John Baird supports DFAIT cuts and Hates Youth!

[DevO]

Now that I'm home and hard at work trying to get my act together, I've been catching up on the details of when Harper and his cohorts announced the massive cuts to DFAIT (Dept. of Foreign Affairs & Int'l Trade) back in September '06. This is affecting me directly now, as these cuts included the termination of the Int'l Youth Internship Program (IYIP) that I have had my heart set on. There were some opportunities there that were really exciting to me and right up my alley. Anyway:

I found this article from the September 27/06 edition of Embassy (Canada's Foreign Policy Newsweekly): Treasury Board Axes International Youth Programs.

Our new Environment minister gets a mention in it:

... About six organizations contacted by Embassy said the government did not consult them about the cuts, but John Baird, president of the Treasury Board, defended the move in the media saying consultations were made with various ministers from whose ministries the cuts were made.

You're off to a bad start there Mr. Baird!

[Hux]

Baird got his start years ago as part of the Mike Harris Gov't in Ontario. Enough Said.

The only rationale given for the cuts was this:

We have found savings in these four areas:

1) Programs that weren't providing good value for money for Canadians. For example, we are saving $13.9 million by not going forward with the High-Frequency Surface Radar project because access to the radio spectrum to operate this system is not available.

2) Unused funds from programs that have already achieved their objectives or had lower than expected take-up. For example, we are saving $15 million by having settled the softwood lumber deal. The previous government never believed it could get the deal done, so it had set large amounts of money aside to pay lawyers.

3) Efficiency savings by streamlining programs. For example, we are saving $4.5 million by consolidating some foreign missions. With the advances in telecommunication, in many cases in countries with multiple missions, work can more easily and effectively be done from a central location.

4) Non-core programs. We will save $4 million through the elimination of funding for the research into Medical Marijuana. Canada's New Government has made big commitments to health research, and doesn't believe the federal government needs to tell professional researchers what to study.

The elimination of Youth International Internship Program, fell under #4) non-core programs. Doesn't that explanation up there make it crystal clear? Medical Marijuana wtf??

link

[Hux]

...it's all in that link, just scroll down.

*EDIT - I found another def of "Non-Core Programs":

Programs or activities do not meet the priorities of the federal government or Canadians

Edited January 5, 2007 by Guest

[DevO]

Obviously the tides are turning now on the environmental front.. I'm hoping they'll re-neg on some of those cuts. But I don't know if that would include the IYIP, even though theres a lot of overlap there. Whattaya think?

[Hux]

I wouldn't bet on it, the GST cut and "daycare in an envelope" alone have vastly reduced gov't revenues (1% off the GST is $6 billion a year alone) these guys are getting to the point of not having alot of fiscal flexibility....I think they have said they will cut another billion or two from programs/dept's, so I think it will go that direction before any of these programs come back.

[ollie]

Is the GST cut being regulated? I bought an item from a corner store that was $3.99 and it rung up as $4.59... didn't click until I'd left the store.

[Hux]

I think you have the makings of a good investigative news story there, I would bet all kinds of stores are still charging that extra percent but pocketing it.