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Take it from someone who work in the government. Savings are not that hard to find but Senior managers are very good at protecting their perks and budgets.

Example:

If I'm the government and I give you a budget of 1B$ for this year to run you department, how would you use your resources to maximize your productivity? In the private sector, you would try your best since any surplus can be used for further investments to grow your business, cash flow, bonuses etc... Government doesn't work that way at all!!!.

-If you're a senior manager in public service and that by March 28th you only used 90% of the budget, do you know what you will do as all your fellow managers does?
You will spend everything that's left of it before the end of the fiscal year. Why?

-Because if they don't, the money is not carried over to next year's budget...It must be returned to treasury Board. What happens if it does?
You trigger a review from Treasury board who will likely reduce your budget. No managers wants that, so they spend it all and ask for more the following year.

They all do it. When politicians wants to find efficiencies, they usually mean it but who knows a department better than it's senior director? A minister? Not a chance. That's why the Harper government asked the Private sector to audit some of the departments. Politicians knows that senior public managers (deputy ministers) do it. After the multiple audits, Harper's government ended up getting rid of a lot of them and replaced them with their own people.

Every end of fiscal year is the same. I've seen crazy things being purchased by managers just to burn the cash that's left hence all those facility request pilling up near the end of the year to reconfigure, redecorate an office, buy new furniture, electronics etc...

The real question is, will Hudak be as efficient as Harper was?
 
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Solid Snake said:
Take it from someone who work in the government. Savings are not that hard to find but Senior managers are very good at protecting their perks and budgets.

Example:

If I'm the government and I give you a budget of 1B$ for this year to run you department, how would you use your resources to maximize your productivity? In the private sector, you would try your best since any surplus can be used for further investments to grow your business, cash flow, bonuses etc... Government doesn't work that way at all!!!.

-If you're a senior manager in public service and that by March 28th you only used 90% of the budget, do you know what you will do as all your fellow managers does?
You will spend everything that's left of it before the end of the fiscal year. Why?

-Because if they don't, the money is not carried over to next year's budget...It must be returned to treasury Board. What happens if it does?
You trigger a review from Treasury board who will likely reduce your budget. No managers wants that, so they spend it all and ask for more the following year.

They all do it. When politicians wants to find efficiencies, they usually mean it but who knows a department better than it's senior director? A minister? Not a chance. That's why the Harper government asked the Private sector to audit some of the departments. Politicians knows that senior public managers do it. Every end of fiscal year is the same. I've seen crazy things being purchased by managers just to burn the cash that's left hence all those facility request pilling up near the end of the year to reconfigure, redecorate an office, buy new furniture, electronics etc...

The real question is, will Hudak be as efficient as Harper was?
Click to expand...

We will never know how much that costs or can be saved....my spouse works for an agency funded by the provincial government and they had one of those "last minute haven't spent our money" events two or three years ago....her boss bought them all laptops that, literally, sat in boxes under desks for about 18 months before someone figured out how they could use them.

I think, generally, people accept that there is some waste in government....through just sheer size and the lack of profit motive...some of which can never be eliminated (and that element of it might actually cost more to look for than you save)....but government or private sector...anywhere, if your budget is $128B, finding $2B is not that huge of a deal...and, again, "efficiencies" is only part of what Hudak is proposing.

My problem with Hudak's plan (as I understand it) has less to do with how he funds it than what the plan is itself. I am sure all of those cars flooding downtown streets are going to disappear with that promise of wifi on the GO.
 
TOareaFan said:
I think, generally, people accept that there is some waste in government....through just sheer size and the lack of profit motive...some of which can never be eliminated (and that element of it might actually cost more to look for than you save)....but government or private sector...anywhere, if your budget is $128B, finding $2B is not that huge of a deal...and, again, "efficiencies" is only part of what Hudak is proposing.
Click to expand...

I have 2 main beefs with Hudak's "plan":

1) It's not a "right solution for the right corridor" plan. It's a subways only plan, which is just as bad as Transit City was/is as an LRT only plan. Identify the corridors that need relief the most and find the right technology/design solution to fix it.

2) He doesn't say how he's going to find the money. What I want to see most from his plan is a spreadsheet that says exactly where he's going to find $2 billion per year. "$200 million from this department by reducing 'this', $300 million from this department by cancelling 'that'." I want to know where the money is coming from. The Liberals' plan from a tax and spend perspective may be very unpopular to some, but at least you know where the money will be coming from, and how much from where.
 
denfromoakvillemilton said:
I think Hudak is looking towards this plan.
View attachment 21112

I also think there will be discussion of Eglinton going to HRT.
Click to expand...

This is an outrageous proposal. I don't think you people understand how expensive this stuff is to build, operate and maintain. Assuming operational/maintanence costs of $7.2 Million/km, this 27 km line would cost nearly $200 Million ($1 Billion over 5 years) to operate and annually. Surely even the pro Sheppard Subway members here can see that is something that is unacceptably high for a line that currently has less ridership than shorter streetcar routes(not higher capacity LRT) elsewhere in the city.
 
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TheTigerMaster said:
This is an outrageous proposal. I don't think you people understand how expensive this stuff is to build, operate and maintain. This 27 km line would cost nearly $200 Million to operate and annually. Surely even the pro Sheppard Subway members here can see that is something that is unacceptably high for a line that currently has less ridership than shorter streetcar routes(not higher capacity LRT) elsewhere in the city.
Click to expand...

It's from 2006, that map was made pre recession for what its worth.
 
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