Archive for December 2nd, 2008
Who needs a silly tunnel under Grafton Street but David MacKenzie?
David MacKenzie, CEO of Confederation Centre - get yourself some galoshes and spend the rest on wheelchairs
By Stephen Pate
This is the silliest use of public money in years. Come on, it’s just Grafton Street. Even people with disabilities can walk across it with ease. It’s just a little tiny walk in a little tiny city.
Well I guess the Charlottetown mucky-mucks can save themselves mingling among the masses for 60 seconds before they enter the Confederation food fair. Here’s a tip for the mucky-mucks – the masses are up there too!
As you read the story it becomes apparent to everyone, except Mayor out-of-the-loop Clifford Lee it’s part of the big plan – tunnel, hotel, government low interest loans -Ghiz feeling insecure amongst the rich again.
There you go David MacKenzie. Without any real needs, you pluck one from thin air.
I know 4,300 Islanders with disabilities who need wheelchairs, scooters, hearing aids and glasses more than David needs to keep his feet dry. David go up to Corney’s Shoes and get yourself some galoshes for the winter.
Tunnel among big plans for downtown Charlottetown
Last Updated: Friday, November 7, 2008 | 4:58 PM AT
CBC
A pedestrian tunnel connecting the Confederation Centre and the Confederation Court Mall is among the big plans for Charlottetown’s downtown.
The $2-million cost of the tunnel would be shared with a developer who wants to build a hotel above the mall.
“We believe it’s really important that the downtown is connected for 12 months of the year,” Confederation Centre CEO David MacKenzie said.
“The accessibility for the centre and for the Confederation Court Mall would be very good for both important downtown organizations.”
The news about the tunnel suggests that plans for the hotel are on again. Mall owner Homberg International, also the planned developer for the hotel, had put the proposal on hold over a parking space dispute with the city. CBC News has learned the provincial government has provided a $30-million loan for the project at an interest rate of four per cent.
Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee said he wasn’t aware of the loan or plans for the 80-room hotel to go ahead.
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If you click through to the CBC site, the comments are quite humourous.
To spend or not to spend?
In these tough economic times, the Province is taking a big risk. Instead of tightening the purse strings, government is taking a gamble, putting itself deeper in debt in hopes of stimulating the economy and creating jobs.
In Friday’s capital budget, Provincial Treasurer Wes Sheridan announced more than a half billion dollars in spending. There’s money for hospitals, manors, schools, programs, roads and bridges.
The Province plans to spend $510 million over the next five years, a package that more than doubles its capital spending of approximately $60-million annually.
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Richard Brown pays $200K in hush money to employees, $500K for luxury travel
What kind of public sector employer pays extravagant bonuses to employees who are already well paid?
Richard Brown and Robert Ghiz were clearly trying to implicate as many civil servants as possible in their crooked scheme to milk money from the PNP program. Frankly, most people would jump at the chance for luxury travel to foreign countries. You don’t have to pay unless you want their silence, hush money.
Apparently that attracted all the right kinds of employees some of whom charged the immigrants a double interview fee, according to accusations at the Public Accounts Committee hearings.
Well there is no honor among thieves they say.
Theresa Wright keeps coming up with great stories – Stephen Pate
TERESA WRIGHT
The Guardian
Almost $700,000 in immigrant money was paid out in bonuses and for multiple trips to Hong Kong and Dubai for employees of the Crown corporation that administered the Provincial Nominee Program, according to numbers revealed by the department.
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Sheridan gets bright idea after 17 months on the job
By Stephen Pate
The former car-loans officer from Kensington, Wes Sheridan, has been lost in space working next to Paul Jelly in Treasury. Jelly, the good Tory. has been spinning Wes around like a frosh during hazing since July 2007.
Wes is not going to build manors with private money, so says Wayne Thibodeau in the Journal Pioneer.
Good thinkin’ Wes – your first sign of human intelligence at the level required for your job.
The sad thing is Wes didn’t what Jelly was up to. He thought he’s been on the job. Remember Wessie’s first budget. That was the one Jelly made up for “I-love-gambling” Mitch Murphy another dim financial bulb in the lamp. Imagine a gambling addict for a treasurer.
Baby Ghiz was no help. He was over scheming with Richard Brown, Chris LeClair and Ax MacAulay to pull off Immigrant Scam, PEI’s biggest fraud in history.
Remember Mitch told the Conflict of Interest Commissioner he was a director “so my dad can get EI but I’m not a director at all.” We just figured out why CBC didn’t want to report the EI fraud angle on that story even when we handed it to them.
Guess what? Tim Banks wants more construction
Tim Banks, blogging at the cottage waiting for the next spending boom
By Stephen Pate
Guess what? Tim Banks loves the idea of $500 million in new construction. Wow! Who’d a thought that?
Tim writes -
“I expect that without this announcement our construction industry was looking at very weak forecasts over the next couple of years…”
Yup, expansion at all costs, at the wrong time benefits construction companies well connected to the the government.
That kind of thinking is what brought the United States to the brink of a world depression. We cannot have growth at all costs for long without a collapse. As much as we would like the economy to grow forever, it can’t. It’s not sustainable. We need to contract for awhile.
Some are predicting the stock market will continue to slide down to about a 4,500 DOW. That will hurt a lot of people. We should be careful how we spend our cash and not plunge into projects that make the rich even richer.
