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Judy Streatch has caffeine addled her brain? |
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Written by Al Hollingsworth
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Friday, 21 November 2008 |
It seems to me there is something very wrong with this picture. Judy Streatch, the Minister of Community Services, the provincial department charged with caring for the most needy of our citizens, spends precious tax dollars on high end coffee and Perrier Water.
Streatch, daughter of one-time cabinet minister Ken Streatch said her “stakeholders” deserve to be treated with respect. Yeah, right.
Let’s see, the recession hits home and I suffer a major setback. So much so I have to approach the Province for social assistance.
“Come on in, Mr. H., sit down, my deputy will pour you a Starbucks coffee,” “Her Nibbs” offers. “Or perhaps you would prefer a chilled Perrier with a twist of lemon on the side.”
Streatch says it is her drink of choice at home – but that’s hardly the point. Frankly this ill-advised comment comes dangerously close to the “Let them eat cake” philosophy.
The minister’s defence of this wasteful spending makes me ill. It is an abuse of tax dollars and both she and her deputy minister should climb down from their ivory towers.
We are living in very difficult times that promise only to get worse. Thousands of Nova Scotians are living on the edge, fearful for their jobs, their pensions and their retirement investments.
If Rodney MacDonald plans to stay on as Premier, he should take Streatch by the hand and lead her to the last seat in the back benches and leave her there. Her serious lack of judgment has been revealed one too many times.
I recall when I worked in government, the Department of Labour to be exact. The minister at the time was Russell MacKinnon. Later Ron Russell filled the post, and he in turn was followed by Angus MacIsaac. The Deputy Minister throughout this period was Kevin McNamara.
Kevin’s policy was simple - you want coffee, you pay for it. All of us, the minister, the two secretaries, Kevin and your scribbler chipped in and bought the coffee. We also made it available for visitors. Never once during Kevin’s tenure did the money come from the public purse. And to their credit, none of the ministers, with their different political stripes, ever interfered with this directive.
Kevin is probably the only deputy minister who purposely flew on business during non-peak times, in order to get the best deal for the Province. How was he rewarded? John Hamm replaced him. Well, John didn’t personally deliver the message but the buck stopped at his desk in those days and his fingerprints were all over it.
Kevin’s sin? Probably being appointed by Russell MacLellan. Quite the irony, since I have never worked for an individual who was more apolitical.
Meanwhile, because I know MacDonald would never punish Streatch, I think she should sit down with her Dad and lend an ear. With a brilliant and blemish-free political career behind him, Ken would be the perfect choice to give her a lesson on serving people, not being self-serving.
(Al Hollingsworth is a retired journalist and broadcaster.)
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