Contracting out

I have mixed feelings about contracting out jobs. Sure, you can save some money but you end up creating lower-paying jobs that most of us wouldn't want. And, where does it end? Why not contract out clerks, payroll administrators, accountants, etc.? Our taxes could be lower. Sometimes, contracting out is one way to pare down a bloated, inefficient system.

Frankly, I am more concerned about program spending. Recently, we had some type of Francophone games in town for students across the country who speak French. Nice idea, for sure, but I wonder if our taxes paid for any of this event. Should we pay for something like this?

When it comes to tax dollars being spent, I would rather pay less taxes and decide how to spend that extra money rather than have the government spend it on my behalf. True, there are some things they have to spend our taxes on, but there's a lot of discretionary spending that is out of control.

A lot of people are in favour of contracting out. But, when their job is in danger of being contracted out, some of them may feel different.

Contracting out garbage was supposed to save $3 million, according to Donald Benham's website. Now, the figure is a saving of $1.4 million. He proposes that they be given a year to find ways to save $1 million. I can live with this idea.

What never gets contracted out? Management. Highly paid City of Winnipeg bureaucrats are probably not in danger, even though their system may not be as efficient as it good be.