We Elect Incompotents To Supervise Incompotents...

...and unless there is a major media scandal no one gets fired and elected incompotents are guaranteed for fixed terms where they build lucritive pensions and benefits.

It seems you really can't get good help

By CHRISTINA BLIZZARD

Compare the two.

On the one hand, we have the annual release, every March 31, of people making more than $100,000 on the public payroll.

The so-called Sunshine list has burgeoned by leaps and bounds since it was first released in 1997.

On the other hand, every December, Ontario Auditor General Jim McCarter releases a scathing report of government mismanagement, ineptness and in some cases, just plain sloppiness -- often by those in the $100,000 club.

Put the two together and there's only one conclusion you can make: The more we pay in salaries, the more incompetence we get. Take a look at programs such as Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP).

We are a caring, civil society. We want to ensure that our neighbours, our friends, those among us who may have hit hard times or who are ill or disabled, can live with dignity.

We expect our governments to come up with programs that will support them when they are down on their luck.

But this is public money. Cash is scarce in an economy like this, so you'd think the government would make sure our money is well spent.

That, clearly, is not the case, according to McCarter. His report released yesterday outlines mismanagement, ineptitude -- and downright fraud in the Ontario Works and ODSP.

As of March 31, overpayments in ODSP had increased to $663 million. For Ontario Works, that figure is $600 million.

Here's how it happened.

McCarter says that fraud investigators rarely follow up on phone tips to the snitch line.

For a number of years, the ministry ignored five -- count 'em -- complaints about one recipient family.

It was later revealed that the family had received $100,000 in overpayments. One tip noted that family members regularly drove new vehicles, including a new imported SUV.

The report says oversight procedures are lacking. The Social Benefits Tribunal hears appeals and is often inconsistent in its rulings, McCarter says. An independent consultant hired by the ministry in 2008 noted that many tribunal members approved 100% of appeals, while one member consistently sided with the ministry.

"We think in some cases fraud has occurred," McCarter told a news conference yesterday.

Then there is the ludicrous dietary supplement program. Costs for it skyrocketed from $5 million in 2002-03 -- to more than $67 million in the 2008-09 fiscal year.

The auditor general found several instances where every member of a large family was diagnosed with identical multiple medical conditions.

Truly needy are hurting

One health-care practitioner was responsible for diagnosing and approving almost 20% of dietary allowances in a sample of 1,000 applicants. Some families can scam the system for $50,000 tax free, according to McCarter.

What is most troubling in all of this is that those who are truly needy are hurting. They have to wait four months for help.

Look, it is a good thing we have a social safety net. The problem is, with so many people unemployed, it has to be administered in a fair and equitable fashion.

Honest people are hurting. And they are scrambling to pay their taxes.

So let's connect the dots -- from March 31 to December. We are paying the civil service a lot of money to do a very mediocre job. Every year, the auditor points that out.

We deserve better. Those guardians of the public purse need to pull up their socks.

And to the scammers and fraud artists? Get a life, get a job -- and stop sucking us dry.