Governments wasting our money.
I can sympathize with Henning, of the Taxpayers Federation, for his questioning of a city website to measure our carbon footprint. (article follows).
I am astounded to find that my dollars are paying for Premier Stelmach’s “One Simple Act,” also known as his climate change plan. Don’t stop reading, this gets even better.
You and I are not only paying for a website that doesn’t really have much in the way of significant information, we are also paying for a team of people to travel around the province finding people who do do (oops), “One Simple Act!”
Oh my, the website has even been updated since Friday! On Friday we had a running total telling us that we had saved about 14 garbage truckloads…..The website has now been redesigned and the running total is now replaced by pictures from “Flickr.” I am betting that our ‘brain trust’ in the Edmonton Legislature found a way to pay someone for taking the video, posting the video, or just putting it on “Flickr.” We Albertans can now proudly say that that we have now saved 104 garbage truck loads from the dump (as of the updated statistics since Friday) since this one simple idea for one simple act was implemented by our one simple premier since his big announcement on June 2! I’m not quite sure how we got from 14 garbage trucks to 104, …and got a redesigned website in a few days…but hey, if the budget is unlimited you can waste money anywhere! This busy, busy team, who you can bet are getting paid, are selling the “One Simple Act” around the province with 2 public appearances in July 2008, 3 in August and 1 in September.
Henning, let us start looking at the real waste and corruption.
Web reference: http://alberta.ca/acn/200806/236584A0625CE-B234-7A78-7FBBEDDD2D4F8696.html
Mon, August 4, 2008
Green website a waste
Taxpayers federation says city's carbon footprint calculator way too expensive
By ALYSSA NOEL, SUN MEDIA
The city's new carbon- footprint calculator doesn't add up as an advantage for Edmontonians, charges a taxpayer watchdog.
Officials recently unveiled the online tool as part of an initiative to make Edmonton a more environmentally friendly city.
It allows citizens to figure out their carbon and ecological footprint.
However, dozens of similar tools are available for free online, argues Scott Hennig, Alberta director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
"The issue isn't whether or not the city should be providing people information on their carbon footprint, the real issue is they could've picked one of a dozen websites to link to," he said.
"It'd be no different than the City of Edmonton spending money to create its own search engine. Google is already doing it for free, or Yahoo or a hundred other ones."
The website, http://edmonton.zerofootprint.net, cost $40,000 to launch and it's estimated it will cost $5,000 a year to maintain.
Hennig is also opposed to the city doling out prizes for people who, after calculating their footprint, promise to reduce their emissions.
"One of the (prizes) is a one-year lease for a hybrid vehicle," he said.
"I don't think most people are going to be opposed to the government being more environmentally friendly, but here you just give your name and say you're going to do something and you can win a prize.
"Handing out prizes doesn't normally sound like the role of government."
But Coun. Don Iveson, whose portfolio includes environment issues, argued the calculator offers residents a unique service while providing the city with useful data at the same time.
"A big advantage of the system we've partnered with is first of all it's more detailed than the free calculator sites out there," he explained.
"When we're partnered with the supplier, we have access to the data ...
"It's not just about giving citizens a tool, it also allows us, in general terms, to look at trends and decisions citizens want to make."
Municipal governments play a huge role in combating global warming, he added.
"Globally, more than half the world's population lives in cities and it's much higher in Canada," he said.
"From what I've read, about 75% of the world's energy consumption takes place in cities ... Cities definitely have a part to play if we're going to actually reduce emissions.
"Federal and provincial governments have the resources and the legislative power, but the place where most of the changes will happen is the cities."
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2008/08/04/6347311-sun.html
Monday, August 4, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Are Iris Eyes Smiling on Budget Day?
Minister Evans,
Since the mid 1990’s ‘severely normal Albertans’ have watched your government talk tough about everyone doing their part to get rid of the debt. Albertans bought in and took their lumps with massive cuts to social programs that hit the most vulnerable populations hard. Your government has squeezed every last drop of economic blood out of seniors, single parents, unskilled workers and the mentally ill, people with developmental disabilities and their families and every other demographic that has not been able to benefit from the so-called “Alberta Advantage.”
