lafleur and his firm, Lafleur Com-munications, got the millions between 1998 and
2002, according to documents obtained by the Sun under Access to Information.

- Canada's Official Languages Commissioner Dyan Adam billed taxpayers more than
$11,000 for a trip to lecture in Scotland and Ireland. Her office also conducted
a global investigation into the use of French at Canadian many embassies.

- Norm Steinberg, the director-general of ethics and audits for public works, spent
$19,000 on a plasma TV for his office.