Common Sense Questions, Part 2

What a difference a week makes.

One minute, MLAs involved in this spending scandal are steadfast that they did nothing wrong, and the next minute they’re loading up trucks with electronics to return to the province in light of the announced forensic audit.

But, before I start spouting off, I feel like I should give credit where credit is due.

Former premier Rodney MacDonald was flagged in the Auditor General’s report for a projector screen and accessories. While many electronics strike me as being extravagant and unnecessary, I wouldn’t say the same about a projector screen, which MacDonald says was used for business presentations. While speaking to a room of 200 people, a Powerpoint presentation pro.bably wouldn’t be all that effective if shown on a 17” laptop screen.

Not only that, but if the projector is still in use by community members, as he claims, instead of collecting dust in his basement or showing midnight screenings of “The Notebook” in his living room, it seems that would qualify as a legitimate expense. Rodney spent far less than most other MLAs, so he gets a pass this time around.

Now, Michel Samson. While I’m not exactly thrilled with one or two of the expenses listed in the report under his name (almost $600 for Bluetooth?), his claim for internet services seemed odd for the AG to have listed as inappropriate. He’s a public servant who needs to keep in touch with constituents and colleagues while in Halifax, so I don’t blame him for claiming his internet service, since it’s not something he would have required if not for his job. As a matter of fact, I don’t even think he should have had to pay that money back.

While I’m at it, I want to give a big shout-out to Bill Estabrooks, our most frugal MLA with a total of less than $2500 spent over the course of the applicable 3-year period examined. His tastes are very bare-bones, by his own admission, as well they should be, considering the state of our province’s economy. Bill Estabrooks is a hard working, accomplished, highly respected MLA; if he can get by with a second-hand desk and filing cabinets from an army surplus store, how necessary is a $650 Mocha chair is to the successful operation of a constituency office? (I’m looking at you, Karen Casey.)

Enough with the kudos.

What’s all this about former MLA Ron Chisolm buying a $750 GPS system? Sure, they’re dandy little accessories to have – if you’re a Geotracker or plan to drive alone to Napa Valley. But Chisolm says he needed one to assist him in finding his way around his constituency. Lamest. Justification. Ever. Someone needs to remind him that his constituency was Guysborough, which I think translates in Gaelic to “place with only two roads”. I’ll give you a shiny quarter if you can find one person from Guysborough who has EVER got lost there.

Unbelievably, even shadier deals went down. Jamie Muir, former cabinet minister from Truro-Bible Hill, claimed a December 31, 2008 invoice for a $1050 television. That was two days after he announced he wouldn’t run in the next election. He says he’s reimbursed taxpayers and plans to keep the TV.

Huh? Is he serious? Did he or did he not take our money and buy himself a TV? I don’t care if he paid the money back. I once got a loan from the Nova Scotia government, and not only did I have to go through an exhaustive application process, but I paid the student loans back in full and was charged hefty interest. Had I stolen the premier’s cheque book to pay Saint Mary’s my tuition, I’d be in jail right now, whether or not I paid the money back.

I find myself wading through the many dozens of examples of inappropriate and excessive spending without any real direction. There are so many angles, so many examples, so many excuses, that it’s become tiresome and frustrating to chronicle any more of them. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the $113 Xbox Dance Dance Revolution game that Len Goucher bought and refuses to explain, but that’s it, I’m done.

I’d like to end this series with quotes from issue 579 of Frank Magazine, since they so eloquently summed up my thoughts better than even I could myself: “Seems after years and years of piling on one expense perk after another… our MLAs never, ever thought they’d get found out.” “…The finger-pointing…the almost Nuremburgesque defense by our three political leaders was pitiful and embarrassing.” “They deserve everything that is coming their way, yes, even handcuffs, if they’re included.”