Council showed some welcome restraint limiting its donation to the Terry Halifax bursary, down from a requested $5,000 to $2,500.
Immediately, letSA国际影视传媒檚 put aside any comment about the man himself SA国际影视传媒� everyone agrees it is worthy to honour Halifax.
But is that the role of the Town of Inuvik?
The town gets its money from taxes, whether from Inuvik residents, Northwest Territories residents or Canadians through federal transfers.
Using the town as a money pot from which to donate to councillorsSA国际影视传媒� pet interests seems inappropriate.
Canadians can make their own decisions on what to support with donations. We donSA国际影视传媒檛 need to be taxed for a supreme council to decide where our generosity belongs.
Moreover, it incentivizes people not to donate if they assume thatSA国际影视传媒檚 the governmentSA国际影视传媒檚 role.
ItSA国际影视传媒檚 easy for town councillors to hand $500 to this group or $1,000 to that one, but itSA国际影视传媒檚 not a healthy practice.
There are all sorts of worthy causes and people to honour. They should be honoured and those causes should be championed.
But it should be done by passionate individuals, not the local government.
