White Meat: Feds Deliver the Pork in Quebec
You can just smell the bacon with the latest pork that’s been dumped into Quebec by its regional development agency. The feds spent $1.6 million there on snow grooming machines. David Akin of CanWest is reporting that “all the clubs to receive money this week are based in or maintain trails through the ridings of two Conservative cabinet ministers: Denis Lebel and Jean-Pierre Blackburn. Lebel is the minister whose department writes the cheques; Blackburn used to run that department.”
Of course the complaints of some will be “where’s my fair share?” but the reality is that “your fair share” as a snowmobile club or company that maintains trails is what you as a private entity are willing to invest in them. That these machines were purchased for the re-election stimulation of a few politicians in Quebec is only half of the problem. That the Conservative government feels that it can better make economic decisions than private companies and investors on the ground is just as disturbing.
To add insult to injury, opposition condemnations of the former ring hollow as they gladly engage in pork-politics whenever they have the chance. On the latter, they openly encourage the myth that they in Ottawa can make sufficiently informed investment and micro-economic decisions.
A pox on all your houses of parliament.
Photo from Sugar Mountain Farm
February 18, 2010
Tags: David Akin, Denis, Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Pork Barrel Spending, Pork Barreling Posted in: Blog Content
4 Responses
I for one don’t see an issue with this… having just spent the weekend in Quebec, I can attest to the fact that they have a MASSIVE tourist industry built on snowmobling, attracting tens of thousands to the region every year. With stiff competition from places like Maine and Vermont, investment is needed to ensure that we remain one of the top destinations for American snowmobliers.
Considering that this equipment is going to be in use for YEARS to come, I think it will all work out in the wash with the tax revenues from tourist dollars coming in over the likely 10+ seasons this stuff is in use.
Will their MASSIVE tourist industry INCOME reduce the amount of equalization payments they suck out of Alberta each year???
Beggars shouldn’t be choosers. Quebecois are unable to look after themselves
Don’t be an idiot Christian. You know that every province in the dominion claims groomed trails make for great tourism.
Nothing but partisan pork from the party that was supposed to be better than Liberals.
Oh, well, once more that I won’t vote for the CPC hypocrits. It was easy to support them in opposition, at least then they weren’t liars.
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