Angry in the Great White North

Michael Bryant is defending the spiralling costs of hosting parties for judges and lawyers:

Attorney General Michael Bryant says opposition to paying three-quarters of a million dollars to put Crown lawyers and judges up in luxury resorts is just "boneheaded."

Bryant says two conferences at Blue Mountain and Deerhurst resorts last year -- which cost almost $700,000 -- were totally legitimate.

He says Conservative criticism of those professional development meetings is an attack on local jobs and the party owes the cottage country communities an apology.

With all due respect to Michael Bryant, the question of who is benefiting is a red herring. Of course someone benefits from a conference. If it isn't the people at Blue Mountain or Deerhurst, then some other community with convention facilities will benefit. Is Michael Bryant going to apologize to every resort that didn't host these conferences? Of course not, nor should he.

But the question of legitimacy is, well, legitimate. Let's put it this way. Give the attendees two choices. One is to hold the conference at Blue Mountain for $700,000. The other is two hold the conference at some other facility for $174,000. That's what it used to cost:

Last year's three-day meeting of 600 Crown attorneys at Blue Mountain resort cost taxpayers almost $450,000 -- up from $174,000 taxpayers shelled out for a similar meeting two years ago.

Judges and justices of the peace racked up a bill of $246,000 at the posh Muskoka golf resort of Deerhurst last year -- up from $50,000 two years ago.

Now tell the lawyers and judges that they have to pay their own way, or some significant portion of the cost. I wonder if the enthusiasm for Blue Mountain would rapidly evaporate.

But then any enthusiasm these lawyers and judges might have to vote for the Ontario Liberals might evaporate too, so I don't expect Michael Bryant is going to try something like this.

Instead, the cost will quadruple inside of one year and not a thing will be done about it. Ontario taxpayers will foot the bill for the food and entertainment of a segment of society that most people figure are quite capable of paying their own way.

And if they paid their own way, the people of Muskoka would still benefit, wouldn't they?