Those Were the Days....

-------- Your tax dollars at work ---------

Almost thirty-three years ago to the day, I remember days before my departure for Halifax, briefing my acting replacement as Director of Central and Southern Africa Programs for the Canadian International Development Agency.

A week later, I reported for work in the Bank of Montreal Tower in Halifax. I'd been recruited by the Deputy Minister, requested by the Provincial Minister and seconded for a year by the Federal Minister to the Provincial Department of Development as Executive Director of Policy and Planning - all within a three month period. Whew! What a change of environment!

With my new responsibilities for 70 staff members who ran the Province's Infrastructure, Engineering, Business and Industry, Federal/Provincial Programs (pre-ACOA, DREE) and Planning Divisions we worked long hours with other governments, industry, investors, communities and others to further the economic future of the Province and its people.

For those with long memories, you will recall that those were busy days in Nova Scotia with the development of policies on a host of issues including the development of industrial parks and dry docks within the Province, Super Port development at the Strait of Canso, Hawker Sidelley announcing its retreat from the Halifax shipyard, the Premier holding press conferences waving his first samples of oil from the offshore for all to see, and the sudden arrival of Ken Rowe and others as a new breed of entrepreneurs, pushing government to support their new business efforts. We also decentralized and established regional offices of the department to provide closer development support to communities across the Province....

And, throughout this time, I approved the travel and entertainment claims of my five Directors as did the Director of Finance for the Department while my travel claims were approved by my Deputy Minister as well as the Director of Finance.... and .... I know my Deputy's travel expenses were approved by our first Minister George Mitchell and then Minister Sandy Cameron. While there is a bit more latitude in both the Federal and Provincial systems today.... its really not much more. The exceptions of course are Crown Agencies ... and in our case, apparently SWSDA.

My travel to Calgary to meet with Bill Hopper the President of Petro Canada and two days of official briefing by Petro Canada's senior staff about oil and gas development involved no entertainment expenses on the Province's part and our small team relied on our daily meal allowances for our sustenance.

My..... how times have changed. Certainly did not seem like a hardship then... and we got all that information about our offshore oil and gas out of those folks without plying them ... or ourselves .... with one single drink.... imagine!

IT DIDN'T SEEM UNREASONABLE THEN TO EXPECT THIS IMPORTANT WORK TO BE CONDUCTED IN OFFICES AND BOARDROOMS... NOT RESTAURANTS AND BARS....

IS IT UNREASONABLE NOW TO EXPECT PUBLIC BUSINESS TO BE CONDUCTED IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT?

HECK... EVEN FORMER PRIME MINISTERS MUST NOW REALIZE THAT MEETINGS IN FIVE STAR HOTEL ROOMS... STILL MAKE ENVELOPES STUFFED WITH CASH LOOK NEFARIOUS!