Whatever one thinks of the CBC, it normally has a pretty smart crop of people running the show. It might be as sensationalized as the next network (insert reference the Guergis Jaffair), and many have questions about its ideological leanings, but it's normally sufficiently professional in most circumstances.

As of yesterday, the CBC became the next government entity after the Revenue Agency and departments of Transportation, Environment and Industry/General Motors to care about what car a private citizen buys with his or her own money. Following yesterday's joint press conference and meeting between the CTF and Minister Finley, Chris Rands ran a non-story about what car we used to drop off twelve, 2-feet tall piles of petitions. Needless to say, they were a bit heavy to carry across downtown Ottawa on a warm day in a suit.

The car of interest to the CBC's Chris Rands was bought at a bargin price, but required yours truly to go to Buffalo, NY to get it, tow it back to Canada, have it rebuilt with a replacement engine, and then do a good deal of body-work on it myself, which is still ongoing. None of this is to say that what car I drive, is the business of a taxpayer-funded national broadcaster.

Perhaps it is in the government's overall interest that I be shamed into buying one of their cars from GM or Chrysler, but since I am already a shareholder of those companies, I figured it best to keep business and personal matters apart and buy from outside of those respective quasi-crown corps.

"BMWs have a certain cachet of new wealth and privilege in Canada, even though the one used this morning was an elderly 3 Series built in the 1990s. Can you imagine what the Canadian Taxpayers Federation would say if an opposition party or non-governmental organization used a BMW in their photo op?"

Well, either "nothing, or "lets race", assuming that it was owned privately and legitimately earned. In other words, none of our business either.

By: Derek Fildebrandt
Posted: April 27, 2010
Topic: Federal

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