Forget using dollars as the unit of measurement for how much the Conservative government is spending, or cutting from its substantial deficit. That's living in the past, man. Or woman. The new unit of measurement should be the MGS, or Minute of G8/G20 security.
It's simple. Well, not really, but it's not too complicated. The G20 conference will last three days, and the Conservatives are spending $1 billion on security (nearly five times what they originally budgeted).
That's $333,333,333 and change per day.
$13,888,888 per hour.
Or, $231,481 per minute.
Therefore, 1MGS (one minute of G8/G20 security) is equivalent to $231,484 in Canadian currency. To find the MGS, divide the dollar amount by $231,484.
I think it's only appropriate that, going forward, any time the Conservatives announce spending cuts or shiny new spending programs for supposed policy priorities, the value be reported in MGS.
For example, today the Conservatives announced legislation that will take away old age pension benefits from federal prisoners incarcerated for a term of two or more years. The much ballyhooed move by the tough on crime Conservatives will save the taxpayers 8.6MGS annually. If the provinces step in, it would rise to 43MGS.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives seem unwilling, following the release of an Oliphant Inquiry report that was as scathing on Brian Mulroney as the very narrow mandate that Stephen Harper wrote allowed him to be, to demand that Mulroney be forced to pay back the 9MGS for the libels settlement he should have gotten, along with the 6.9MGS in legal fees. Plus interest. That's at least 16 minutes of G20 security that the government could recoup right there!
Meanwhile, how would you better spend one billion dollars? The Star has a few ideas.
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1 comment:
Brilliant! The Harpies are pulling funding all over the place, often at the last minute (see the Montreal Fringe Festival for the latest), so they can throw away our money on the most expensive photo op ever. The G8/G20 could take place using video conferencing or rent a cruise liner and have each country pay their own way. A three-day cruise has to be a bargain in comparison.
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