HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-02-22, Page 19BOOK REVIEW
rossroads—Feb. 22, 1984—Page 5
Mainstram
Canada
Dyed-in-the-
wool
goVernment
waste
By W. Roger Worth
The auditor general, Ken-
neth Dye,
A goodly man, but not too
shy,
Checked the books and found
them wanting,
For our government, the re-
- sults werehaunting.
OPENING WEEK
BUSINESS HOURS
PRIDE OF CANADA
SLICED SIDE BACON
TUESDAY THRU FRIDAY
9:00 A.M. TO 9:30 P.M.
SATURDAY
8:30 A.M. TO 6:00 P.M.
FIRST
QUALITY
500 g PACKAGE
ONLY AT CONESTOGA MALL
SCHNEIDERS
WIENERS
(LIMIT 6 PKGS. PER CUSTOMER)
ONLY AT CONESTOGA MALL
/450 g
PKG.
THIS PAGE OF SPECIALS IN EFFECT IN CONESTOGA MALL UNTIL CLOSING SAT. FEB. 25
SAVE UP TO 60 PLUS BONUS
HOMO - 2% SKIM
ENRICHED WHITE, CR. WHEAT', 60% W. WHEAT
ZEHRS
BREAD .
AT THE DELI COUNTER
PRIDE of CANADA
SAVE 70'
GIANT 1.5 LITRE
REG. OR DIET
COOKED HAM
REGULAR OR SANDWICH STYLE
ONLY AT
CONESTOGA
-MALL-
PLUS
60'
DEPOSIT
PLUS
BONUS
ONLY AT CONESTOUCMALL
UMIAMITMERNAMCIWPWIRMY:LN Miring?
BUY ONE GET ONE FREE
ONLY AT CONESTOGA MALL
ONLY AT CONESTOGA MALL
'4,7a4—, Apakragatammagarim&rwmforgi,.
SAVE s3.10
BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!
4 DELICIOUS POPULAR FLAVOURS
SAVE '2.09
SAVE 1.65
(RETAIL VALUE 85)
' WITH THE PURCHASE OF
ANY 4 LITRE MAPLE LANE
PAY
ONLY
PKG.
OF 10
ONLY AT CONESTOGA MALL
Mern3DiMMIENSIMAIST
MIBBIEUMMVERM-WiTAVOMMISERmswil*
SAVE 46C
Vt..mgen.MESSIBEEMONEWAERZWir
.3, 4.•
BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!
ONLY AT CONESTOGA MALL
Itpa TAISESMITEMND
4 POPULAR VARIETIES
PAY
ONLY
200 g
PKG.
ONLY AT CONESTOGA MALL
i4M20M1117.1=,
ONLY AT CONESTOGA MALL
2,1KFM:rinM171
A NI% Ti3,5i 'CAA Mc
BULK FOOD SPECIAL
FRESICKLICIOUS
OUR
REG
4.99
4.39/kg
v, lb.
ONLY AT CONESTOGA MALL ONLY AT CONESTOGA MALL ONLY AT CONESTOGA MALL 4
+1,‘
"". , „, „ • Ar, 17E2,S:3Z4,11„
THIS PAGE OF EXTRA SPECIALS AVAILABLE ONLY AT ZEHRS NEW CONESTOGA MALL STORE WATERLOO
UNTIL CLOSING SAT. FEB. 25 SEE ADDITIONAL PAGES FOR
ZEHRS SPECIALS IN ALL MARKETS INCLUDING CONESTOGA MALL
2.18/kg
10 oz. JAR
ONLY AT CONESTOGA MALL
, ......-
A learned reviewer might
call that atrocious verse, but
then, I make no pretense of
being a poet.
In his own way Kenneth
Dye, Canada's Auditor Gen-
eral, is a reviewer. He and
his staff review the federal
government's books and ,ac-
counting procedures to en-
sure that all of us can under-
stand that our tax dollars are
being reasonably spent.
In his latest report to tax-
payers, Dye gave the gov-
ernment's bookkeepers a
disastrous review. In fact, it
was so bad the Auditor Gen-
eral claims the numbers are
out by a whopping $20 -bil-
lion.
In real terms, it is a bit like
claiming on a credit applica-
tion your expenditures are
$20,000 when they're really
much, much more. Bankers
doing a credit check would
not be amused.
Yet the government of
Canada gets away with such
inaccurate reporting, and
has been for years. How can
this be?
The country's Finance'
Minister says it is a "techni-
cal matter," and disagrees' ,
with the Auditor General's
criticisms. So nothing is
done.
There can be no disagree-
ment, however, on some of
the, blunders Dye empha-
sized in his report. How to
explain, for example, the
$350,000 that Ottawa lost on a
ew Brunswick motel loan
gugraie
which had had been appraised at
$500,000, was sold at auction -
for $200 in 1982. The buyer
resold the motel a day later
for $75,200. A bizarre inci-
dent indeed.
Then there is the case of
the office space. Late in 1983,
the federal government
started paying rent at. the
rate of $12 -million per year
on an Ottawa office tower
that wouldn't be used until
1984. At the same time, the
government owns or rents
space worth $7.7 -million per
year in the same city that
isn't being used.
Still, Ottawa isn't the only
culprit when it comes to
wasting money. In Ontario,
the provincial auditor says
the government's Waste
Management Corporation
spent $16,722 on 22 chairs, or
an average of $761 per seat.
But when it comes to poor
bookkeeping, it is hard to
outdo the bureaucrats in one
Ontario department and two
municipalities.
The department mistaken-
ly paid $264,500 for a sewage
project to the wrong munici-
pality.
The municipality that
should have received the
money didn't complain. Nor
did the municipality that re-
ceived the windfall. And the
government department -in-
volved simply didn't under-
stand there was an error, un-
til the auditor pointed it out.
All this helps explain, per-
haps, why we need indepen-
dent government auditors,
even if they are expensive.
What we really require,
though, are governments
that will act on their advice.
HITLER'S REICH. By
Eileen Pearson. Greenhaven
Press, Inc., 577 Shoreview
Park Road, St. Paul, Minn.
32 pp. U.S. $5.95. Paper U.S.
$2.25.
Reviewed by
PERCY MADDUX
Here in Eileen Pearson's
"Hitler's Reich" is a brief
sketch of the years of Nazi
Germany accompanied by
many black and white pic-
tures. At the end are quota-
tions from various persons
describing matters pertinent
to the Third Reich.
The text is given in simple
understandable language
and provides students with a
clear introduction to this
part of history.
6
IP