You sat at the Cabinet Table when doctors, teachers and nurses were made out to be the enemies; your government vilified each group at your own time in order to convince ‘severely normal Albertans’ believed that each group, in your time, was “the bad guy” and force wage cuts, and cuts to seats at Universities and colleges that directly lead to today’s shortage of health care professionals. You also sat at the cabinet table when the decisions were made to rip apart every segment of public policy that actually provided direct benefits to Albertans, like electricity deregulation, the sale of valuable Albertan owned assets like the Holy Cross, A.G.T. and the natural gas company that Albertans owned, and that now provide fat cheques to their owners.
Minister Evans, will this budget finally acknowledge that all Albertans do not have the same advantage and finally walk the talk about Alberta being a caring and inclusive society? Will your budget allow AISH and Alberta Works recipients to live with some sense of dignity? Will your budget allow seniors in care to spend their final years living in dignity? Will your budget make a real attempt to undo the damage that you, as Health Minister caused by using Calgary as a Petri dish for private health care (or as Ralph and you called it then…the “THIRD WAY”?
Minister Evans, will this, your first budget, offer Albertans complete transparency about who are the winners and losers? Will it tell Albertans (your employers) whether all Albertans will benefit from all of the various grants, loans, and graft that we all know is right there in the billions that might never be properly accounted for since your government refused the Auditor General a $20,000? budget increase to publish biannual reports, rather than annual reports?
These are but a few of the questions that I have for Minister Evans.
As Health Minister she globe-trotted on a pretty regular basis, yet Albertans have yet to see any benefit from the thousand upon thousands of public dollars she spent seeing New Zealand, Australia, France and the U.K. (at a cost of over $20,000 – and that’s just for France and the U.K.), Switzerland, Sweden, Washington (and don’t fool yourself that this would be an inexpensive trip – it came in at just under $12,000. – a relatively CHEAP outing for Minister Evans). As employment Minister Iris had some lovely adventures, spending your $32K plus to visit the Philippines, Japan and China October 5 – 19 2007, just shy of $36K to see Paris, France. London, England. Berlin, Germany. Amsterdam, Holland from April 19-29 in 2007, and a mere $14,419.72 in Dallas from March 21, 2007 to March 27, 2007.
Since the mid 1990’s ‘severely normal Albertans’ have watched your government talk tough about everyone doing their part to get rid of the debt. Albertans bought in and took their lumps with massive cuts to social programs that hit the most vulnerable populations hard. Your government has squeezed every last drop of economic blood out of seniors, single parents, unskilled workers and the mentally ill, people with developmental disabilities and their families and every other demographic that has not been able to benefit from the so-called “Alberta Advantage.”
You sat at the Cabinet Table when doctors, teachers and nurses were made out to be the enemies; your government vilified each group at your own time in order to convince ‘severely normal Albertans’ believed that each group, in your time, was “the bad guy” and force wage cuts, and cuts to seats at Universities and colleges that directly lead to today’s shortage of health care professionals. You also sat at the cabinet table when the decisions were made to rip apart every segment of public policy that actually provided direct benefits to Albertans, like electricity deregulation, the sale of valuable Albertan owned assets like the Holy Cross, A.G.T. and the natural gas company that Albertans owned, and that now provide fat cheques to their owners.
Minister Evans, will this budget finally acknowledge that all Albertans do not have the same advantage and finally walk the talk about Alberta being a caring and inclusive society? Will your budget allow AISH and Alberta Works recipients to live with some sense of dignity? Will your budget allow seniors in care to spend their final years living in dignity? Will your budget make a real attempt to undo the damage that you, as Health Minister caused by using Calgary as a Petri dish for private health care (or as Ralph and you called it then…the “THIRD WAY”?
Minister Evans, will this, your first budget, offer Albertans complete transparency about who are the winners and losers? Will it tell Albertans (your employers) whether all Albertans will benefit from all of the various grants, loans, and graft that we all know is right there in the billions that might never be properly accounted for since your government refused the Auditor General a $20,000? budget increase to publish biannual reports, rather than annual reports?
These are but a few of the questions that I have for Minister Evans.
