A penny saved is a penny earned. I love that wise old adage and I think it is a motto that should be put on the entrance of all government buildings whether they be city, band, territorial or federal. I would add under it, SA国际影视传媒淵ou are entrusted with the peopleSA国际影视传媒檚 money, so spend it wisely and let there be a curse upon all who waste it or give it away needlessly or unjustly.SA国际影视传媒�

Ok, maybe that is a bit of overkill, but politicians and civil servants need to be reminded it is not their money they are dealing with.

Benjam铆n Franklin is credited with coining that phrase in the 1700s in one of his publications called "Poor Richards AlmanacSA国际影视传媒� Since the times have changed, and we no longer use pennies, I think we should update it to SA国际影视传媒淎 loonie saved is a loonie earnedSA国际影视传媒� and letSA国际影视传媒檚 face it, in the government there are a lot of looneys kicking around aimlessly.

Its not hard to look at the way all levels of government spend money to come up with ways a few loonies could be saved. A lot of loonies in some cases.

When the latest GNWT budget was announced and revenues were lower than expected wouldnSA国际影视传媒檛 it have been stellar if one of the MLAs stood up and said, SA国际影视传媒淗ey we are being paid far too much for what we do, and we have perks coming out the yin yang, as do most civil servants. So, letSA国际影视传媒檚 make some cuts in house and stop spending and wasting so much of the taxpayers' money. LetSA国际影视传媒檚 save some loonies and learn how to do more with less. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 called efficiency.SA国际影视传媒�

I know that this is a wild and crazy fantasy, but it would certainly send a tsunami through the government.

Of course that didnSA国际影视传媒檛 happen, but apparently a few MLAs did raise the prospect of raising taxes for some or diversifying. Oddly enough none raised the question of why so many people and companies try to avoid the territory because of political uncertainty, over regulation, time delays and a less then welcoming environment. Oh well politicians being politicians.

It seems that on the TV one is always hearing economists warn about the amount of personal debt many Canadians are carrying. Apparently, it averages out to $8,500 per household.

So, if you donSA国际影视传媒檛 owe any money, someone else sure does. If interest rates were to rise a little, if taxes or the cost of living were to rise a bit or if a person couldnSA国际影视传媒檛 work, many would go bankrupt in a matter of weeks or months.

What they donSA国际影视传媒檛 talk about as much is that most Canadian cities are also deeply in debt. As are most provinces and Territories. If you can believe it, our Territorial government is over $1 billion dollars in debt. For such a small population to owe a billion dollars, that is staggering. For the year 2016/17 the Fraser Institute put provincial and federal debt at $1.4 trillion. That would be 1,400,000,000 loonies. Yikes.

I think every government building should have a big sign out front proclaiming their debt and better yet who exactly do we owe all this money to? What are our yearly interest payments? We are sure as heck making someone rich. And if the lenders raised rates or called in the loans, who exactly would end up owning Canada? ThatSA国际影视传媒檚 a scary question.

Governments love to play shell games. They give a little tax cut at one spot, then they claw it back and more with another tax, levy, charge or cut in services. Sometimes I think it is one big con game. Here in the territory almost all politicians when they are running for office talk about reducing the cost of living in the north. And yet our cost of living just keeps rising, in part due to their actions and excessive spending.

Before people, the city, the GNWT and the federal government all go bankrupt, it really is time to get a handle on spending. As a country we seem to be living well above our means. For governments facing a short fall, the first reaction should not be to borrow more money or to raise taxes but to cut spending and save a few loonies. After all, there are lots that could be saved.

Remember a loonie saved is a loonie earned.