安省著名企业家Kevin O’Leary: 韦恩大肆挥霍税款

 

给安省省长韦恩的公开信

Open letter to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne

 

韦恩省长，你好

Hi Premier Wynne,

 

我目前惶惶不可终日。

I'm worried.

 

我曾要求你及时通知我关于你从安省的整体经济中挤出来的19亿环保税情况。当你说采用环保税来减低环保排放，并会给安省带来很多的工作时，我非常激动。然而，当我不久前看到七月份安省的就业统计报告时，我吓了一跳！安省在7月份一个月当中丢掉了三万六千一百个工作，是自2008年经济萧条以来最糟糕的一个月。但是，你到现在还没有告诉我，你的减低二氧化碳排放的方面的任何好消息。我猜测你的新计划看来是不工作的。

I asked you to keep me informed about the $1.9 billion you are extracting out of the Ontario economy in new carbon taxes. I was excited when you promised lots of new jobs and reductions in carbon emissions. Then I saw the July jobs report. Wow, 36,100 Ontario jobs lost in a single month, the worst decline since the recession, and you still haven't told me any good news about carbon emission reductions. I guess your new plan is not working.

 

也许你应该把这19亿的资金留给安省的企业，这些企业可能会用来雇用更多的雇员，而不是让你以抽税的方式花掉。

Maybe it would have been better to leave that $1.9 billion in the hands of the Ontario businesses that were using it to hire employees before you taxed it away from them.

 

另外，我还听到了安省的工作方面的好消息。虽然安省的私人企业丢掉了成千上万个工作，但是，由于你的新的环保税，你还是在百忙之中为你的好朋友们创造了好多很有意思的工作机会。我咋就丢掉了获得这几个肥差的机会呢？显然，你在今年6月份在安省养老金计划项目(ORPP)上损失了7千万。虽然这个项目只有6个月的寿命，你却雇了一些特别人才，什么事也没干，却拿走了几百万纳税人的钱。这听起来太离谱了，我都不相信自己的耳朵。正因为此，我拿起笔，白纸黑字地与你核实。

However, I hear it's not all bad news on the Ontario job front. While the private sector is losing jobs by the tens of thousands under your new tax policies, you have been busy creating some really interesting opportunities for your staff. I don't know how I missed this, but apparently you lost $70 million setting up and then cancelling the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP) in June. While in operation only six months, you hired some really special people that walked away with millions of taxpayers' dollars for apparently doing nothing. It sounds so ridiculous that I am assuming I must have it wrong, and that's why I'm putting pen to paper.

 

以下是我问你的问题，你只要回答“是”，还是“不是”。

So here goes, true or false?

 

•你是否花了800万做广告来推广安省养老金计划，而这个计划根本就不存在。这听起来像是有人在发疯，我希望这不是真的。

•Did you spend $8 million marketing the ORPP even though it didn't exist? That sounds so crazy it can't be true.

 

•你有没有支付养老金计划的公关高级副总裁巴顿31万6千819块钱? 她从3月份开始工作，只工作了90天，我很想知道她都做了哪些公关的工作？

•Did you give Neala Barton, the plan's senior vice-president of communications, $316,819? She started in March. Just exactly what was she communicating for 90 days?

 

 

•你有没有支付这个养老金计划的总管律师斯利文斯卡斯34万1千428块钱? 她只工作了三星期。我算了一下，那是$2,845一个小时，我想你是从来不会乱花纳税人的钱的，你一定是雇用了最好的律师。

•Did you pay Anne Slivinskas -- the pension plan's general counsel -- $341,418 for working there just three weeks? That's $2,845.15/hr. You don't fool around with taxpayers' money; You hire the best lawyers!

 

 

•你有没有给这个养老金计划的高科技副总裁哥尔41万4千零50块钱。他只做了两个月的工作啊！（给自己的附注：让我的公司给韦恩省长送一份北美平均工资的报表。她的手提电脑一定被黑客侵入了。）

•Did you pay a tech guy named Brian Gill -- the pensions plan's CTO -- $414,050 to work for two months! (Note to self: Send Premier Wynne my comp committee's North American average salary report. Her laptop must have been hacked.)

 

•另外一个你选的养老金计划运营副总裁布朗，她算是这个项目的终身雇员了。她从3月21日开始工作到6月底结束，算是有一个敬业的人了。因此，没有人应该对你付给她的44万5千零19元有所抱怨。

•Jennifer Brown -- your choice for senior vice-president of the plan's operations -- was a lifer. She started March 21 and lasted until the end of June. So, with that kind of long-term commitment, no one should complain about the $445,019 you gave her.

 

 

•你有没有给养老金计划的CEO帕兰吉46万5千938元，但却只做了90天工作? 谁说你无法在安省找不到一份好工作呢？

•Did you really pay ORPP CEO Mary Anne Palangio $465,938 for 90 days' work? Who says you can't get a great job in Ontario.

