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Now Rodney’s playing a mug’s game at our expense |
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Written by Al Hollingsworth
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Saturday, 21 June 2008 |
The fanfare surrounding the rolling out of the kid-sized ATV this week is nothing short of a mug’s game. Rodney and the gang are applying the art of advertising and media hype to convince people the money they are spending on these potential death traps is something we need.
In short, the Tories are pandering to the residents of rural Nova Scotia, many of whom believe it is their god-given right to race through the fields and forests, leaving torn up woodlands in their wake.
It’s not about safety and responsible use of all terrain vehicles. If it were, they would not have spent nearly a quarter million dollars purchasing these over-sized toys, but would instead have kept children under the age of 16 years out of the saddle.
It matters not that many health professionals, including the medical staff at the IWK Health Centre, are dead against riders under 16 years of age being licensed to drive ATVs. No siree, to hell with the tree huggers, let’s keep those rural residents happy.
The money being spent on this ill advised initiative (read our precious and shrinking tax dollars) is in the name of buying votes. What is really galling is that the money is coming from the province’s health promotion budget. If they have $230,000 to throw away, throw it at helping the last of the die-hard (pun intended) smokers to butt out. Or find a way to get our overweight politicians and bureaucrats on a weight reduction program.
Meanwhile, the Premier claims it is good value for taxpayers because it promotes children’s safety. Keeping them off the machines would be much more effective and it would only cost the price of a government Bill.
There is an ironic side to this foolishness. In the midst of a global struggle with the high cost of energy, this government is promoting the burning of more fossil fuel to power the 66 ATVs and 13 trailers that the taxpayers of Nova Scotia now own. And the fact that there are no closed courses where these youngsters can do the training, simply compounds the folly of the exercise.
To add insult to injury, 24 hours after the grand announcement, the Department of Health Promotion and Protection revealed they have invested another $10,000 in a study that will help determine whether an ATV ride is good for your health. With the bulk of the funding for this study coming from industry sources, I’m guessing that it will end with a glowing report of the benefits of bouncing through the woodlands of Canada and how every kid should own their own ATV.
I would advise our politicians and bureaucrats to let those who want to pursue this type of recreational activity pay their own way, including the costs associated with putting their broken bodies from ATV accidents back together. As a taxpayer I want to play no part in the insanity of putting a six-year-old on a gas-powered machine.
Maybe, just maybe, the government should have polled the parents of those who have already been killed or severely injured while riding an ATV. Had they, I suspect we might not be having this debate.
(Al Hollingsworth is a retired journalist who grew up in rural Nova Scotia)
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