As Health Minister she globe-trotted on a pretty regular basis, yet Albertans have yet to see any benefit from the thousand upon thousands of public dollars she spent seeing New Zealand, Australia, France and the U.K. (at a cost of over $20,000 – and that’s just for France and the U.K.), Switzerland, Sweden, Washington (and don’t fool yourself that this would be an inexpensive trip – it came in at just under $12,000. – a relatively CHEAP outing for Minister Evans). As employment Minister Iris had some lovely adventures, spending your $32K plus to visit the Philippines, Japan and China October 5 – 19 2007, just shy of $36K to see Paris, France. London, England. Berlin, Germany. Amsterdam, Holland from April 19-29 in 2007, and a mere $14,419.72 in Dallas from March 21, 2007 to March 27, 2007.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Feds up $13.4 for Worldskills Alberta 2009
The question is...will the Alberta government be missing in action, but still on the expense account?
Then Education Minister Ron Liepert spent $13,087.66 of our dollars to fly to Japan in November of 2007, supposedly to attend Worldskills 2007 and learn all he needed to know to host the competition in 2009 back home in Alberta.
His trip for the 4 day event was budgeted at $13,770.
As some might recall, Liepert was in Japan when the teachers pension settlement happened. Faster than Superman, Liepert was back in Alberta, front and centre, for the announcement on Novmeber 15th!
What puzzles is how Liepert managed to spend virtually all of the budgeted expenses even though he cut the trip short by half. $905.20 for meals for two, maybe three days? Mr. Liepert had better start watching his waist!
Then Education Minister Ron Liepert spent $13,087.66 of our dollars to fly to Japan in November of 2007, supposedly to attend Worldskills 2007 and learn all he needed to know to host the competition in 2009 back home in Alberta.
His trip for the 4 day event was budgeted at $13,770.
As some might recall, Liepert was in Japan when the teachers pension settlement happened. Faster than Superman, Liepert was back in Alberta, front and centre, for the announcement on Novmeber 15th!
What puzzles is how Liepert managed to spend virtually all of the budgeted expenses even though he cut the trip short by half. $905.20 for meals for two, maybe three days? Mr. Liepert had better start watching his waist!
Tweedle Dum at The Sun
I used to do a cursery read of the Calgary Sun on a daily basis, much as I did of the Herald, Journal, Edmonson Sun the Post and the Globe to glean the political tidbits as well as the current events that might be forming said tidbits.
Unfortunately,the past few days I was forced to confront the self-serving ramblings published in the Calgary Sun.
I can usually let a lot roll offf of my back, but me-thinks that Bell has been on the bong. How else to describe his recent rants based on nothing more than an injured ego?
For one example see: http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Bell_Rick/2008/03/04/4901326-sun.php
then just keep clicking on the links at the bottom of the columns.
As to lower voter trunout, in spite of the billions of our dollars this government spends on internet technology, no where on line was an Alberta voter able to find out where they voted. That is because the Elections Alberta website could/would only tell you what electoral district you lived in, not where you voted. If you could actually navigate the site to find your "returning Officer" (should you know the term), these, for the most part appointed tories friends, who were appointed in December had not one single public website.
Such is the life in a banana republic, without the good weather!
Labels: Alberta, Bell, election, government IT unused, journalsim draft 2:12:00 AM by why_knot Delete
1 – 2 of 2
Unfortunately,the past few days I was forced to confront the self-serving ramblings published in the Calgary Sun.
I can usually let a lot roll offf of my back, but me-thinks that Bell has been on the bong. How else to describe his recent rants based on nothing more than an injured ego?
For one example see: http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Bell_Rick/2008/03/04/4901326-sun.php
then just keep clicking on the links at the bottom of the columns.
As to lower voter trunout, in spite of the billions of our dollars this government spends on internet technology, no where on line was an Alberta voter able to find out where they voted. That is because the Elections Alberta website could/would only tell you what electoral district you lived in, not where you voted. If you could actually navigate the site to find your "returning Officer" (should you know the term), these, for the most part appointed tories friends, who were appointed in December had not one single public website.
Such is the life in a banana republic, without the good weather!
Labels: Alberta, Bell, election, government IT unused, journalsim draft 2:12:00 AM by why_knot Delete
1 – 2 of 2
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