Run of the mill boondoggles are a hallmark of the political process. But the Fast Ferry fiasco is distinguished in a class of its own. This is no humdrum boondoggle. This is a megadoggle of the highest orders.

Half a billion taxpayer dollars flushed into the Pacific Ocean with nothing to show for it but a costly make-work project courtesy of the last provincial government.

That kind of money could have covered 9.3 million one way flights from Vancouver to Nanaimo, harbour to harbour. Instead the money was spent keeping welders busy but the boats docked.

Half a billion bucks would also have picked up most the tab for the province's road development projects in BC's heartlands, doing away with the necessity for a 3.5 cent per litre gas tax. From that perspective, motorists are subsidizing BC's Ferry system far greater than they ever imagined.

The traumatic memory of this megadoggle won't likely sail off into the sunset like a treble of auctioned-off Pacificats. It should scar deep into BC's political consciousness to serve as a lesson of the dangers of politically inspired make-work projects.

It illustrates par excellence why governments should not assume large financial risk or meddle in services that the private sector has demonstrated clear competence.

What distinguishes this politically motivated make-work project from the private sector is the absence of any business plan, a cost/benefit analysis vetted by financiers and accountants and feedback from the marketplace on a leased trial ship basis.

The normal checks and balances found in the private sector were lost on a government that was more interested in squandering taxpayer dollars on a public policy objective to rebuild BC's shipbuilding industry than ensure the project was achievable, viable and affordable.

The lessons gleaned from the Fast Ferry experience should inspire the BC government to release itself and BC taxpayers from other high-risk crown corporations, such as BC Rail and ICBC.

Let's not forget of ICBC's ill-fated real estate adventures causing it to write-off $150 million on the Surrey Central Development, not to mention the $219 million in pre-election give-aways to motorists and another $3 million spread around various sports clubs and sporting events.

ICBC is a train-wreck waiting to happen- again. The quicker the government divests itself of the public auto insurer and BC Rail, the greater the likelihood that another wasteful fiasco will not be repeated.

The case for trimming down the size of the provincial government and narrowing its scope of activities has never been more apparent. Instead of simply parking the blame at the doorstep of the NDP, where in fact it rightfully belongs, the BC Liberals could shore up public confidence in government by taking the boondoggle risk factor out of crowns. The smartest way is simply to take the crowns out of government.