Political Lobbying on Taxpayers’ Dimes

Bartley Kives’ article in Saturday’s Free Press featured a Motley Crew of organizations banding together to form the OlyOpp Alliance. The usual suspects are all present – OllyOpp Group, Marianne Cerilli, etc. The inclusion of the provincial Liberals caught my eye. As Kevin Lamoureux holds his Thursday meetings at McDonald’s (a corporate entity ironically blasted for mass beef production), I can only surmise that he isn’t a big fan of the McRib.

The most interesting participant in this whole affair is the Winnipeg Humane Society. I guess they are now more than just advocates for homeless cute puppies and cuddly kittens. My only contention with their increasingly political role is the fact that they are using taxpayer money via the Canada Manitoba Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund (MRIF). If private donors see fit to fund the WHS’s political initiatives, that is their prerogative. However, it isn’t incumbent on governments to fund lobby groups, no matter how seemingly benign they may be. I wonder how pork industry employees feel about a portion of their tax money going towards efforts to thwart their livelihoods.

It is also curious that the WHS’s efforts are targeted directly at OlyWest. If the Humane Society has a bone of contention, it should be directed towards the appropriate legislative body governing pork production. A company abiding by current laws should not have its business affected by a lobby group. This is also is procedurally unfair in that existing pork producers are left untouched. I would assume that environmental regulations dealing with pork producers become more stringent over time. Thus, these older producers are free to carry on their antiquated (and less environmentally sound) business practices while the new entrants are victims of politics at the hands of Vicki Burns and her ilk.

While the WHS’s proposed new shelter is a sight to behold, it does also present some interesting questions, especially for someone who is keen on the notion of leveraging finite resources. For starters, it is being built on some of the most valuable land in the city of Winnipeg. Personally, I would have moved the building somewhere else (i.e. cheaper land costs) and used the excess money to fund ongoing operations. Construction costs are estimate to be $275.00 per square foot. I wonder how much lower these costs would be if the building was a bit more utilitarian in nature. After all, as much money as possible should be going to the actual care of the animals the WHS is tasked with looking after…