Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland (Image Credit: The Canadian Press)

By Doug Collins

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: Where has all the money gone?

Dec 3, 2023 | 6:00 AM

TO PARAPHRASE AN OLD FOLK SONG, a sad song to be true, we have not heeded the prophetic words, “When Will They Ever Learn?”

And the answer is, never. We are spending so much money trying to fix things that we don’t realize that we’re risking the future. How much money can we afford to spend to survive?

I went outside the other day and realized that my money tree had shriveled up and died. And with the cost of everything rising, I wonder how the city expects me to pay for a double-digit tax increase next year. Or to absorb the huge amounts we’re paying out for aid to the less fortunate, the marginalized, those without medical care.

Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told us recently we’re facing a hard hit. Spending is increasing but debt repayment is going the other way. I fully understand that we need to take care of our people and resources, but we’re at the point now where it is becoming impossible — and yet we still want more. The government needs to spend more, we cry, seemingly oblivious to the load we’re placing on future generations.

We haven’t learned. Perhaps we never will.

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The song “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” was written by Pete Seeger and released in the early 1960s. It is considered one of the greatest folk songs of all time. A later version of the song was released in 1965. The other side of the single was a catchy tune called “Little Boxes”, referred to last week by the Armchair Mayor.

Maybe we should pay more attention to the wisdom of people like Seeger, Guthrie, Lead Belly and the like. People who saw the real world, not through the lens of green that gives us the impression the money supply is endless. It’s not.

It may come as a shock, but we cannot solve every single issue that comes our way, and we can’t solve them by throwing money at them. The real question is, “Where do we start?”

The way we spend money now reminds me of a ticker-tape parade. We go to the top of a tall building, throw down tons of money and hope some of it does some good. It’s not going to work. We need to find a better way.

While the folk song is really a sad song about the tragedies of war, the lyrics certainly have many other potential meanings in today’s crazy, mixed up world.

I’m Doug Collins and that’s One Man’s Opinion.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.