Canada’s government is plagued by widespread wasteful spending, bureaucratic bloat, and inefficiency, and urgent reforms are needed
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Dumb government spending isn’t confined to the United States. While U.S. President-elect Donald Trump plans to create a Department of Government Efficiency to “dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies,” Canadians could use a similar approach.
Such marching orders would look great in a prime minister’s mandate letter to the finance minister. Here’s a blueprint for cutting Canada’s wasteful, bloated bureaucracy – and some examples to show just how much taxpayers are footing the bill for inefficiency and absurdity.
Absurd expenditures: Where tax dollars go to die
Let’s start with taxpayer-funded research that raises eyebrows. The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council spends $1 billion annually on “research and research training in the social sciences and humanities.” Here’s a sampling of projects taxpayers are supporting:
- Gender Politics in Peruvian Rock Music ($20,000)
- Cart-ography: Tracking the life cycle of urban grocery carts ($105,000)
- My Paw in Yours: Dead Pets and Species Transcendence in Experimental Art-Making ($17,500)
- Playing for Pleasure: Sexual and Erotic Video Games ($50,000)
While academic exploration is valuable, it’s fair to ask whether projects like these should take precedence over more pressing national priorities.
Then there’s Parks Canada, which appears to have lost the plot when it comes to hunting operations. It spent four years and $10,000 capturing a single bullfrog. On a B.C. island, it spent $800,000 to hunt 84 deer – at a cost of nearly $10,000 per deer. Costs ballooned thanks to the use of semi-automatic weapons, crates of ammunition, and $67,000 in helicopter rentals.
Government largesse doesn’t stop there. Consider these expenditures:
- An $8-million barn at Rideau Hall.
- $12,500 on live senior citizen sex story shows.
- $8,800 for a sex toy exhibition in Germany.
- Millions wasted on government podcasts that no one listens to.
The waste adds up quickly, but these are just the smaller ticket items.
Bureaucratic bloat and out-of-control spending
The bigger issue lies in the unchecked growth of government. Since taking office, the Trudeau government has added 108,000 new bureaucrats – a 42 per cent increase in less than a decade. If the size of the federal workforce had grown at the same pace as the population, there would be 72,491 fewer bureaucrats today.
The average federal bureaucrat earns $125,300 in total compensation. Cutting back the bureaucracy to population growth levels would save taxpayers $9 billion annually.
It’s not just salaries driving up costs – it’s bonuses, too. Since 2015, the federal government has handed out $1.5 billion in bonuses despite departments meeting half their performance targets only once in the past five years. Examples include:
- $340,000 in bonuses for executives managing the ArriveCAN debacle.
- $102 million in bonuses from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation during a housing crisis.
- $20 million in bonuses at the Bank of Canada in 2022, as inflation hit a 40-year high.
- $132 million in bonuses at the CBC since 2015.
Corporate welfare and failing Crown corporations
Corporate welfare is another significant drain on taxpayers. In 2022 alone, the federal government handed out $11.2 billion in corporate subsidies. Major beneficiaries included Honda, Volkswagen, Stellantis, and Northvolt, with subsidies totalling $30 billion. Shutting down Canada’s seven regional development agencies could save taxpayers $1.5 billion annually.
Then there are Crown corporations that continue to operate despite massive losses:
- CBC: Costs taxpayers more than $1 billion annually.
- Canada Post: Lost $1.2 billion over the last two years and predicts larger, unsustainable losses in the future.
- VIA Rail: Burned through $1.8 billion in taxpayer money over five years just to cover operating losses.
Selling off these operations to the private sector would save billions and force accountability.
The bad news for taxpayers is that wasteful government spending is widespread. The examples above don’t even touch on the multi-billion-dollar gun confiscation program, $25 billion in equalization payments, and taxpayer-funded media bailouts.
The good news? A bold leader could make massive cuts, and most Canadians outside the Ottawa bubble wouldn’t notice. Restoring fiscal discipline isn’t about denying essential services – it’s about ensuring every dollar serves a purpose.
It’s time for a prime minister with the courage to tackle wasteful spending, dismantle bloated bureaucracies, and trim the fat from Ottawa’s operations. Canadians deserve better stewardship of their hard-earned money.
Franco Terrazzano is the Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
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