Another Company Town

[Archer.Todd at ic.gc.ca]

The same sort of thing has happened up here:  government departments are
leaning on the private sector more and more for their routine duties.  Where
I work, the department used to check the accuracy of various meters used in
commerce.  Now the work is farmed out to various private companies, many of
which make the meters in the first place.  The department does perform
regular audits of these companies, so I'm a bit unsure whether this set-up
is kosher or not; in any event, I would rather not have the wolves guarding
the sheepfold, even if the herder came by to check how things are going
("Oh, yes, yes Sheepherder.  See?  All the sheep are safe and sound!  Some
missing?  Oh, that's right!  Those ones died in the night, and we hauled the
carcasses off to the river so as to make the other sheep more comfortable.
Payment?  Well . . . let's see . . . .  What do wolves want from a
sheepherder?  Hmmm . . . .").

Todd


>Ms. Chavez's family benefits from an
>unusual arrangement under which the U.S. government effectively delegates
>responsibility for administering the special visas to foreign-owned
>factories in Mexico. American officials retain ultimate authority to grant
>or deny the visas at U.S. consulates. But factory managers help do the
<initial screening of applicants,