Whose Money Is It Really?

A friend of mine, Carlita Diaz, is an accountant in the U.S. Federal Reserve. She was in town to attend the funeral of Jim Flaherty, Canada's former Minister of Finance, and I had invited her back to the Manor after the ceremony.

We were sipping Cosmos in the conservatory.

Carlita had been somewhat taken aback at what she had witnessed. "This," she stated "would not have occurred anywhere else that I can think of. Amazing, really."

"Well," I said, "the service was well done, yet I can recall --"

"I'm not talking about the service, Simone, although that was impressive. No, I mean all the people lining the streets and clustered around the front of the cathedral. My God, the man was a Minister of Finance! I have seen other funerals of such officials being hissed at, with public anger all too evident, but there was none of that. They were paying homage, even honouring him. Our lot at the Fed respected his financial acumen, but this was something different. What gives?"

I thought carefully before responding.

"What gives," I began, "is the public's awareness of Jim Flaherty's respect for their tax dollars. For instance, the man never said, in announcing a policy, that government money was involved. He always said that the monies belonged to the electorate, that the Ministry of Finance had a stewardship role, and that the program being discussed was intended for public benefit. The final aim, of course, was to make every effort to achieve a balanced budget year after year."

"Hmm", said Carlita, "that didn't seem to go too well. As I recall, Canada went deep into debt. Only recently does it look like the country will be able to balance its books."

"Now Carlita," I suggested, "a great many countries went down the tubes financially, including one just south of the border. Stimulus funds were absolutely necessary to ward off a depression. So yes, Flaherty proved he could spend when he had to. But he also has proved that he could tackle the deficit, and he has done it. Now in the U.S. -- "

"I'd rather not talk about that. Instead, let's talk about this Province, and look at Ontario's -- "

"Now I'd rather not talk about that. So let me refresh our Cosmos, and how about a discussion,...oh, I don't know...."

"You see the last installment of Game of Thrones?"

And we were off.