Baker’s problem indicative of something larger

Nova Scotia’s Finance Minister got into a little hot water over the past month for a set of rental cottages he owns with his brother and two other business partners in Lunenburg County. Apparently Michael Baker wasen’t paying the correct amount of tax on the properties, paying a residential tax rate instead of the correct commercial rate. No worries, according to the provincial departments making these decisions.

In a bit of a larger perspective, the Rodney MacDonald government has seemed to lurch from problem to problem, mostly created by their own sense of political ineptness. The Conserve Nova Scotia appointment is one of those little problems that wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the politicians insisting on rewarding their friends with high profile jobs, making high profile cash.

No one should be surprised the minister of finance gets off easy in this instance. The Tories have been in power so long in the province that the bureaucracy attending to their various departments are all friends of the Tory machine.

The Conservatives have had time to put these departments in place and staff them with bureaucrats who will bow to the wants of the government, and enthusiastically implement only the policy of the ruling party. They don’t only prop up the government, but also decry any opposition idea as out to lunch, until months later when the government decides that it is in their best interest to bring in what was a great idea in the first place.

So, it was no surprise this morning when officials from Service Nova Scotia and the Department of Tourism said that the Finance Minister did not have to change the rate of tax he’s paying. They say since Mr. Baker’s business is set up to rent the cottages by the month, it falls outside the laws governing those types of tourist accommodations.

Baker obviously knows these regulations and no doubt set his business up in such a way as to usurp said regulations. In a word, shady.

So, the question that comes to mind is if it were any other person with this type of cottage, and other business owners complained, what would happen? It’s a good bet that if they weren’t connected to the Tories, it wouldn’t be an issue. However, if they weren’t, the tune would most certainly change. The Tourism and Service Nova Scotia departments would be ordered to “take another look” at the governments policy.

Another sad example of politicians and bureaucrats helping their own.