On June 27.10
It’s a sad state of affairs when you can pretty much count on the powers that be to do the wrong thing. That clearly goes for the lame-brained decision of the Government of Canada to host the G-20 Summit this weekend (June 26-27, 2010) in downtown Toronto. Turning the heart of this country’s biggest metropolis into a bristling armed camp – complete with legions of black-clad police in full riot gear, military helicopters overhead, and a miniature version of the Berlin Wall surrounding several city blocks – has made for a sorry spectacle. Spending nearly a billion dollars (yes, that’s a billion) on security for a meeting that lasted barely more than a day is sheer reckless irresponsibility. Squandering such an enormous sum for the sake of what amounts to not much more than a photo-opportunity and bragging rights shows a brazen disregard for responsible stewardship of the taxpayers’ money. It also flies in the face of professed concerns for government spending restraint. And, let’s not forget that $57,000 “fake lake”- a glorified wading pool set up in the building set aside for media covering the summit.
It’s not clear that anything of real value ever results from these multilateral get-togethers. Sure, there are some vague, unbinding statements of intent in the form of summit communiques, but these (usually) empty “promises” are worked-out ahead of time by bureaucrats. It’s all but unheard of for heads of government to do more than sign what their underlings have already prepared in advance of the summits. If a group chat is nevertheless wanted, why not have it by video-conference, at a cost of next to nil? And, if our leaders (democratically elected and otherwise – to wit, China and Saudi Arabia) still insist on some non-virtual face-time, why not find a remote, easily defensible location? Alcatraz Prison gets our vote. That site (which is now a museum) is on its own island (in San Francisco Bay) with easily controlled access, and it is already surrounded by high walls. Besides, such a venue might be more conducive to keeping our leaders humble than the current luxury resorts, limos, and black-tie dinners.
On a more serious note, there are plenty of practical measures that could tame the runaway costs of hosting these summits. First of all, why not drastically cut back on the size of national delegations, which currently number in the multiple hundreds for some countries? Such absurdly long retinues are not necessary. Secondly, why not dispense with the luxurious trappings? Are heads of government there to work, or to live like princes at our expense? Thirdly, keep security arrangements to the bare minimum needed to protect the physical safety of visiting leaders. Not so long ago, visiting leaders used to walk the streets of host cities with only a few bodyguards; now, they’re being treated like mega-celebrities. Lest we forget, they’re supposed to be our representatives, not our overlords. Last, but not least, never again make the absurd mistake of staging a spectacle like the one currently unfolding in Toronto in the heart of a big city. It is a city, after all, not an armed camp.
Barbarians Inside the Gates
As perversely thick as it was to hold a summit that was guaranteed to attract violent protesters in the midst of a metropolis where millions of people live and work, it is just as much a cause for dismay to witness the usual mob of itinerant hooligans and troublemakers unleashing their own special brand of violence, vandalism, and mayhem on the hitherto mostly peaceable streets of Toronto. Summit leaders ought never to be shielded from the sights and sounds of peaceful protest. Doing so is an affront to democracy. But, neither they, nor the hapless citizenry who are paying for their five-star weekend getaway, should have to endure smashed windows, burning police cars, and threats of personal injury at the hands of masked mobs of thugs, masquerading as activists, on the city’s streets. There is no excusing the mob’s despicable actions, but they should have been anticipated – and avoided, by holding the summit somehere else.
Being Paid Like Princes
In May, Andrea Horwath, the leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party, proposed a cap on the salaries of civil servants. Her idea was that no civil servant should get paid more than twice what the Premier makes. Since the Premier makes $200,000 per annum, civil servants would be capped at $400,000. Horwath was right in recognizing that salaries at the top end of the public payroll are excessive, but her proposed corrective measures don’t go nearly far enough.
Instead, we propose that no one who is paid in part or in whole from any public coffers (and that means federal, provincial, regional, and municipal) should make more than $175,000 per year. That includes: elected political leaders, bureaucrats, presidents and other senior administrators at universities, colleges, hospitals, and crown corporations, judges, doctors, and senior executives at public transit agencies, public utilities (power, water, and the like), museums and public art galleries, police and fire departments, libraries, public communication and broadcasting organizations (like the CRTC, CBC, and TVO), publicly-funded scientific, health, and educational agencies, publicly-funded transportation agencies (like VIA Rail, or Air Canada before it was privatized), and lottery corporations. There are currently people in most or all of the foregoing categories who make enormous incomes at the public expense. (Have a look at the annually-published “sunshine list” to discover some of them.) It is sheer unadulterated nonsense to suggest, as apologists do, that these jobs will no longer attract “the best people,” without princely incomes ranging to many hundreds of thousands of dollars. On the contrary, the best people are the people who are motivated more by genuine public service than by becoming wealthy at the public expense. There are plenty of eminently talented people who will assume leadership roles in the public sector for a “mere” $175,000! It’s time to roll back the riches, if government “restraint” is to be taken seriously.
What Have They Got to Hide?
What a relief that our secretive Members of Parliament finally relented – in the face of public indignation – in their strident opposition to the Auditor General’s quest to audit their expenses. Apparently, those expenses amount to a half-billion dollars a year! But, M.P.s from all federal parties (save, ironically, the separatist Bloc Quebecois) wanted to perpetuate the practice of having only a committee of fellow M.P.s (the so-called “Board of Internal Economy”) oversee their spending. C’mon! They can’t seriously expect us to be content to simply trust them with such large sums of money — not after the recent spectacles of massive misspending among British M.P.s and at public agencies like e-Health Ontario and the Ontario Gaming and Lottery Corporation. Members of Parliament seem to have forgotten that they are our employees: They work for us, they are spending our money, and we have an absolute right to hold them accountable.