I have to admit, this story kind of caught me by surprise. Basically when they decided that it was logistically impossible to hold both the G8 and the G20 in Muskoka and transferred the larger summit to Toronto; they were worried about depriving the thousands of international delegates and journalists from the Muskoka experience. Therefore they are going to spend (or have already spent) 2 million dollars to build a replica Muskoka indoors in downtown Toronto. I understand that over 3,000 journalists will be converging on Ontario and it is really important that we impress them while they are here so they will go home and write positive stories about Canada, but 2 million for a fake lake was just a dumb idea.
Has it already been built? Can we scrap this one? Next time someone is sitting around the cabinet table proposing a bio dome in downtown Toronto, can somebody please splash cold water in their face? I grew up in Northern Ontario, and as beautiful as the summers can be, it is not something that foreign dignitaries need to experience. Will they also be importing deer flies and mosquitoes to this exhibit?
Supposedly it's called a reflection pool... is it a permanent structure?
ReplyDeleteTreating the international media like v.i.p.s,
no wonder our national media is all jealous!
They aren't allowed in, right?
If the reporters need a backdrop how about a blue screen and a selection of scenes in the background to provide local colour.
ReplyDeleteI am a fiscal Conservative mainly. This does not wash with me nor does it wash with the Canadian public. I do not think that the Conservatives have worn out their welcome in English Canada yet but this does not help their cause. How about some fiscal oversight on expenditures? It redoubles my opinion that individual MP's expenses be thoroughly audited.
p.s. Kevin Page says:
ReplyDeleteG20 bill not as outrageous as advertised
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/06/07/liberal-woes-begin-to-add-up/
Don't fall for the over the top exagerations and misleading stories on this one- the entire media centre for 3,000 journalists is going to cost 1.9 million- cost shared by the feds, muskoka, the province of Ontario and the city of Toronto.
ReplyDeleteThe lake is something that Muskoka tourism promoters are funding as a backdrop to the computer terminal centre. It is just like the ones trade show organizers put in the same venue all the time for the Boat and RV shows.
But you won't hear any of these logical truths in the media Fake lake gate is too sexy to spoil with the facts.
I would like to know if the Minister approved this item. Or is this what happens when you open up the coffers and leave the bureaucracy running on auto?
ReplyDeleteAs Mr. Chretien would say, you are all a bunch of nervous nellies. Have a little faith in the Conservatives. The media is having a hay day with this because it's easy to spin. Tom Clarke has been told 20 times the Steamboat is part of the stimulus action plan, but he continues to say the Canadian tax payers are fixing it up for the G8/G20 and it will be weeks late. The opposition is just playing opposition and Canadians are gullible, I think an MP stealing $30,000 from the tax payers over 3 years though house rentals is a bigger story, but that's just me.
ReplyDeleteAnony at 9:53...thank you for clearing that up. The over the top complaints about this led me to believe that it was being reported by picking and choosing and making things up.
ReplyDeleteWhat you describe makes perfect sense as you see those kinds of things all the time at trade shows.
What I don't understand is why is the gov't not telling us this?
Further to what annonymous9:53 wrote ... CBC radio is reporting that the actual cost of the fake lake is around $64,000. The $2 million or so is for the entire media centre--including internet connections, big screen tvs so the media can watch the soccer games, and the like.
ReplyDeleteYes, it looks bad. And the media/Opps are spinning it as negatively as possible. No surprises there.
The CPC needs to re-establish it's fiscal bonafides shortly after this G8/G20 is over. Get Minister Day out and about, cutting costs as much as possible. Our goal shoud be to get the actual 2010/2011 budget defecits as much under the projected $54 billion as possible.
As I've said many times, the communications arm of the CPC is WEAK. Why do we let the MSM set the agenda? If the shared cost was pointed out by Muskoka, the province and Toronto this story would go away. The MSM don't like facts..
ReplyDeleteAony..6:47...excellent points - this story is now out there - being picked up by every local news reporter. They do need to get out ahead of things in a better way.
ReplyDeleteThe media look like idiots now that the true costs are coming out.
ReplyDeleteAnd same when Kevin Page presents his report on the costs of the G8/20 meetings.
The report will show the media and Opps make things up, again, as usual.
The problem is that the media are NOT looking like idiots: the headlines are still screaming "Boondoggle!" and the corrections are posted in the back pages and letters to the editor.
ReplyDeleteThis is classic, organized mud-slinging, and it needs to be called out.
CBC Newsworld is now running the headline "fake lake gate" to discuss the entire summit. Unoriginal bastards. This is not the first time they have borrowed headlines from my blog.
ReplyDeleteIt is misleading to discuss the ENTIRE summit under the headline of "fake lake gate".