I was curious about how much our new roundabout was costing the taxpayers, so I did a little research and found out it was part of the $14 billion (sic) in Towns for Tomorrow infrastructure money handed out by the B.C. government in April.

Qualicum Beach got $375,000 to build the roundabout, and since the B.C. government website said they were covering 75 percent of the cost, I am assuming that the town anted up the other $125,000, for a total of half a million dollars.

This largesse was in spite of a projected half billion dollar provincial budget deficit. But of course there was an election coming up in May, so I guess they thought it was a good idea to hand out the big bucks.

Now that they’ve been re-elected they have suddenly discovered that they’re actually $2.8 billion in the hole, not half a billion.

They’re telling us they will have to bring in hefty new taxes, and slash funding for health care, education, library services, the arts, and social and environmental programs. They say they can’t even afford enough school buses, for heaven’s sake!

Anybody who reads the news could have seen as far back as 2007 that the world’s economies are all slowing down, and we need to be thrifty so our children and grandchildren don’t have to pay off our debts.

A set of stoplights for that intersection would have been around $175,000, for a savings of $325,000. Leaving the intersection as it was would have cost nothing.

If similar savings could have been made in other Towns for Tomorrow projects, perhaps we wouldn’t have this huge deficit now. So when you pay the new HST, or find that your healthcare services have been cut, or have to drive your kids to school, think of all the other things that could have been done with that money. It’s pretty horrifying that the people running our province are so clueless.

Qualicum Beach also got $12,000 to plant trees. Since the town is promoting local food production, I wonder how many of these new trees will bear anything people could eat? Guess I’ll have to do some more research.

Ellen Rainwalker

Qualicum Beach