On bad deals

The story may not get much attention since both the Libs and Cons will surely want to pretend it isn't happening. But Paul Dewar points out how both recent governments are moving Canada toward an appallingly bad deal for the new RCMP headquarters:

The Conservative government is set to ink a botched building deal that will cost taxpayers twenty times its value, according to an NDP MP.

Ottawa MP Paul Dewar said the Public Works department is ready to sign a 10-year lease worth $624 million for a building the last Liberal government could have purchased outright for $30 million.

“It is really is outrageous. The government will spend over $620 million for this property by the time it finally owns it — 20 times more than the original purchase price,” he asked in the House of Commons today. “Is this the minister’s notion of a good deal for taxpayers? If that is the case, he has really spent way too much time in the Senate.”

Naturally, the Cons' response for now is to point the finger at the Libs for failing to purchase the property for its actual value - and certainly some blame lies there as well. But there's no way that a government supposedly committed to reining in federal spending should be signing on to a deal which results in Canada paying many times more than a property is worth. And if the Cons really would prefer to cut costs on the backs of programs which actually accomplish things rather than by eliminating such obvious waste, then it may not take long for Canadians to conclude that the most important cost-cutting measure possible is to remove that attitude from any position of power.