A Nova Scotia municipality is steamed because a group of students were able to find funding to attend The FIRST Lego league World Festival. The municipality isn’t angry over the fact that the kids were able to attend on taxpayer’s money; rather, the complainant fuming because that’s money that could otherwise have gone to fixing sidewalks. Also, it was from a fund originally intended to finance small business development.
“ACOA’s mandate is regional economic development, not Lego-building,” said Mr. Williamson. “This is a question of federal priorities and the federal government putting money into Lego building blocks as opposed to infrastructure in this part of the country.
Mr. Williamson said it was “absurd” to spend money on a Lego contest when there are wharfs and sidewalks that need repairing. “There are so many areas in which the government could spend money here in Atlantic Canada,” he said. “And $10,000 to $15,000 handed to a municipality for infrastructure could be meaningful.”
Mr. Williamson said he doesn’t blame the teachers for finding funding for the students, but ACOA should have different priorities.
I am all for taxpayer funding of lego tournaments. Mr. Williamson is short-sighted in his approach to this situation. Sure, these kids are off gallivanting the globe, building lego structures partially funded by the federal government, but you can’t blame them for being more entreprenurial than Nova Scotia’s small business sector when it comes to financing options.
Mr. Williamson should consider the long-term, big picture. The alternative is to take that money and build a sidewalk that won’t get used because the kids will all be inside their homes, glued to the X-box, and fattening like diabetic lambs on cheeze-its and Dr. Pepper. Without any creative outlets for their energies, they’ll resort to burning down the wharves Mr. Williamson wants to see replaced.
Mr. Williamson, please stop being such a scrooge. The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency is all well and right in its decision to fund this venture. Eligible activities include: “business studies, capital investment, training, marketing, quality assurance, and not-for-profit activities that support business in the region’, and this clearly falls under training.
How many future engineers, urban planners, architects and construction managers will be shaped by this school’s lego program? While it’s not certain, I believe Lego building blocks wire kids’ brains for these occupations, and these are the people your province will need when the oil boom finally comes out East.
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jk 08.06.08 at 6:39 pm
I completely agree with you — honestly, what kind of “infrastructure” would $15 000 buy? This is kind of how I felt about the whole entrance-marker debate here in Edmonton. Sure, the project was frivolous, but it’s cost relative to a conventional sign was estimated at $300 000. That’s not going to buy very many overpasses on the Henday. What fun is life without being a little frivolous once in a while?
Also: I was a Lego freak when I was a kid and I’m now an engineer (working in the Architecture/Engineering/Construction industry, no less), so it seems that your theory has borne out in my case.