Huron Expositor, 2009-06-24, Page 4Pope 4 lune 24, 2009 • The Huron Expositor
Editorial
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Proprietor and Publisher, Bowes Publishers Limited, 1.1 Main St., Seaforth, ON, NOK IWO
onsultant route pricey
Most of , us saw it: ' A verklempt-looking Ontario
Premier Dalton McGuinty on the front pages of ma-
jor newspapers. "It's my fault," he said.
And somehow, that is supposed to make it OK
that the province, in its quest to eliminate jobs, and
avoid pesky things like dental -care benefits and pen-
sion plans, continues to hand out nummy expense -
friendly contracts to consultants as if it were the
prom and the province was the ugly (though rich)
duckling still trying to get the girl.
As many lower -tier politicians will gladly say to
anyone happening to pass by, hiring a consultant is
always looked upon as a move of questionable mer-
it.
Since, as was discussed at the Huron County level
this past week, if managers are employed to han-
dle the job at relatively decent salaries, how does
it jive with common sense to fork out hundreds of
thousands of dollars to someone or some group that
will come in, with Masters degrees and other such
theory -heavy things at the ready, and pinpoint all
that ails us?
Indeed, one can safely argue that the only time it
makes sense to bring in the consultants is when it's
time for specific efficiencies that loosely translate to
axing jobs.
That being said, one must be equally leery of an
upper -tier .level of government that continues to go
the consultant route. After all, as countless account-
ing scandals have shown, the expense account tends
to be heavy on the Scotch and Colgate and low on
the Bic pen purchases.
In the end, what is the government's consumer
take from all this? Well, fewer jobs for one and an
incredibly shoddy and annoying level of service for
two. Ask anyCanadian how easy it is to actually
talk to anoter human on any government service
line and one is almost guaranteed to see at least an
eye roll.
Perhaps the most ironic thing of all is that both
companies and governments are continuing to hire
consultants under the misguided belief that they
are somehow less expensive than hiring a full-time
employee at a reasonable wage and allotting that
person decent benefits and maybe even a pension
allowance.
Somehow that $40,000/year person doesn't make
as much sense to the powers that be as a one-shot
ideas person who bills the government $300,000 or
more. Do those in the upper echelons really believe
a consultant isn't factoring in his or her long-term
economic, needs into the bill?
And, more interestingly, in these days of purport-
ed
accountability, who is policing the consultants?
The Clinton News -Record
44.
Al,.
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nietitheiou have to put down.
the heavy burdens for awhile
During a stressful week
when I worked four evenings
out of five and visited my
stepmother, who continues to
battle cancer after discovering
it is spreading, I received the
following email about how to
handle stress.
It helped me to remember to
breathe and I hope it does the
same for you.
A lecturer when explaining stress manage-
ment to an audience, raised a glass of water
and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?"
Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.
The lecturer replied, 'The absolute weig/ t
doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try
to hold it."
"If I hold it for a minute, that's not a prob-
lem. "
"If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in
my right arm.
"If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an
ambulance."
"In each case, it's the same weight, but the
longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."
He continued,
'And that's the way it is with stress man-
agement.. If we carry our burdens all the time,
sooner or later, as the burden becomes increas-
ingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."
'As with the glass of water, you have to put
it down for a while and rest before holding it
again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on
with the burden. So, before you return home
tonight, put the burden of work down."
"Don't carry it home. You can pick it up to -
Ron & ban
'Well, it's finally here!
The thing we've been
waiting for all yearl
SUMMER VACATION!
Yeahl
Two whole
months to
do what-
ever we
want!
Susan
Hundertmark
morrow. Whatever burdens -
you're carrying now, let them
down for a moment if you can."
So, my friend, Put down any-
thing that may be a burden to
you right now. Don't pick it up
again until after you've rested a
while.
Here are some great ways of
dealing with the burdens of life:
* Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and
some days you're the statue.
* Always keep your words soft and sweet, just
in case you have to eat them.
* Always wear stuff that will make you look
good if you die in the middle of it.
* Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be
"recalled" by their maker.
* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency
to be vague.
* If you lend someone $20 and never see that
person again, it was probably worth it.
* It may be that your solepurpose in life is sim-
ply to be kind to others.
* Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get
up and dance. -
* Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by
the bird, sleep late.
* Birthdays aregood for you. The more you
have, the longer you live.
* You may be only one person in the world, but
you may also be the world to one person.
* We could learn a lot from crayons... Some are
sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some
have weird names, and all are different colors,
-but they all have to live in the same box.
by bavid Lacey
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