Dear Diary: Amidst the hustle and bustle of this holiday season, my thoughts have already turned to the millennium and what the year 2000 holds for Ontario taxpayers. I hope it will be better than the way we seem to be finishing 1999.

For example, to celebrate the millennium, the Ministry of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation has produced a book entitled My Ontario, The Millennium Memento. This glossy tome is replete with poems, essays, and pictures by students from across the province.

Fair enough, there is something to be said for encouraging young writers and artisans in this province to ply their trade and utilize every opportunity to broadcast their talents.

Isn't this what schools are for Are there not a variety of local publications and outlets that would serve as vehicles for those who wish to have their works published Apparently not. The Ontario government decided to print 2.2 million of these booklets for every student in the province.

The obvious questions have arisen. How much did it cost to produce, package, and distribute this publication to every corner in the province Would it not have made more sense to put this money into workbooks, textbooks and computers for classrooms

And while we're at it why do we have a Ministry of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation Isn't citizenship is a federal responsibility Moreover, Sheila Copps seems to have the culture market cornered with her "culture vultures" at the federal department of Canadian Heritage. And isn't recreation a local issue

The introduction to My Ontario includes a foreword from Premier Harris that states, "I believe the future of our province is limited only by the talents, aspirations and determination of our people." What he should have written instead is that "the educational choices for our children are only limited by the size of government and the taxes needed to pay for its suspect decisions, like this book."

Dear Diary: Now let's turn our attention to Ontario's to crack down on welfare fraud. The Ministry of Community and Social Services engaged the international consulting firm, Arthur Andersen, to help them implement systems to ferret our welfare abuse and fraud.

Again, fair enough, the government has a responsibility to taxpayers and welfare recipients alike to ensure that welfare benefits go to those recipients most in need. However, Auditor General Erik Peters has questioned whether the Andersen engagement has resulted in any savings for taxpayers.

His latest report states that "in light of the significant payments already made to Andersen Consulting at rates which the ministry cannot control, the delays of completion and our concerns about the cost and benefit pools, we continue to question the achievement of value for money."

In all, Andersen has billed Ontario taxpayers $55 million to find $66 million in welfare savings. And the Auditor General doesn't know whether these savings are attributable to systems implemented and/or recommended by Andersen or due to changes in government policy.

Dear Diary, in both instances - Millennium books and the welfare fraud issue - the government has been unrepentant. This is just the latest in a disturbing trend where the provincial government seems more prone to summarily discount the findings of opposition parties or the Auditor General as opposed to considering the criticism fairly.

This situation is not healthy for the body politic. One can only hope that our government is more welcoming of constructive criticism in the New Year. Look for an entry from me in the New Year on this subject …