Len's News, Notes, and Stuff

Ottawa MPs costing you money, all for photo opps with Haitian orphans

Politicians love photo opps with little babies. They also love photo opportunities with orphans from Haiti, and are willing to inconvenience many people and cost taxpayers money for them. Maybe you’ll want to think twice about voting Conservative again in the next federal election in Canada.

Then again, politicians are politicians, no matter what party they come from. Maybe this would happen regardless of party affiliation. Still, as a taxpayer and voting citizen, you should know what’s going on.

You have undoubtedly heard on the news about Haitian orphans almost at the end of the adoption process being expedited and transported up to Canada. Well, here are some more details.

1. All Haiti evacuees are supposed to be flown to the Montral airport at Dorval. A reception centre with medical, social, security, and immigration services is all set up there.
2. The vast majority of Haiti evacuees are destined for somewhere in the Province of Quebec. Makes sense, since Haitians speak French & Creole.
3. Federal ministers are in Ottawa and (a) don’t want to fly to Montreal, and (b) would have to fight through Quebec provincial red tape to get photo ops with the orphans at Dorval.

So, the solution seems obvious, from a politician’s point of view: Fly the whole planeload of orphans and other evacuees to Ottawa. Get a picture taken with the orphans, make the voters feel good, get a few more votes.

The problem is that Ottawa has to set up a reception centre for the incoming orphans and evacuees when Montreal already has a perfectly good one set up. It also means that after the plane lands, and the orphans & other evacuees are processed, they’re all transported by bus. Where to? Right to the Dorval Airport reception centre where they would have started out if the planes were directed to Montreal in the first place.

This isn’t costing tons of money, but it is costing you the taxpayer something. It also shows the slick side of politics that gives politicians the bad rap they sometimes rightfully deserve. They’re willing to cause other people trouble and use taxpayers’ dollars to do something that has no benefit or value to anyone other than giving a few politicians an opportunity to look good.

We all want to help the Haitians, and we all want to help kids. But the next time you see a photo of an MP next to a group of Haitian orphans, or any politician next to the group-we’re-helping-this-quarter, ask yourself and your elected representatives to what extent the shots were staged and whether they cost extra taxpayer resources and money to make possible.

You’re paying for politicians to look good. You should know when that’s happening and ask questions. Sometimes it’s justified, sometimes it’s not.