So the Alberta government is having problems balancing its budget, spending more than it receives, and thus, making cutbacks!
I have three words I would like to offer the government to help it reduce the deficit. Those three words are: Manage things better.
Time and space do not enable me to go into a lot of detail here, but I can think of at least two different instances, involving two different government departments, in which thousands and thousands of taxpayers’ dollars were wasted through what was, in my opinion, incompetence, mismanagement, lack of common sense, intransigence, and just plain stupidity.
While I cannot prove that other situations like mine have arisen, I have heard other stories that I believe are credible, about other situations where taxpayers’ dollars have also been foolishly wasted.
What I’m saying is this: if the same type of inefficiency that has occurred in Red Deer has also occurred in Grande Prairie, Stettler, Medicine Hat, Peace River, Lethbridge, Edson, Fort McMurray, Coronation, etc., it is no wonder the provincial deficit is as large as it is!
Better management may not eliminate the deficit, but it could certainly be reduced — and yes, I have discussed this with my MLA.
Wes Stickel
Red Deer