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Recovering backpacker, Cornwallite at heart, political enthusiast, catalyst, writer, husband, father, community volunteer, unabashedly proud Canadian. Every hyperlink connects to something related directly or thematically to that which is highlighted.

Friday 4 July 2014

A Fiscal Truth for #cdnpoli



 
 
From Warren Kinsella's non-blog.  His piece is all about why the Conservatives should be worried and why Stephen Harper may be thinking about retirement - a bit of nudging, as War Rooms do. 
 
That's not what interested me.  The millions spent on ads that haven't worked did.
 
Think about this for a second.  Stephen Harper and Canadian Conservatives in general are all about efficient use of the tax dollar.  If a public program failed as miserably as the CPC attack ads have done, they'd axe it.
 
The same holds true in the private sector - that which doesn't perform gets culled.  It's as simple as that - except when it comes to advertising and the boss' pet projects.  If anything, we can expect the Harper Tories to up their ad spending as they try to take Trudeau down.
 
What's wrong with this picture?
 
How can fiscal conservatives so wantonly waste their donors' dollars on failing initiatives?  How can they similarly waste taxpayer dollars on massive ad campaigns for things like Canada's Action Plan that produce no demonstrable value for their cost?  How can the Private Sector drop $200 K on consultants with nothing more than brand and bluster in their corner, yet refuse to give raises to hard-working front-line staff or invest in Corporate Social Responsibility programs like youth training?
 
The answer is an easy one.  We're not rational.  Even the fiscal conservatives are hypocrites, when you scratch the surface just a little.  We waste, because we have no clue what we're doing; we just try to sound confident while we're doing it.
 
I never trust tough-talking sales folk who stick to their "I am the best at what I do" messaging and invest heavily in their brand.  I know from experience that the more gets invested in image, the less is invested in substance.
 
It's too bad the people with actual capital and influence don't see this.  Society could be so much less wasteful and business so much more productive if they could just get out of their Cave and see the light a bit.
 

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