I’m sorry. I had decided not to write another one of my blogs complaining about the government. I read the TJ article, put it out of my mind and it kept popping back in.
So you bear the brunt.
What’s wrong with Jeannot Volpe?
Excerpt from today’s story: Lord enjoys ‘good news’ day in north
He [Volpe] said the government will support efforts like this to build a diversified economy producing full-time, year-round, jobs – not seasonal work and employment insurance.
Mr. Volpé said the number of people working in New Brunswick has increased by 36,000 since 1999 when the current government came to power.
He also predicted that, for the third year in a row, the unemployment rate in New Brunswick will come in at less than 10 per cent.
Does the credit for these jobs go to the change in government?”It’s a change of attitude,” the minister said.
Now, Jeannot Volpe is anything but stupid so I assume he wants to purposely mislead people for political gain and the journalists don’t seem to want to question anything that is said.
For example, Volpe knows that the 36,000 new jobs created represent the third worst job creation rate in Canada since the Tories came to power. So why brag? He also knows that the largest component of those jobs has been government jobs – a 40% increase in provincial government spending will do that. But is it sustainable to have your job creation dependent on government spending? He knows it’s not. Volpe knows that the number of small businesses operating in New Brunswick is down 8% since 2000. He knows that there are actually more people on EI today than in 2000 and that total EI income in the province is up 26% – well above all other forms of income in the province. As he brags about an unemployment rate below ten – he doesn’t tell us that there are more people on EI than ever.
But most of all, Volpe knows that the province’s population is in decline. He knows that the north is being emptied by thousands per year.
And he cynically states that all of this ‘prosperity’ is the result of a ‘change in attitude’ in Fredericton.
On that we can agree.
Thousands of people moving out of Northern NB each year, and it takes the Premier and the Finance Minister to announce a $135k project? They spend $6 billion every year and they have the two top politicians to announce a $135k project? That’s 0.002% of the budget folks. To put it another way, if the Premier and the Finance Minister announced every $135k spent by the provincial government, they would have an announcement every 10 seconds of every day of every year. Do the math $6 billion budget divided by the number of minutes in the year divided by $135k.
I fear we have passed a tipping point and Jeannot Volpe is running government ‘like its 1999’ in Prince-ian sense of that term. They spend our tax dollars (and increasingly Alberta’s) on getting us to the next year and then the next and then the next and so on until they get turfed out of office and the circle of mediocrity starts all over again.
What do I want?
Lots.
But for starters – I would outlaw every one of this silly little publicity stunts that politicians do. Ban them by law. How can Lord and Volpe get up in front of a crowd of Northern New Brunswickers and brag about all the prosperity they have heaped on New Brunswick? On how they are investing for the future?
Here’s a little tip for Lord/Volpe’s northern NB strategy. Those $billions more in government spending have most likely generated something like 15,000 to 20,000 direct and indirect jobs. If you see the government as the primary job creation engine for the province, then you should create some of those jobs in Campbellton, Miramichi, Tracadie. If you aren’t going to do anything to stimulate serious private sector investment (as measured in the $millions, not $thousands, Volpe), then you should spread around those Calgary dollars.
Because I have to believe that even Neguac-ers won’t fall for the massive $135k ‘investment’ by the province in their community.