Ever wonder why Manitobans pay some of the highest income and property taxes in the country Well here are 400,000 reasons why. Over the past month the province and City of Winnipeg have doled out nearly $400,000 tax dollars to cultural groups, sports teams and a variety of other organizations under the banner of community development.

Using words like 'investing' and 'partnership,' Culture, Heritage and Tourism Minister Eric Robinson announced over $295,000 in grants to 54 projects around the province.

"Providing support for the development of interpretive materials and the creation of a new visitor programming and activities will increase the attractiveness of Manitoba as a heritage tourism destination," stated Robinson.

Yeah right, and East Germany was a haven for tourists.

The following is an abbreviated list of where some of our provincial dollars went:

• Brunkild Centennial Committee - $2,372 for a Commemorative School Marker
  
• Dugald Costume Collection Inc. - $6,000 for a 2004 Exhibition on Manitoba Weddings
  
• New Iceland Heritage Museum Inc - $20,000 for Viking on the Prairies in Gimli
  
• City of Winnipeg - $10,000 for historic building inventory update(for a complete list of grants visit www.gov.mb.ca)

Moving on to the City of Winnipeg, councillors can access $6.2 million for projects in their respective wards. As it was reported in the Winnipeg Free Press, many of the projects that received funding don't qualify under the rules - but they got approved anyway.

Apparently some councillors didn't want to offend their colleagues by turning down a project - who the hell are these guys working for Why aren't they more worried about offending property tax payers that are gouged on a daily basis It's mind boggling how things work in the land of government - in the real world if a publicly traded company told their shareholders that certain expenses don't fit into the business plan and that they were breaking their own guidelines, it would be grounds for a shareholder revolt and executives wouldn't be able to hold onto their jobs.

In themselves, there is nothing wrong with any of these groups or events. The issue is whether these activities should be funded by taxpayers or funded privately. There is little doubt that many of the volunteer groups and community organizations play a vital role maintaining our social backbone. But is that reason enough for hundreds of thousands of tax dollars to be shelled out for one community to have a Viking ship and another not to The answer is simply no.

Perhaps the NDP's campaign slogan should have read: Much Accomplished, More to Spend and the City of Winnipeg should change their motto to Embrace the Payouts.