GG Spending

[FSTO]

Good points. Thanks.

How does the CAF address the NIMBY factor for #1? Canadians don’t mind someone coming to shovel them out of a snow storm, or bag sand for their flooding property, or help fight a fire near them, but those big noisy bases with loud equipment and planes and stuff? Those bases would also take up prime land that Canadians would rather see used for more housing, etc.

2 - agreed. Base not bad out the gate, but non-officer specialist/technology doesn’t seem to get the same support as say doctors, dentists, lawyers and pilots. Agree a compensation structure needs to be more wide-sweeping.

3 - a classic negative feedback loop, worsening as the loss increases. The ‘do more with less’ is a classic own goal, but much is the CAF’s own doing with the ‘can do’ attitude. That said, I remember the Navy’s “we’re going to stop sailing for a bit” and the government screamed blue murder that ‘we give you money, you bloody well sail!’ without appreciating the need to recover out of a vicious cycle. Folks are quick to point to this attempt to reconstitute as a transactional betrayer to the Canadian taxpayer, but that’s a pretty myopic view. Perhaps a less drastic ‘we stop sailing tomorrow for X months!” and more a “there’s only so much depth, so we’ll prioritize
Like this until we have more people…”

4 - a fundamental issue of a nation treating its military like civil servants who happen to have a slightly different dress code. The whole “but we HAVE to charge military families the same for housing as civilians are paying, it wouldn’t be fair otherwise!” thing, yet paying lip service to the other side of the two-way street covenant of looking…no…caring for our service personnel and families. Not sure Canada/Canadians are actually ready to see their service members treated much more specially than them.

Thanks for your thoughts, ThaMattHan.

#4 - The upkeep of 24 Sussex will tell you all you need to know about Canadian small mindedness.

 

[RangerRay]

I love hearing people say the GG/PM/Premier/Minister/insert government VIP here, should be flying in cattle class with the rest of us plebes… Canadians aren’t as worldly and cosmopolitan as they like to think they are.

 

[Halifax Tar]

I love hearing people say the GG/PM/Premier/Minister/insert government VIP here, should be flying in cattle class with the rest of us plebes… Canadians aren’t as worldly and cosmopolitan as they like to think they are.

We want to be leaders in other ways why not this one too ?

But I actually agree with you. With the exception of 100K good bills for the Gov Gen to visit some far flung land.

Sounds like a great way to expend some about expire ration packs of you ask me

 

[FSTO]

But I actually agree with you. With the exception of 100K good bills for the Gov Gen to visit some far flung land.

It was more like 80k and you break it down to per day per person and it not much more than what we are entitled to on overseas TD.
Once again we’re parochial, provincial, tall poppies.
It’s actually quite sad.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

It was more like 80k and you break it down to per day per person and it not much more than what we are entitled to on overseas TD.
Once again we’re parochial, provincial, tall poppies.
It’s actually quite sad.

And to add that if you are not a major airline with a long term contract with a flight feeding kitchen in a foreign country- guess what: you get charged a premium price.

But, hey- everyone is an expert on what things cost.

 

[dapaterson]

To say nothing of of (as I understand it) landing fees, possibly on-ground security costs... if you think airport parking is expensive for your car, imagine what it is for an A310.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

To say nothing of of (as I understand it) landing fees, possibly on-ground security costs... if you think airport parking is expensive for your car, imagine what it is for an A310.

Yup. Again, if you are not a major airline at your own hub airport, things get spendy, fast.

 

[Halifax Tar]

All valid points. So what did we accomplish sending the Gov Gen over there ?

Was the juice worth worth the squeeze ?

 

[dimsum]

My completely uninformed guess is that diplomatic talks/conferences at that level have benefits that aren't really quantifiable - it's not like she's negotiating for X amounts of widgets or anything.

So, it's pretty much impossible to know whether the juice was worth the squeeze. But, my (again, completely uninformed) guess is that if we don't do those diplomatic things, then we risk getting shut out of other things.

 

[FSTO]

All valid points. So what did we accomplish sending the Gov Gen over there ?

