(warning - a political rant is about to be unleashed ... proceed with caution ...) This week the news is filled with the latest report from The Auditor General Sheila Fraser, who has inventoried the latest round of mis-spending in Ottawa ... It occurs to me as I read the unfolding of the story, that one of the main problems in these highly paid positions in Ottawa, and in political circles, is that they are filled by people who have built elaborate political networks of obligations and favours rather than by people who are qualified for the positions ...
It seems to be about popularity and connections ... not skills, ability and competence ...
Heck, for the kind of salary many of those positions offer, I would gladly do any of them for HALF of what guys like Mr. Stewart were paid ... and my spending would be less lavish than what Ms Fraser has inventoried ... I would even do the job !!
The problem, from where I sit in my comfortable arm chair ... okay at the moment, I'm on the couch with my lap top perched on my lap (where else??) is simply this: It's a case of who you know, and who you are related to ... skill, competency and ability are totally irrelevant, and the tax payer suffers as a result.
Take as an example - Justin Trudeau. I have no doubt he is a nice young man. We've watched him grow up, and who didn't get teary hearing him eulogize his father a couple of years back? He's an eloquent speaker, and an articulate man. BUT - in this weekend's newspapers as they were gearing up for the ongoing Liberal Convention there were a number of articles and references that cite him as the possible "NEXT" leader of the Liberal Party ... PARDON???
Admittedly, Justin is NO George Jr - and may in all likelihood make a good Prime Minister ... but I have to ponder aloud - what beyond his last name gives him any qualifications for the office of Prime Minister???
Can we not see, and more importantly, do something about this??
Maybe I'm reading too much of Howard Zinn's "A People's History of The Untied States: 1492 to the present" wherein he outlines the formation of networks even in colonial times which then determined the destiny of a nation ... Zinn maintains that even though the Constitution says "all men are created equal" some have always been created MORE equal than others ... it was seemingly true in the US, and it is true here ... The Family Compact is alive and well ...
It should never be about who you know or who you're related to ... it should be about equality of ALL people, not just for some ...
But hey, while I'm ranting and dreaming ... I'll dream of world peace ... both are about as likely ... and that may be the saddest thing of all ...
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