The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) held its 17th annual Teddy Waste Awards ceremony, celebrating the best of the worst in government waste. The awards event took place on Parliament Hill at the Charles Lynch Press Conference Theatre.
The Teddy, the pig-shaped award given annually by the CTF to government’s worst waste offenders, is named for Ted Weatherill, a former federal appointee who was turfed in 1999 for submitting a panoply of dubious expense claims, including a $700 lunch for two.
Federal Teddy Winner: Former MP, Cabinet Minister and Mayor of London Joe Fontana
In June 2014, Mr. Fontana was convicted of breach of trust, fraud and uttering forged documents. In 2005, while still a sitting MP, he altered the contract for his son’s wedding reception at the Marconi Club in London, Ontario, and submitted it to the House of Commons for a $1,700 reimbursement, claiming it was actually for a function with the Minister of Finance.
“The real outrage here is that in spite of being convicted of this shameless abuse of taxpayer dollars, Mr. Fontana will continue to collect his gold-plated $122,000 MP pension – which will add up to almost $4 million if he lives to age 90 – courtesy of Canadian taxpayers,” said Wudrick.
Provincial Teddy Winner: Ontario’s Ministry of Energy for expensive/broken/flammable smart meters
In 2004, Ontario’s Ministry of Energy hatched a plan to help reduce energy consumption: installing 4.8 million smart meters across the province, at a cost of $1 billion. In her 2015 annual report, the province’s Auditor General showed that the program has been an unmitigated disaster: cost overruns of $900 million and counting (nearly doubling the original cost); more than 800,000 meters transmitting no data; and 23 incidents of the meters sparking fires. Not to mention that power use during peak periods didn’t drop at all – it actually went up.
Municipal Teddy Winner: Halifax Regional Municipality Councillor Brad Johns
Halifax Regional Municipality Councillors receive an annual discretionary account of $94,000 to spend on their constituents needs – usually on such traditional public goods as parks, playgrounds and maintenance of common areas. Evidently District 19 Councillor Brad Johns feels his constituents are not much in need of such things: he chose to instead spend $25,000 on an 18-foot talking Christmas tree.
“The residents of Middle and Upper Sackville must be already awash in public amenities,” noted Wudrick “How else could a politician possibly arrive at the conclusion that the purchase of a giant robotic Christmas tree would be at the top of his constituents’ wish list?”
We’re tough on all government waste, but sometimes the best way to strike a nerve is to tell some of the most absurd stories,” said Wudrick. “And sadly, the capacity for government to dream up new ways to waste money seems infinite.”
Canadian Taxpayers Federation