Was the juice worth worth the squeeze ?

We don’t know, and will likely never know. So why keep embassies open around the world? They must cost billions to run right? Also the GG is the head of state and will be able to do diplomacy for the country that doesn’t contain the baggage that the PM Carrie’s when they go abroad.

 

[Halifax Tar]

We don’t know, and will likely never know. So why keep embassies open around the world? They must cost billions to run right? Also the GG is the head of state and will be able to do diplomacy for the country that doesn’t contain the baggage that the PM Carrie’s when they go abroad.

That's a bit extreme don't you think.

I suppose you're right though we've never had a GG or government official waste money. You're probably right, best not pay attention and question about pesky things like spending, I mean the budget will balance it's self no ?

 

[Blackadder1916]

All valid points. So what did we accomplish sending the Gov Gen over there ?

Was the juice worth worth the squeeze ?

This was some of the "squeeze". Worth?

https://www.facebook.com/GovernorGeneralCanada/posts/503348171155342

 

[Halifax Tar]

This was some of the "squeeze". Worth?

https://www.facebook.com/GovernorGeneralCanada/posts/503348171155342

Sure. Looks great!

Link provided to give more details of the trip and latest expense levels.

Cost of Governor General's in-flight catering bill on Middle East trip actually $80K: DND

The Department of National Defence (DND) says the total cost of the Governor General's in-flight catering bill during a March trip to the Middle East was actually $80,367.19, correcting the original figure it released to Parliament this week.

www.google.com

 

[Remius]

If I calculated that right, that would be about 217$ per person per meal on average. Seems excessive.

 

[Halifax Tar]

If I calculated that right, that would be about 217$ per person per meal on average. Seems excessive.

I thought we settled that we don't question this kind of spending ?

 

[Remius]

I thought we settled that we don't question this kind of spending ?

Depends if people trust the legacy media reporting this or not. Latest poll shows trust in legacy media is at its lowest point so maybe Canadians won’t care?

At that price though, two people can enjoy a nice dinner soirée at Chateau Laurier. 217$ Average seems like a lot. Maybe they should publish what exactly was on the menu for it to cost so much.

I doubt the GG knew how much this cost or what was going to be on the menu. Someone else plans and approves this. That someone should provide a justification and breakdown. I’m ok if it’s legit or that there were weird foreign fees or what not. Just break it down.

Was the trip at end of fiscal? Maybe DND tried to spend money it didn’t spend.

Anyways, seems high and people struggling won’t be too keen on it regardless of the explanation. Optics are bad.

 

[FSTO]

Question it all you want. But it’s the stupid questions that are usually the click bait and gets everyone’s knickers in a knot. As a result our politicians are too scared to even spend money where it’s needed. It really comes to the fore during defence spending when we half ass it and by scrimping we actual spend more money. Also much required civil engineering projects are half assed or not done at all.
As I said question intelligently the spending not the way most Canadians do it.

It would also help if our betters answered a question instead of giving us talking points.

 

[Remius]

Question it all you want. But it’s the stupid questions that are usually the click bait and gets everyone’s knickers in a knot. As a result our politicians are too scared to even spend money where it’s needed. It really comes to the fore during defence spending when we half ass it and by scrimping we actual spend more money. Also much required civil engineering projects are half assed or not done at all.
As I said question intelligently the spending not the way most Canadians do it.

It would also help if our betters answered a question instead of giving us talking points.

I’m not sure how asking why a meal costs 217$ Is a stupid question. Like I said, I’m ok with it if it’s justified and explained. You honestly can’t say that that catering cost wouldn’t raise an eyebrow.

 

[FSTO]

I’m not sure how asking why a meal costs 217$ Is a stupid question. Like I said, I’m ok with it if it’s justified and explained. You honestly can’t say that that catering cost wouldn’t raise an eyebrow.

I’m just stating the default reaction of Canadians at any spending be it correct or excessive.

 

[Remius]

I’m just stating the default reaction of Canadians at any spending be it correct or excessive.

I don’t disagree, and I doubt that in most cases that are legit and above board, that people are satisfied with the answers.