National Citizens Coalition Launches 5-0-1 Campaign, Introduces Porky Awards,
Posts its First Newscast

TORONTO, March 1 /CNW/ - As Canadians, we've celebrated our Olympic athletes, and we've stood proud on the world stage.

And now we turn our attention to the upcoming federal and provincial budgets, and we ask ourselves: Where's the political will to do the right thing for Canada?

With the federal debt climbing past $510 billion, and combined provincial debt surpassing $350 billion, our country is well on its way to reaching a public debt level of $1 trillion in the next five years.

Canadians responded to the recent recession by tightening their belts and cutting back on expenditures. Why haven't our politicians? Incredibly, some are planning to go on spending and taxing. This disconnect between politicians and the people they represent must be addressed.

The National Citizens Coalition is therefore launching a new campaign called 5-0-1 which calls on all federal and provincial politicians to:

    
    - reduce their pay by 5 per cent
    - implement zero-based budgeting
    - hire only 1 new public servant for every 2 that retire
    

"By adopting this 5-0-1 program, governments will be demonstrating leadership in reining in spending and putting this country on a path to sustainable economic growth. Without such leadership, Canada will remain mired in debt, and our productivity, international competitiveness, and standard of living will suffer," says NCC President and CEO Peter Coleman.

As well, the NCC today introduced the Porky Awards. It will be nominating the worst of the big-time government spenders throughout the year, and the most wasteful will be named the winners... rather, losers ...annually.

Catch the NCC's inaugural newscast at www.nationalcitizens.ca for more on these developments, and stay tuned throughout the year as we report on which governments and politicians deserve gold - and which deserve to be dumped from office.

Finally, the NCC will be available to comment on the federal budget this Thursday, March 4.

For further information: or interviews, please contact: Peter Coleman, President and CEO, National Citizens Coalition, office: [phone], cell: [phone]; Sara Cauchon, PR Post, [phone]