E Wealth

Perhaps if CEO Sarah Cramer had heard about Conrad Black and his reported shenanigans she might have reigned in her enthusiasm for awarding non-bid contracts. Of course, Conrad only finagled money from shareholders while Cramer is using our public funds. Moreover, as we all know, that cookie jar has a very loose lid when Mother McGuinty is not in the kitchen. It took another country’s District Attorney to bring Conrad to heel and Cramer has little to fear from our Crown Attorney.

Cramer seems to feel she did nothing wrong. Indeed, the great-unwashed public may be judging her too harshly. Proof of her high credentials is evident in her ability to talk her new employer into paying her a bonus of $114,000. Then firing nine executives who lacked skill sets for their jobs and cutting bonuses for employees gained her further kudos from the Board of Directors. Within a few months, she had turned the ship around (her analogy) and let 5 million in contracts. eHealth is on course for a 2015 release. Yep, on time and on budget. Once she gets those bothersome CBC pirates off her deck, it will be clear sailing. It appears that Health minister, David (Jack Sparrow) Caplan will defend the good ship Cramer.

We ought not to be upset that Ms Cramer needs a personal assistant whom she pays $213 per hour. This assistant is a multi-tasking whiz who not only sets up her meetings with consultants, types her letters of dismissal, picks up her dry cleaning but also gets her lattes. Then when we discover that Ms Cramer needed the services of a $300 per hour consultant to set up her voicemail answering, we have to salute this high-powered executive. I have tried to get my answering machine to record a message and believe me, it is not a chore for the uninitiated. Fortunately, my wife was nearby and she did it for me – for free!

Consultants have a bad enough reputation without having us learn that they receive pay for reading the New York Times or talking about business while riding on the subway. However, some of these firms might have questioned the fact that they were awarded a contract without having to bid on it. I mean, how great is that? It is amazing that in these tough economic times there is no competition. Apparently, many of the qualified consultants have been lured south of the border because the Americans are thinking about an eHealth system and Captain Cramer wanted them tied to a contract in Toronto. Live in Alberta? No prob, bro, just bill us $1.7 million for your commute.

As taxpayers who are funding this eHealth, we must remain focussed on the results. Are we getting value for our taxes? According to the government, the eHealth system will save millions in hospital and dispensing fees. Lives will be saved shortly after 2015 when the system is up and running smoothly. These benefits far outweigh the corner-cutting and petty banditry of Cramer and her consultants. After all, anyone working in the guise of public service is entitled to all they can get, malfeasance aside.

It is time we put this little blip of misuse of public funds aside. After all, we do not want Ms Cramer to jump ship. With all that bailout money floating round in the auto industry, she would fit right in with those executives at General Motors. I will bet she could find ten or even twenty executives to fire over there. (Note to Ms Cramer – take your executive assistant with you).