$143 pencil sharpener wins Teddy Waste Award

Toronto District School Board (TDSB) walked away with the top local boobie prize for its outrageous contract with the Maintenance and Skilled Trades Council

By Candice Malcolm –

Candice Malcolm
Ontario Taxpayers Federation

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) held its 15th annual Teddy Waste Awards in Ottawa March 3 and the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) walked away with the top local prize for its outrageous contract with the Maintenance and Skilled Trades Council.

Over a two-year period the union charged $158 million for routine tasks such as installing a pencil sharpener ($143), hanging three pictures ($266) and installing an electrical outlet ($3,000).

It is no wonder the TDSB is running a multi-million dollar structural deficit when they’re paying skilled carpenters $143 to put four screws into a piece of wood.

In the case of the outlet, the job took four hours but taxpayers were billed for 76 hours, as revealed by a Toronto Star investigation. When union boss Jimmy Hazel was asked to explain these soaring fees, he told the Star, “We don’t need to fucking prove anything to anybody about costs.”

Today, thanks to Jimmy Hazel & Co., the TDSB receives this well-deserved recognition as the worst of the worst in government waste and arrogance. Giving public sector unions a monopoly on maintenance shouldn’t be a licence to spend without concern for the taxpayers.

Hopefully our waste award will serve as a reminder. Also nominated from Ontario was Dalton McGuinty for his campaign’s decision to cancel construction on unpopular gas plants in the GTA, and 29 Hamilton Public Works employees who were literally found asleep on the job.

The CTF’s Teddy Award backgrounder can be downloaded HERE.