Pardonnez-moi, Où Va L'argent Arrêter?

I thought maybe the folks in Transport Quebec might understand it better in French, but:

Where does the buck stop?

Apparently not with the Minister.  The latest in Infrastructure Collapsing Watch 2011™ has Transport Minister Sam Hamad blaming the contractors.  That might be believable if this event were not part of a systematic pattern and a systemic breakdown.  Check just today's top stories on the Montreal Gazette's website:

• Which Routes Worry You? 
• Sinkhole closes street in east-central Montreal Note--one of the streets is supposed to be one of the alternatives to the highway that has a collapsing tunnel.  
• Dorval Circle cost soars, work extended:55% increase; Project won't be finished until 2017 Note that this is the main connection between the airport and the city, so the first experience most people will have in Montreal is dysfunctional infrastructure.  Talk about transparency. 
• Champlain Bridge: Motorists beware - major work this weekend. Note that this means that two of the major bridges cannot really used much for folks who want to flee Montreal.  For my summer vacation, this means driving west to leave the island and then drive southeast to get back to the route we need.

The buck should stop with Hamad--that his ministry is UTTERLY FAILING.  Since he has been at the head of this organization as failures in infrastructure, failures in communication, and failures in responses to the infrastructure problems have repeatedly occurred, should he not focus less on the contractors and more on ... himself?  I don't know if there is anyone better to do his job, but can anyone do it worse?  We need at least some symbolic accountability--he needs to get his ass fired or he ought to resign if he has an ounce of conscience.  The last time I saw government so repeatedly and systematically fail to do its job was perhaps in the aftermath of Katrina.  At least, those folks had a huge natural disaster with which to share responsibility. 


Hamad has now agreed to review his ministry to see if it could organize repair work better.  Um, horse, barn, get it.  Fire his ass now!  The buck stops with him.