Buying affection or enthusiasm

National Post editorial board: Happy birthday without subsidies

Posted: June 07, 2009

There has always been something faintly ridiculous about the notion of Ottawa sending millions of dollars to communities around the country to celebrate Canada Day, akin to handing a child a credit card and driving them to the store to buy you a birthday present.

As with most celebrations, it’s the thought that counts, and communities that don’t think enough of the country to mark the anniversary of its birth — no matter how modestly — shouldn’t be nudged into it via a cheque from the taxpayers.

So it is encouraging that the federal Conservatives plan to cancel the birthday fund. “This is the last year of this program as it currently exists and next year we’ll have a new program in place that’ll be even more regionally balanced,” said Heritage Minister James Moore this week.

The program is notoriously open to abuse, most famously in the sponsorship scandal, when the Liberals sought to use federal cash to buy votes and support Liberal-friendly advertising firms in Quebec. Rather than cancel it immediately on coming to power, however, the Conservatives have continued the practice under a different guise, cloyingly called Celebrate Canada.

The name may have changed but the pandering is the same: Every year the bulk of the money goes to Quebec in another transparent effort to buy its love, or loyalty or both. This year is no different: Quebec will get 40% of the funds while the rest of the country shares the leftovers.

The Conservatives would be better off to end the handouts altogether. Canada doesn’t need to buy affection or enthusiasm. As the government looks for ways to cut back spending, this would be an excellent place to start.
National Post