"Off With Their Heads"

I was reading the front page of the Guardian this morning and came across this story that our Finance Minister Wes Sheridan was holding private meetings this Wednesday in Ch'town to discuss "identifying waste in Government" and to call Ruth at 902-368-4050 for an appointment... well I couldn't believe my good fortune that I could get in to see Wes and "reload" on the enormous waste at our Provincially owned golf courses and also take a shot a those pork barrelling pigs at IRAC... plus a bunch of other pet peeves that I've been mouthing off about!!!


The bad news is he's "full-up" so I guess I wasn't up early enough as a bunch of people got ahead of me and he's booked until February 16th... the funny thing is when I was speaking to his office they volunteered that they had paid ads in the Guardian and had very little response but since he went public in the media "the phone has been ringing off the hook" looking for appointments so maybe they should stop paying for "advertising" and get out in the public more...

And just maybe some "public" meetings on the subject would also help Islanders understand the pressures on Minister Sheridan as we all have to start looking at how we get our Government expenses under control... Government can't do everything for everybody so I agree that we shouldn't expect any new programs in the next budget and hopefully more efficiency and more cutting of "waste"...  as for IRAC... "Off With Their Heads"

Finance minister asks Islanders to help identify waste
Published on January 24th, 2011
Wayne Thibodeau

Wes Sheridan says he’s looking to Prince Edward Island residents to identify government waste as the finance minister begins pre-budget consultations this week.

The finance minister is grappling with a $54.9 million budget shortfall this year. Both Premier Robert Ghiz and the finance minister said Islanders should not expect any flashy new programs in this spring’s budget, even though it’s an election year, because they need to take steps to reign in the spending. The Liberals are promising to balance the budget by 2013/14.

Sheridan says he expects to hear a lot more suggestions this time around in how the provincial government can save money. “Everyone sees that every department is important in different ways,” said Sheridan. “There’s very little waste so it’s a matter of trying to prioritize what is important to Islanders. That’s what we have to do.”

The finance minister will be holding pre-budget consultations today at Access P.E.I. in Summerside. On Wednesday, Jan. 26, he’ll hold court in Charlottetown. Those consultations will be held on the third floor of the Shaw Building. Pre-budget consultations move east to Access P.E.I. in Montague on Thursday, Jan. 27.

The finance minister is available by appointment only from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. To make an appointment contact Ruth Chandler at the Department of Finance at (902) 368-4050. Those meetings will be held in private.

To read all this Guardian story http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/News/Local/2011-01-24/article-2159672/Finance-minister-asks-Islanders-to-help-identify-waste/1