I don't have a horse in the race when it comes to Canadian politics, but man oh man do I want my northern neighbors to have someone with this level of intelligence in office:
Incentivizing the unelected bureaucracy to compete against each other to eliminate red tape??
Yes, please!
Pierre Poilievre's idea of changing government incentive structures is brilliant, and similar to what American politicians like Ron DeSantis are doing. If you change the incentive structure, you steer the entirety of the cubicle-dwelling bureaucrats toward something productive.
Every business wants to make more money, and that includes the government. The problem is, the government doesn't sell goods and services of its own, and it isn't really incentivized to provide good customer support.
Sure, the front-line politicians have to worry about reelection so they are motivated to keep their voters happy, but you don't vote for Brenda down at the permit office. Brenda might provide a service (making sure citizens are safe and cities are organized by managing permits and inspections), but providing that service better is not what gets her department more resources and power (AKA market share).
That's done by selling the one thing that governments truly own: Access.
"Brenda" is the gatekeeper of a list of rules with the the weight of armed government force to back her up. Anyone who goes against her gets destroyed. Therefore, she is a monopoly. No one can build in her little kingdom without permits, so the fees go up and up and up until a third of the cost of a home goes to her bureaucracy.
Other bureaucrats work alongside her. Environmental departments write libraries full of rules that require extensive surveys and legal paperwork to navigate. Workplace safety departments make sure that lengthy and regular inspections take place. Starting a simple business becomes a rich man's game!
The corruption and confusion in the system is why the rest of us laugh at things like this:
Somewhere, someone asks when the homes are going to be built, but the homes are an afterthought. Access is being sold, so the bureaucracy is satisfied. More than that, this selling of access creates an elite club in the exact same way that airport lounges or gold clubs work. By buying access, people aren't just getting construction permits. Everyone who is anyone is playing the game, so when you buy in, you're also getting access to a network of wealthy people who can benefit you.
It isn't until years later that people complain that tens of billions of dollars were spent for nothing to be built. 👇
But something was built.
Luxury for the elites.
They were just too busy building their homes to care about yours.
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
