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LETTER: Site C controversy shows we need new rules

From reader Ed Varney
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New rules:

1. Any project that cannot be completed (financially and physically) within the term of the sitting government must pass a referendum to proceed.

2. Any project started that did not go to referendum and that is not completed within the term of the sitting government, the MPs/MLAs in that government lose their pensions.

3. No contract will be entered into that goes beyond the term of the sitting government (e.g. highways).

4. Contracts will not go to the lowest bid. Bids will be averaged and the bid nearest the average will be accepted.

5. Bids will be performance bids where, if the contract is not completed on time and to specifications, then the contract is reduced by 25 per cent.

6. If the contract goes into cost overruns or extras, the MPs/MLAs again lose their pensions.

We have to develop a system where politicians are no longer in government to make their friends rich. We have to have a system where the word “contractor” is not synonymous with “friend.” This system will help ensure that politicians have only one priority: the citizens they represent. We live in a democracy where the people get what they want, not what is shoved down our throats.

Ed Varney

Vallican