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Give the people more say in budgeting

Taxpayers have always been misled about the real cost of their respective governments’ most expensive projects, writes a Langford reader.

Taxpayers have always been misled about the real cost of their respective governments’ most expensive projects.

The most ridiculous estimate that we don’t even hear about anymore is the $63 million starting point for the Johnson Street bridge (City of Victoria taxpayers). Then there’s the sewage treatment project ($783 million) and the well-underestimated E&N proposal of $20 million to fix railway tracks, bridges, and trestles. Nonsense.

Most of us know that our financial experts from all levels of government have always lowballed their estimates on any projects. The costing for any of these projects should be simple math and in the end, only the “elite” and project managers benefit when they go over budget.

We all need to remember that we can’t spend what we don’t have. We have nothing to worry about in Canada, apart from the rising national debt and the people who are managing our money and spending with no hesitation.

To start with, we need to get rid of corrupted authorities in our system. Let’s have the Canadian people decide where the money should go.

The simple answer is to have a proper economic census and follow the suggestions of the ordinary citizen.

Stefan MieczkowskiLangford