Taxpayers Group Cites Ag Canada for Waste Over Tobacco Transition Plan

Source from:  AP 03/08/2012

A federal program that spent millions paying farmers to get out of the tobacco business only to see their numbers rise is this year's winner of a government waste award. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation gave their annual worst of government waste award to Agriculture Canada for the $284 million tobacco transition program, which the auditor general found increased the number of tobacco farmers, rather than reduce it. It's the 14th year that the federation has handed out the awards, nicknamed the Teddies after a bureaucrat infamous for extravagant expense claims. The awards are gilded pig statuettes awarded in four categories; municipal waste, provincial waste, federal waste and lifetime achievement. The provincial winner was Alberta for paying politicians to serve on a committee that hasn't met in years. The municipal winner was the city of Montreal for snowplows caught on camera clearing snow-free sidewalks. The lifetime achievement award went to former Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe for allegedly billing taxpayers for partisan political activities. Enditem