Dan Gardner writes in the Ottawa Citizen.
Remember the story of David Rotor and Douglas Tipple? As Stephen Maher recalled recently on these pages, they were the two experts on procurement hired by the Martin Liberals – at a cost of $330,000 a year each – to find savings in the federal government’s procurement process.
Everything went well. Rotor and Tipple worked closely with the Conservative government when it came to power in 2006.
But then stories about supposed misconduct by the two were leaked to The Globe and Mail. The Conservatives panicked and fired Rotor and Tipple. In subsequent litigation, the allegations proved false and both men received major settlements.
And the savings they were to find? Rotor says they were on course for $1.25 billion a year.
But the planned changes were scrapped when he and Tipple were fired, so the government is out roughly $6 billion since 2006.
Who cares about that, right? Those two guys were getting $330,000 a year! Lenny Lunchpail can only dream of making that kind of money. That chimp has got more bananas than you, Lenny! Get upset!
Indeed, Lenny. Get upset at politicians who play to your worst instincts.
