Accountability: Look closely at your local Region’s budget spending
Remove the deadwood.
Disclaimer
I personally do not advocate any process or procedure contained in any of my Blogs. Information presented here is not intended to provide legal or lawful advice, nor medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, cure, or prevent any disease. Views expressed are for educational purposes only.
Excerpts not verbatim.
Durham Region, Ontario
By David Ward
Dec 18.24
You may recall in an earlier post I mentioned the redrafting of our Region’s proposed Strategic Plan. A group of concerned Uxbridge residents undertook this task. We removed all United Nations verbiage, questionable climate assumptions and Globalist programs that will increase taxes and place massive restrictions on our lives. You’ll also see this version includes the promise of tax reductions. https://wdavidward.substack.com/p/proposed-strategic-plan
Since these ‘framework’ documents can’t contain much in the way of specifics, I’d like to make a few suggestions here.
I was set on this track Dec 11th when I attended a Durham Region Committee of the Whole meeting. A lot of people would agree the Region doesn’t need an additional personal pronoun policy or mandatory ‘Ableism Attitude’ training. We don’t want to pay for another diversity audit / census, or a ‘breast feeding / chest feeding policy’ — as suggested by the Region’s ‘Equity Audit Specialist.’ I was curious, naturally, what such programs might cost the taxpayer. I’m hoping someone here will take up the challenge (if you’re not in Durham Region, you might still consider looking closely at your own Region’s spending on such things), but the first (and easiest) information to pull up is the remuneration this new class of ‘specialist’ employee enjoys.
The Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’s Salary: $176,568 in 2023, up from $163,145 in 2022 (8% + increase). The Equity Audit Specialist’s salary, as it’s not on the Sunshine List, can only be guessed at:
Payscale › research › CA › Job=Audit_Specialist › Salary. Average Audit Specialist Salary in Canada - Payscale Sep 28, 2023. The average salary for an Audit Specialist in Canada is C$80,000 in 2024.
Everyone is tasked to get involved locally
Since our towns are reviewing budgets at the moment, everything in these budgets should be considered, and particularly when some strange (and costly) distortions have occurred in recent years.
You’ll notice a pronounced increase here (on the left) beginning in 2000, but kicking off in earnest at the time of the Great Financial Crisis (GFC), in 2008. It is often the case with government, that when some crisis or another (Y2K, GFC, Covid) has the public distracted, those in the public sector seem to do especially well — when compared to everyday people in the private sector.
Sunshine list Ontario
SunshineListStats.com is a database of Ontario public sector employees who earned more than 100,000 in 2023 and entered the Ontario Sunshine List.
https://www.sunshineliststats.com
Under cover of dark (lockdown days), the following piece of paper circulated widely. The ‘health emergency’ is now officially rescinded, but the jobs don’t go away (only the rate of increase diminishes slightly). Funny how that works in government; but you must admire the creativity involved in coming up with so many new titles, all describing essentially the same thing (an ‘array’ of Sunshine):
This is just Durham Region, Ontario.
AFUERA': Javier Milei vows to cut waste in Argentina Afuera, Afuera, Afuera
Continue at https://wdavidward.substack.com/p/a-ray-of-sunshine
Who is Javier Milei?
Nov 20.23
Argentina President-Elect Javier Milei explained how he would cut government waste. 03:44 mins
Argentina: Anyone notice?
June 2024
Executive measures that include slashing subsidies and firing thousands of public sector employees deepened a recession, increased poverty to 55 percent and sent annual inflation surging 300 percent.
Right-wing and left-wing lawmakers [two wings of the same bird?] clashed over various parts of the 238-article reform bill, which includes declaration of a one-year state of economic emergency allowing Milei to disband federal agencies and privatisation of about a dozen public companies.
https://www.ourgreaterdestiny.ca/p/argentinas-milei-gave-davos-crowd
Purge of the US Government PARODY Trailer
This parody trailer dives into the world of political extremes and tech-inspired madness, blending the drama of reality TV with the wildness of modern satire.
Department of Government Efficiency
UPDATE: Nov. 13, 2024 Just days after this piece was originally published, Trump officially announced the Department of Government Efficiency, headed up by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
In addition to pushing for Trump to choose his appointment recommendations, it appears Musk already got his dream governmental job – a position technically outside of government so he doesn't have to divest from his companies.
The Department of Government Efficiency or "DOGE" isn't a real government agency. It’s a temporary group, with a deadline set by Trump for July 2026, that will provide cost-cutting recommendations aimed at achieving "a smaller Government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy."
It’s hard to imagine that Musk's recommendations won't include slashing regulations and governmental agencies that stand in the way of his companies making even more money. https://mashable.com/article/elon-musk-winner-donald-trump-2024-election
Elon Musk and Technocracy
Like grandfather, like grandson?
https://www.ourgreaterdestiny.ca/p/elon-musk-open-ended
It’s all theater
Government is theatrical performances.
The world is their stage.
All politicians and their ilk are actors, well trained to dodge the truth.
Without prejudice and without recourse
Doreen Agostino
Our Greater Destiny Blog
gf&es-budgets