Imagine sinking $1,000 into mutual funds only to have them tank in value to a measly three bucks some six years later. To make matters worse, imagine that your financial advisor couldn't provide you with any paperwork, bank statements or names of the funds in which he invested.

The bleak scenario mirrors what the CTF recently uncovered in its own audit of Industry Canada's Technology Partnerships Canada (TPC) program, Ottawa's flagship high-technology business assistance program.

Since 1996, TPC doled out $947 million in conditionally repayable loans to the Who's Who of corporate Canada and recouped a paltry 3% ($24.4 million).

In response to past CTF reports documenting the futility of corporate welfare, successive Ministers of Industry (John Manley, Brian Tobin and now Allan Rock) have always pointed to TPC as the "new" way of managing corporate welfare in a "better" and "transparent" fashion.

But the CTF's latest report: Peeling Back the Onion - A Taxpayers Audit of Technology Partnerships Canada, shows that such claims of transparency and success are merely ungrounded assertions of opinion.

In addition to the horrendous repayment level of 3%, the CTF found that:

• Over 57% of all $1.7 billion in project authorizations were destined for Quebec companies;
  
• TPC practices 'March Madness' spend it or lose it budgeting with an average of 56% of all projects approved in March of each fiscal year;
  
• No annual reports have been released since 1998/1999;
  
• 26 projects worth $378 million have not been announced;
  
• TPC is violating several sections of its own Accountability Framework including requirements for periodic audits and a comprehensive four-year audit;
  
• Job creation estimates reveal that taxpayers have been fleeced $58,891 per supposed job created; and
  
• Three projects worth $147 million were announced publicly before all approvals were given within government.

The CTF report generated several questions from both conservative opposition parties to Industry Minister Allan Rock on February 19th and 20th.
Minister Rock basically admitted that his department was at fault for not releasing annual reports and other information but sadly, he continued the institutional deception that has been prevalent each and every time the CTF has confronted the government with evidence that Ottawa's corporate welfare programs don't work.

TPC should be wound down and eliminated. The more prudent and responsible approach to stimulating investment in Canada remains one of further lowering personal, payroll, corporate and capital taxes while consistently monitoring regulatory regimes and removing those barriers and fees deemed contrary to public and competitive interests.

In concert with this economic liberation strategy, the Government of Canada must adopt a more aggressive posture at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and in other multilateral institutions to ensure that business subsidies are minimized and eventually eliminated worldwide.

Until this happens, Canadian taxpayers will be forced to endure billions of dollars more in corporate welfare nightmares