The Doug Tyler Affair
The mystique. They mystery. A ‘lobbyist’ now working for the government. Ooooooh. The Opposition is some angry that Doug Tyler, former McKenna Minister has gone from lobbyist to senior government position. As if that hasn’t happened before. New Brunswick is a small province. Ex Cabinet ministers many times end up with nice government jobs (just ask David Alward’s predecessor).
Of course I believe that senior government appointments should be vetted for conflict of interest but that’s tough in a small province. One thing I can say from 20 years of working in and around the system. There is definitely ‘lobbying’ that goes on but I have never witnessed it rise to the level of corruption. I am not saying that bribes, payoffs, blackmail, etc. don’t happen but I have never heard about it.
There needs to be systems in place to ensure that government money is spent appropriately (and that includes who gets hired) but I am equally if not more concerned about having accountability systems to ensure that government money is spent effectively.
It’s an outrage with former Minister Norm Betts spends $90 for burger in Boston but there isn’t even a whiff of interest in whether or not the tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars spent on that trip to Boston was an effective use of money.
You could say the same thing about all departments of government. There needs to be at least as much accountability related to outcomes (results) as related to the processes (how the money was spent). It kind of misses the point to be outraged about NB Power bonuses (a 0.02% cost item) and hardly even mention the actual success or failure of NB Power. That is not the best example because the TJ has done a pretty good job of reporting on the activities of NB Power. I’d double the Deputy Minister salaries in a heartbeat if it resulted in a doubling of the effectiveness of their departments.
