A fake lake? WTF?

[IntravenousDemilo]

Reporters covering this month's G20 and G8 summits in Ontario will be able to take a break at an artificial lake, without leaving the air conditioned splendour of the media centre in Toronto.

It's part of what summit organizers call the "Canadian corridor," described as a "powerful exhibit" that will showcase Canadian investment opportunities and local points of interest.

Design photos show a lake surrounded by fake canoes and lawn chairs while another exhibit in the corridor shows a mock TSX.

According to a document from summit organizers, the rustic northern scene is a way to showcase Ontario's Muskoka region, where the G8 is being held, to the many reporters who won't get out of the Toronto media centre.

The document estimates the price tag for the project at $1.9 million, jointly funded by the federal and Ontario governments.

More: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20100606/g20-fake-lake-100606/

[shockedcanadian]

1. The whole spending on all of this is ridiculous

If my math is correct, crudely calculated off the top of my head.

$1.9 million used to create a jobs at 50k a year would happily employ 38 currently unemployed individuals for a full year.

$1 billion would happily employ 20,000 people@50k for a full year. Yes, a small city, approx. 20,000 who are currently unemployed would enjoy a job and use their spending to futher stimulate the economy, raise their children, rebuild their self-esteem etc.

Even if we accept the inflated price of 200 million which was originally projected for these events, the $800 million saved would create 16,000 new jobs@50k a year.

If anyone ever has to claim personal or corporate bankruptcy, they would be prudent to bring such details to court with them. A government cannot be irresponsible and expect it's citizens to be responsible when they spend many many many multiple millions more than other countries did hosting the same events. This is as bad as it gets...we hope....

What does a future bring for our country when money is freely earmarked during very hard times? Flaherty's argument that other hosted the events so we need to as well is absolutely true, but he failed to state how much LESS these cities spent than we will. How the hell can we point our finger at these governments about getting their spending in line when we write a cheque, payable by the taxpayer and future generations to the tune of $1 billion for 72 hours of security alone?

[terrya]

2. That Great Lake right next to the city isn't enough??

That sounds like a ridiculous, unjustifiable expenditure of money. Think of what that $1.9 million could do...like, for instance, the homeless.

[daleo]

3. Harper is channelling Nero

A naumachia was the reenactment of a naval battle in a basin or on a lake, a popular albeit costly – and for the participants deadly – entertainment of the masses in ancient Rome. The term naumachia was also used for the location at which the games took place.

Our current read, Sand of the Arena, opens with an imaginative happening of the naumachia of Nero – “…he also exhibited a naval battle in salt water with sea monsters swimming about in it” according to Suetonius’ Life of Nero.


. In Nero's naumachia there were sea-monsters swimming about in the artificial lake (Suet. Nero, 12; Dion Cass. LXI.9), and Claudius had a silver Triton placed in the middle of the lake Fucinus, who was made by machinery to give the signal for attack with a trumpet (Suet. Claud. 21) . Troops of Nereids were also represented swimming about (Martial, de Spect. 26). I n the sea-fight exhibited by Titus there were 3000 men engaged (Dion Cass. LXVI.25), and in that exhibited by Domitian the ships were almost equal in number to two real fleets (paene justae classes, Suet. Dom. 4). In the battle on the lake Fucinus there were 19,000 combatants (Tacit. Ann. XII.56) and fifty ships on each side (Dion Cass. LX.33).

http://romanhistorybooks.typepad.com/roman_history_books_and_m/2007/03/naumachia.html#tp
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For the amount of money harper has blown, you would think we could get a sea monster or two. Maybe if Baird and Duffy went for a swim...

[CHIMO]

4. Very Good

Duffy repeatedly jumping into the water and Baird snorkeling.

[tuvor]

5. Tom Flanagan comments...

Meanwhile, Harper’s former campaign director and emerging critic, Tom Flanagan, took the fake lake as an opportunity to compare his one-time boss to a famously deceptive 18th century Russian general.

“Clearly it’s inconsistent with Reform values to have this seemingly out-of-control spending,” said Flanagan. “To me it seems impossible to justify. I can’t understand why the government would spend that kind of money for creating, sort of, a Potemkin village.” Potemkin was a powerful Russian general said to have deceived Catherine the Great by building a series of fake villages along the banks of the Dnieper River to impress the monarch at the value of her new conquests as she floated past.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/canada/2010/06/07/14291191.html

[RedSock]

6. SOMETHING has to sink Harper -- maybe this will (eom)

[CHIMO]

7. Fake Lake

To Fools' Pool.

Next we will have a Brick Gazebo.

[shockedcanadian]

8. In fairness they reported the wrong numbers...

There is a big difference between 56,000 and $2 million. I am disappointed the way this was portrayed, regardless.

My issue is with the entire cost, over $1 billion for three days is absurd, there is not much that can be presented to me that would have me believing that all of this expenditure is justifed, especially considering how much less other nations spent on the exact same summits.

Furthemore, the entire "we need people to be impressed with Canada bit" is embarassing. It's a deceptive and disinegenuious argument that is presented for the purpose of optics. It also makes us sound like a bunch of whining puppies that crave attention for all of the wrong reasons. Foreign governments are interested in our human right record, our governments position on policies and business opportunities etc. Whether we show some fancy pavilions or not has a minimal impact on foreign leaders opinion of Canada.

As an example, China had an extremely impressive opening and closing ceremony during the Olympics and the talk was only a passing fancy, noone cares a week after the Olympics. The common people, and in particular world leaders give far more creedance and concern for China's human rights record and the value of their currency than they are impressed with the fireworks show they put on. In this regard, Canada is failing, slowly but surely, we have the worst of both situation, both an increasingly poor human rights record and an increasing foreign espionage presence (especially industrial) ocurring within our borders. When you add a suspiciously narrow industry focus, Canada would have been far better to spend this money to improve foreign relations (which appear to have alot more holes and disagreements in them than usual) rather than trying to impress men with neat little model lakes that they could build for one tenth the cost and twice the size in their own country.

[CHIMO]

9. Yes

But cockroaches don't come alone.

People have a hard time understanding billions and trillions. They understand their monthly payments and their income.

Harper was the one who created the billion dollar boondoggle. The amount of money the Liberals shuffled to themselves was nowhere near that. But people believed that they had taken a billion dollars.

Now he has to live with what he has produced.

Also, I would now question the 56k. If the whole stage was built to accommodate the Fake Lake, then I would assign the whole expense to the lake. If one takes away the lake does the rest stand on its own?

One has to fight fire with fire.

[daleo]

10. I agree about the parsing of the lake costs

It's a package deal. It's like buying a thousand dollar suit and claiming the pants weren't really that expensive, especially if you only count the cost of the fabric. It's a nonsensical argument, the kind that wastrels make when they try to justify their profligacy.

[CHIMO]

11. Fake Lake prompts YouTube parody ‘If I Had a Billion Dollars’

For Jennifer Smith, singer, writer and municipal candidate in the town of Milton, the fake lake in the ever growing controversy over G20 summit spending was the last straw.

So the 45-year-old, who says she is an avid news hound and the Star is her local paper of choice, sat down on Monday night and wrote satirical lyrics to the Barenaked Ladies tune “If I Had a Million Dollars,” poking fun at the federal Progressive Conservatives and the $1 billion price tag for the upcoming G20 summit.

She played it for some friends who then encouraged her to produce a video and post it on YouTube.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/821235--fake-lake-prompts-youtube-parody-if-i-had-a-billion-dollars