Since the Conservative prime minister came into power in 2006, his government has been harshly criticized for gutting federal science libraries, speeding massive omnibus bills through parliament, and making legendary cuts to support for veterans.
In the lead-up to the 2015 federal election, Conservative finance minister Joe Oliver has been scrutinized for his expensive travels. In the last nine years, the federal government has also come under fire for partisan promotion, and a number of odd investments. In no particular order, here is a list of nine strange things on which the Harper government has spent taxpayer dollars.
1. The fake lake
The Harper government has long been in hot water for building a $2-million tourism pavilion at the 2010 G8/G20 summit media centre in Toronto, which infamously included a ‘fake lake’ that simulates Ontario’s cottage country. The Conservatives spent a record $1.1 billion hosting the events, including $160 million in hospitality, food, security, and infrastructure bills.
The expenditures were labelled “obscene,” “unprecedented,” and a “poor example” of government spending.
Then-Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff criticized the prime minister in the House of Commons: “Canadians wanted leadership, and all they got was a fake lake."
2. The photo op
Taxpayers fronted $47,000 for a 2010 Tory press conference during which then-Defence Minister Peter MacKay posed for a “hero shot” in a fake F-35 fighter jet built by manufacturer Lockheed Martin, which was brought in from Texas for the special event.
Calls for MacKay’s resignation have come in ever since for consistently low-balling the costs of the stealth fighters, which went from around $9 billion in 2010 to as much as $45 billion in 2012. He quit his job in May 2015, and the purchase of F-35s for Canada’s fleet has been a contentious political issue ever since.
3. Fighting sick mothers
Since 2012, the Conservative government has spent more than $1.3 million in legal fees trying to prevent new mothers who fell seriously ill during maternity leave from collecting disability benefits in addition to the employment insurance (EI) currently paid to new parents.
According to The Globe and Mail, two Calgary women launched a class action lawsuit three years ago seeking more than $450-million in compensation on behalf of thousands of new mothers who were denied EI disability benefits, or dissuaded from applying for them.
Liberal MP for Cape Breton-Canso Rodger Cuzner demanded an explanation from the prime minister this spring after breast cancer survivor and new mother Jennifer McCrea was refused EI sick benefits.
He also took a jab at the recent Senate expense scandal involving Mike Duffy and Nigel Wright: “The Prime Minister did nothing for her,” he said. “Why didn’t the Prime Minister go to his chief of staff and say, “Nigel, could you fix this for me? Could you make it ‘good to go’? 'Cause he has done that before.”
4. Big-ticket beverages
You forgot Harper's little
You forgot Harper's little vanity one person television broadcasts. .
Comments