As Head Of The CDN Taxpayers Federation He Bitched About Every Nickel Spent But As A Conservative MP ... SPEND SPEND SPEND!
"Once upon a time, John Williamson was president of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, an organization that then and now rails against almost all federal government spending in the hopes that slashing spending will slash your tax bills. We all want lower taxes right? Of course, we do. And lowering government spending is the way to do that, right? Simple as black and white.
But now, Williamson is a Member of Parliament for the riding of New Brunswick Southwest and is apparently learning that the issue of government spending is not so black-and-white when your constituents expect some of their tax dollars to be spent in their riding.
Constituents of his in the town of St. Andrews (where Williamson's family is from, I believe) wanted to rebuild a local arena and expand some tennis courts. In his days as the head of the CTF, Williamson would likely have counselled the good people of southwest New Brunswick to find a way to raise the money themselves to do fix up these recreational facilities.
But when the recession hit, the Harper government set up something handy called the Recreational Infrastructure (RiNC) fund -- billions of tax dollars for tennis courts, arenas, playing fields, and so on. If you agree with this kind of Keynesian intervention -- and Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a definite convert -- then the RiNC fund was a good idea."
David Arkin blog
But now, Williamson is a Member of Parliament for the riding of New Brunswick Southwest and is apparently learning that the issue of government spending is not so black-and-white when your constituents expect some of their tax dollars to be spent in their riding.
Constituents of his in the town of St. Andrews (where Williamson's family is from, I believe) wanted to rebuild a local arena and expand some tennis courts. In his days as the head of the CTF, Williamson would likely have counselled the good people of southwest New Brunswick to find a way to raise the money themselves to do fix up these recreational facilities.
But when the recession hit, the Harper government set up something handy called the Recreational Infrastructure (RiNC) fund -- billions of tax dollars for tennis courts, arenas, playing fields, and so on. If you agree with this kind of Keynesian intervention -- and Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a definite convert -- then the RiNC fund was a good idea."
David Arkin blog
