Once upon a time, John Williamson was president of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, an organization that then and now rails against almost all federal government spending in the hopes that slashing spending will slash your tax bills. We all want lower taxes right? Of course, we do. And lowering government spending is the way to do that, right? Simple as black and white.
But now, Williamson (left) is a Member of Parliament for the riding of New Brunswick Southwest and is apparently learning that the issue of government spending is not so black-and-white when your constituents expect some of their tax dollars to be spent in their riding.
Constituents of his in the town of St. Andrews (where Williamson's family is from, I believe) wanted to rebuild a local arena and expand some tennis courts. In his days as the head of the CTF, Williamson would likely have counselled the good people of southwest New Brunswick to find a way to raise the money themselves to do fix up these recreational facilities.
But when the recession hit, the Harper government set up something handy called the Recreational Infrastructure (RiNC) fund — billions of tax dollars for tennis courts, arenas, playing fields, and so on. If you agree with this kind of Keynesian intervention — and Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a definite convert — then the RiNC fund was a good idea.
And, now, presumably, Williamson is also a fan of this kind of government spending.
“Our Government understands that investments in recreational infrastructure help to build strong, vibrant communities, and strong communities mean a stronger Canada,” said John Williamson, Member of Parliament for New Brunswick Southwest, on behalf of the Honourable Bernard Valcourt, Minister of State for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and La Francophonie. “Our investment of close to $100,000 has helped the Town of Saint Andrews improve the W.C. O’Neill Arena and expand the tennis court facilities. These improved facilities will add to the quality of life and the quality of services available to the families and individuals who are building their futures in Saint Andrews.”
This press release, from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, is the first funding announcement I've seen, incidentally, with Williamson's name on it.
And if you don't support public health care should you not go see a doctor? It would be foolish to not participate in programs that exist. That doesn't mean you can't also advocate for them not to exist.
Is John advocating for the program not to exist? If so, this can be explained. If not, there's an issue.
He's like all those conservative/reformers that said they would never take gold plated MP pensions. Got lots of votes for that. THEN… they took the pensions. OINK. These guys say whatever gets them what they want at the time.
The fund is available and Williamson is simply taking advantage of it in order to help the people in his riding. It is stupid to suggest that an MP should decide not to support his own riding with funding that is available. It is a surefire way of getting de-elected.
ACOA is primarily a mechanism for politicians to continue a long tradition of pork barrel politics. Rank-and-file MPs have little else to offer their constituents given the consolidation of party power in the offices of the leaders. Simply representing a riding with integrity doesn't seem good enough these days to get re-elected.