Added: Jul 2, 2010

From: DavidRaymondAmos

Duration: 2:53

Checky out Tony and friends http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UthYKxk19TM Facebookstandup | February 14, 2010 http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/no... Petition for Full Investigation/Audit Nova Scotia MLA Expenses Ocean Playground? Its a pig trough By MARILLA STEPHENSON Sat. Feb 13 - 4:54 AM POLITICS HAS been forever changed in Nova Scotia. The depth of the rage and fury is unprecedented among taxpayers after a week of exhausting revelations about excessive spending of public money by MLAs from all three political parties. There will be hope that opportunities for MLAs to access public funds as part of their compensation packages and expenses will be strictly controlled. Folks could be forgiven for harbouring doubts about how effective the promised overhaul of the expense system will turn out to be, given that MLAs will still get to approve whatever package comes forward. But change has been promised and Im sure it will come. The much larger change will emerge in the form of a universally cynical, jaded public that will never again extend the benefit of the doubt to those who hold public office. Of course, many people were already cynical about politicians. After all, there has been no lack of high-profile spending, patronage and conflict scandals in the past. This is Nova Scotia. This is the home of liquor-sales kickbacks and crooked trust funds, Mercator, Billy Joe, the Ding-Wall, the Road to Nowhere, Westray, Air Buchanan . . . the list is long. Over the past week, some folks have shrugged and wondered what all the fuss is about. So, what else is new, eh? What is new, this time around, is the level of public outrage, coupled with the all-party involvement in over-the-top expenses. The purchases included patio furniture, generators, ship models, endless lists of cameras, printers, computers, GPS units and oh, mustnt forget Dance Dance Revolution for the Xbox 360. This is the land of Judy Espresso, Glace Bays Barbeque Dave, Raise-a-Reader Epstein, Make-me-Hurlburt and Inspector Len Gadget. Chronicle Herald online editor Rick Conrad told me Friday the newspapers website reached unprecedented levels of reader feedback on coverage of MLA expenses over the past week. More than 1,500 readers comments were posted in reaction to the news stories, and several hundred thousand hits were received on the stories, columns and editorials. The only news events in recent years that have come anywhere close to generating such public reaction were the murder of Karissa Boudreau and the anti-bullying message campaign launched by pink-shirted teenagers. The long, broad list of MLAs who took excessive advantage of our hard-earned tax dollars outlines a shameless attitude of entitlement. The year-end timing of much of the spending, as outlined in The Chronicle Herald on Friday, is reminiscent of a child emptying out a piggy bank at Christmastime . . . except in this tale, the kiddies who spent the money didnt fill the piggy bank themselves. If the outrageous, excessive, itemized spending accounts of some of these MLAs does not conjure up images of pigs lined up to feed at the trough, I cant image what would. The offenders have done a great disservice to the system of democratic government in Nova Scotia, and the recovery process will be long and painful. The public trust is desperately eroded. In defence of our beleaguered MLAs, the "system" for expenses has been widely criticized. The rules are too lax. Besides, politicians must be paid well, the saying goes, or "quality" candidates will not step forward to run. What a joke that old chestnut has become. Yes, the system is desperately in need of an overhaul. Yes, the system is weak. But its not nearly as weak as the ethics and principles of some of the people we chose to be our political leaders and to safeguard our tax dollars. Nova Scotia will be the poorer for this scandal, not just in terms of wasted public funds and our reputation for harbouring inept politicians and imposing questionable levels of taxation that have fuelled these infuriating abuses. Even as many hard-working people have fought to establish this province as a great place to do business and raise a family, our political brain trust has vigorously reinforced our timeless image as a boondoggle of backwater politics. This is Canadas Ocean Playground, where the tides of riches never ebb for politicians, and where the rest of the desperate suckers get to throw taxes to the winds.

Channel: News

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