Bureaucratic bungling could cost Calgary man his business

December 14, 1999

OTTAWA-Today Jay Hill, MP for Prince George-Peace River made the following statement in the House of Commons to illustrate the idiocy of federal bureaucratic thinking:

"This year’s bonehead bureaucrat award goes to federal Transport employee, Bertrand Boily.

It’s a well-known fact that we in western Canada love our pick up trucks. Mike Nickerson of Alberta was visiting Texas when he saw every cowboy’s dream, a stretch limousine pick-up truck. Realizing a market exists for such a truck in Alberta, he mortgaged his farm and risked his life’s savings to purchase the $200,000 vehicle.The truck passed Alberta safety regulations with flying colours and business was booming. Even Tom Selleck hired the "longhorn limo".

Alas, enter "Bonehead Boily" who calls Nickerson stupid for thinking a stretch pick-up would be allowed in Canada. Then without even looking at the vehicle, Boily declared it unsafe and seized it.

According to Boily, if Mr. Nickerson wants his longhorn limo declared street legal all he has to do…at his own expense…is crash it into a wall and set in on fire to see if its safe. And he calls Nickerson stupid?

Maybe Boily’s boss, the Minister of Transport, should volunteer to be the crash test dummy, maybe then Mr. Nickerson might agree to the tests."

"The circumstances involved in this case are so outrageous that they are almost comical. However, it is important to realize that a man’s livelihood and savings are at stake, due to the arbitrary judgement of a bureaucrat. I call on the Transport Minister to put an end to this insanity," concluded Hill.