William Watson: We need wakes for policies that fail

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We need a way to get people excited about ending programs that don't workLast updated 0 minutes ago You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.A view from the Gordie Howe International Bridge multi-use pedestrian and cycling pathway is shown on the day it opened to the public on Aug. 5, 2026. Photo by WINDSOR STAR - DAN JANISSE“Highway robbery” isn’t actually a reference to highways being stolen. Highways are hard to steal, for obvious reasons. Yet we recently had a bridge hijacked, a big, new, shiny one.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLYSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESCreate an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountWe proposed the bridge, designed it, built it, paid for it. Then the guy at the other end of it said, in effect, nice bridge you got there, how much you gonna pay me for it? And refused to let people off the bridge at his end if we didn’t pay up. Making it a bridge to nowhere unless we acceded to toll trolling — the same approach the mullahs take to the Strait of Hormuz. If this is really how the New York real estate business works, it’s amazing there’s any real estate there at all.We could have waited him out, leaving the bridge unused and rusting until he’s gone, as he will be eventually, its empty laneways a monument to his stubbornness. Instead we paid up — though because we were wearing a cowboy hat we said we hadn’t. You’ve seen what cowboy hats do to people’s brains.Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againI actually liked the opening ceremony for the Gordie Howe Bridge, with his grandkids being the first to drive across. And the goodwill fact Howe was from Floral, Sask., and played all his hockey life in the U.S. And that he was known, among other things, for his elbows. Who knew when the bridge was started in 2018 that elbowing, a Howe art form, would become an important theme in Canada-U.S. relations?In Montreal, we got an equally nice new bridge in 2019. For a time there was talk of naming it after Maurice Richard, Howe’s rival and (we in Montreal all believed) superior, another legendary number nine, along with Chicago’s Hull, Boston’s Bucyk, New York’s Bathgate and (not a legend, though a good player) Toronto’s Duff. Members of Richard’s family could have driven across first.But the politicians chickened out and, unimaginatively, the new bridge got the same name as the one it replaced: Samuel de Champlain, though in its own way that was an act of courage in that Champlain (1574-1635) founded New France, the first permanent European colony in Canada, with all the ideological baggage that now entails. Champlain’s descendants were not invited to cross the new bridge first. Maybe they could have ridden in ox-drawn carts, as early settlers may have done.Numberless politicians did show up, along with a band, to celebrate the opening of the Pont Champlain. They also jammed our side of the Gordie Howe Bridge for a many-scissored cutting of a very wide red ribbon.I asked last week why people go into politics. At times, it seems it’s for the ribbon-cuttings. The politician who doesn’t love a ribbon-cutting may not exist. They all seem to have a great time together, even partisan and internecine rivals. Giving away stuff they didn’t pay for makes politicians jolly.Building things is good. Or mainly good. Or maybe that’s just concreteness bias, or bias for concrete. Some built things, even if they do work, are a great waste of money and other resources. I expect there will be a big opening ceremony for our first high-speed train, if it ever gets built. On the other hand, given the difficulties experienced by new light-rail services in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto, politicians might not risk going on the first trip: it would be embarrassing if the thing broke down and they had to be whisked away on buses, as too often happened with VIA’s slow-speed rail.This advertisement has not loaded yet.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Modern politics is all about ribbon-cuttings and announcements. The common election-time strategy of an announcement-a-day now carries over into everyday politics, the idea being to capture every news cycle by forcing coverage every day. Donald Trump does it with bombast and outrage. Others rely on substance. New British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has unwrapped a new goodie at a new location most days since taking over. People are wondering which will dry up first, his imagination or the Exchequer.Announcement addiction of this sort helps explain why government spending, regulation and debt keep going up and up and up.What we badly need are the opposite of ribbon-cutting ceremonies. What might they be? Maybe wakes where governments wrap up programs that haven’t worked. We could let them blame this on predecessor governments, if they like. Or, as reasonable people should, we could all agree that not everything succeeds and it’s much better to cut losses than perpetuate them.Invitations could go out to taxpayers at large, who would be pleased by the likely savings. Beneficiaries of the doomed programs wouldn’t be happy. But keeping programs going when their costs exceed their benefits is a form of highway robbery.Notice for the Postmedia NetworkThis website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.