 

•下一个是我最热衷问最想问的问题。你有没有给拉菲48万去管泛美运动会，并在运动会结束后又雇用他去管养老金计划项目，尽管此公从来没有染指过金融行业？几个月以后，你没有付给他另外82万7千925元让他走人？如果这是事实，我敢打赌，一些纳税人是不会开心的。

•This one is my favourite, it's so out there! Did you give $485,000 to Saad Rafi when his job running the Pan Am Games ended and then hire him again to run the ORPP even though he has never had an investment mandate before? And then did you pay him an additional $827,925 to walk away a few months later? If this is true, I bet some taxpayers are unhappy about it.

 

当然，为了自保，你可以把拉菲的故事遍成一个感人的故事。故事以你绞尽脑汁在安省找一给有经验的基金经理，给安省养老金计划掌舵开始，但在最后一刻，你却雇了一个刚刚失业，走投无路的，从来没有管过钱人才做此工作。你真是个施主啊！

Maybe it would help if you spin this as an inspirational story. You search the province for a seasoned financial money manager to be the fiduciary of the new ORRP but in the last minute hire someone who has fallen on hard times and is out of work, even though they never managed money before. It's so Rocky-esque!

 

 

我们不知道这个拉菲是不是可以成为一个最好的养老金金计划的经理。但是对我们这些纳税人来说，至少可以给他82万7多的薪水，让他在事业上做一个大的飞跃。不管怎样，他只拿了48万5千的遣散费，而安省的税率是如此之高，他的日子一定难过。我相信，你是不会为此担忧的。

Rafi could have been great as a pension plan manager but we will never know. Giving him the $827Gs for taking this bold new step in his career is the least we taxpayers can do. After all, it's hard to live off a measly $485,000 severance when taxes are so high in Ontario, but I know you are not spending any time worrying about that.

 

 

以上你雇的这些人肯定都是非常特殊的人材。问题是在私营企业里没有一个人会得到这样的薪水。感谢上帝，他们得到这些肥差只因为他们都是你的朋友。许多安大略百姓可能把这件事看作或者是相信你根本不在乎他们辛辛苦苦所交的税钱，事实是这样的吗？坦白说，如果我给了280万薪水给了我的雇员，而他们什么事也没做，我想我肯定会破产。仔细回想起来，你的自由党安省政府长期以来就一这个习惯，花个几千万上项目，然后又把它们取消，比方说天然气发电站，多个绿色项目，和现在的养老金金项目，这也是为什么安省现在有3,080亿的债务。你实际上是以你特别的方式让我们倾家荡产。

These must be very special people! No one in the private sector could ever get a deal like this: Thank goodness they know you. Some Ontarians might see this and assume you don't give a damn about their hard-earned money. Is that true? Frankly, if I gave away $2.8 million to employees that did nothing in my businesses, I would go bankrupt. Come to think of it, your government has a long history of starting projects, spending millions and then cancelling them -- you know, like gas plants, "green" projects and now pension plans. That's why Ontario is $308 billion in debt, so you are kind of bankrupting us, in your own special way.

 

 

即使这样，我还是知道你为啥要这么干。也许从你的角度来看，干嘛要对有人浪费了七千万大惊小怪呢？这只是一个不值得一提的失误。

Still I get it, perhaps from your point of view, why should anybody give a damn about the $70 million you just wasted, it's just a rounding error.

 

问题是，安省的选民不会这么认为。你看没看最近的民意调查。也许从现在开始你可能要考虑如何在任期内增加一点透明度，把你的工作做的更好，而不是天天想着如何向安省百姓和企业增加税收，然后把它们统统花掉。

Well, maybe the voters do. Have you seen the latest polls? Perhaps at this point in your mandate you may want to think about delivering a little more transparency and performance instead of dreaming up new ways to tax people and businesses and then spending it this way.

 

（别介意）我在这里只是想帮一帮你。

I'm just trying to help.

 

不管怎么样，我不想对你做太多的负面评价，因此，我希望你有一个愉快的夏天。我想那些在7月份丢掉工作的3万6千100个安省人只会难受几天。当你告诉他们二氧化碳的排放已经被你降低了，我想他们一定会群情振奋。你最好尽早把此好消息告诉大家。同时，我也希望下次你在准备花82万7千雇一个人的时候，对一些没有工作的人发发善心，从3万6千个丢掉工作的选民中挑一个人。

Anyway, I don't want to be negative so I hope you are having a great summer. I know the 36,100 people in Ontario who just lost their jobs in July are feeling a little down but I'm sure they will go from sad to glad when you tell them about all the carbon emissions you have reduced. Best you get that good news out soon. In the meantime, next time you are paying people on your staff to do nothing for $827,000, maybe you could show a little compassion and hire one of your 36,100 constituents who just lost their job.

 

 

安省很快就要进行大选了。等大选一结束，我相信你要找一份新工作了。但是我敢打赌没有人会让你去管他们的钱的。

There will be an election soon and when that's over and you start your new career, I'm going to bet it won't be one where you manage money.

 

尊敬的你，

Yours respectfully,

 

凯文•奥利里

Kevin O'Leary

 

安大略纳税人、选民和你的雇主，至少现在是。

Ontario taxpayer, voter and your employer, for now.