From: janick@bnr.ca (Janick Bergeron)
Subject: Re: Is it anything known how much do get MPs and MPPs?
Organization: Bell-Northern Research Ltd, Ottawa, Canada
Distribution: can
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 15:01:17 GMT

In article <C0nxD4.2Go@watserv2.uwaterloo.ca> sfwhite@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca (Stephen White) writes:
>
>> [i wrote]
>>> Hopefully, this would mean that people who really _want_ to govern, for
>>> reasons _other_ than money, would do it.  In my mind, these are exactly
>>> the sort of people who _should_ be governing.
>
>In article <1993Jan10.183900.2734@wes.on.ca> tomh@wes.on.ca (Tom Haapanen)
>writes:
>> Uhh, I'd like to voice a dissenting opinion!  In my humble opinion, many
>> politicians and/or leaders are doing not because it pays well, but because
>> of a greed for POWER.  Hitler, Mussolini, Amin, Hussein, Franco and Mao were
>> not in it for the money, right?  And these sure aren't the kind of people
>> I'd want governing us!
>
>I did not mean that the greed for money should be replaced by a greed for
>power (which is certainly at least as dangerous), but rather a desire to
>make the country or province a better and more tolerant place to live and
>work for its people.  Again, a thorny issue, since everyone has different
>ideas about what is good or not good for a country or province.  I'm sure
>all the villainous leaders you listed above had, at one time, a desire for
>the betterment of their country.  In a lot of cases, it's the means,
>rather than the end, that comes into question.

Why not force our politician taste the "good" they are doing for us ?

- Tie their salary to the average salary of their constituents
  (something like 2-3x). They want to increase their revenue ? It is
  harder than just passing a law with no opposition.

- Give them the SAME retirement benefits than the average citizen.
  Most people who go in politics are either wealthy or can look forward
  to nice positions when they retire. Why do they need that nice retirement
  package, payable immediately ? Make them follow the CPP/QPP rules and
  collect their benefits when they are 65, like the rest of us. They want
  a better deal for themselves ? they'll have to get it for all of us
  first.

- Their kids should be sent to public school. Then PQ Justice Minister
  Marc-Andre Bedard sent his kids to the same private school I went to.
  What kind of schools a government has to provide when they don't even
  send their kids there ?

- Robert Bourassa runs to the US for cancer treatment. That wasn't even
  an option for my father-in-law who died of lung cancer 8 months ago in
  a hospital run by a health care system that isn't even good enough for
  the very people who are administering it. He should be constitutionaly
  obligated to get treatment in his own province. How else can we make sure
  they will work for the best health care system if their own lives doesn't
  depend on it ?


I can agree with high remuneration for MPP/MPs, but one point which is
particularly sore with me is the income tax deduction for contributions
to political parties. Here you have $$$ redirected from the government
revenues, where its spending is supposed to be accountable, to a political
party that can spend it how ever they please for the unique goal of putting
themselves in power. If you want to support a political party, your
convinction in their program should be strong enough that you do not need
to take away some of my money (as a citizen who receives services from the
state, your taxes are my money) to further your cause.

-- 
Janick Bergeron    Bell-Northern Research, Ltd       Ph.: (613) 763-5457
System Timing   P.O. Box 3511, Station C, Stop 049   Fax: (613) 763-7241
Verification     Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1Y 4H7  email:  janick@bnr.ca 
library quote; use quote.funny;                  use std.disclaimer.all;
Newsgroups: can.general