Question Period - June 7 2010 - Mark Holland and the "Fake Lake"

Question Period from June 7, 2010. Here, Liberal MP Mark Holland hammers the Conservatives on the so-called "fake lake" that will be built at the DirectEnergy Centre in Toronto for the G8/G20 summit.

Transcript from the Parliamentary Hansard:

Mr. Mark Holland (Ajax—Pickering, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, we now learn that the billion dollar security price tag for the 72 hours of G8 and G20 meetings is just the beginning. For the use of media only, the government is splurging on a $2 million fake lake in downtown Toronto. Complete with a sprawling dock, bar, canoes and a giant Jumbotron, the government is literally going to flush it down the drain when the 72 hour spendfest is over.

Having run up the biggest deficit in Canadian history, did someone not, anyone in government think that $2 million, 72 hour fake lake to host a meeting on fiscal restraint was a bad idea?


Hon. Lawrence Cannon (Minister of Foreign Affairs, CPC): Mr. Speaker, Canada is very proud of hosting the world. It is a normal practice for the host country of an international summit to use the opportunity to showcase all its country has to offer to the world. That is exactly what we are doing. We are going to be proud to showcase Canada to the world, contrary to what the Liberals want to do.


Mr. Mark Holland (Ajax—Pickering, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, is the member really going to defend this? There is nothing normal about it. The government has already blown $23 million for a media centre in the industry minister's riding, which the media will now never use. Instead, it will be sitting around a fake lake, in Toronto. If that is not enough, the government is blowing a further $20 million on dancers, singers, fiddlers and flowers.

Instead of hosting world leaders, maybe the government should consider party planning for Lady Gaga.

How can the government look at people whose EI has just run out and justify this billion dollar spendfest?


Hon. Lawrence Cannon (Minister of Foreign Affairs, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario have been working very closely together with the business community to capitalize on the exposure that comes from hosting the G8 and the G20 summits.

Over 3,000 international media persons will be in Canada. We will be very proud to showcase Canada to them all.


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[loreweaver33]

You guys are all retards. 1000m dollar expense and you cling to a 2m dollar bit.

$2 million is nothing, if you disagree, you're not properly armed to take part in this debate. (Not defending the Conservative's spending a billion, but get some perspective, complain about the billion, not the million.)

[HitEleven]

@loreweaver33: You make a good point, but I think that the fake lake has become a symbol of the pork barrel spending that has obviously been buried inside of this "security" budget.

It was tough enough to swallow the $1 billion price tag when we thought it was going just to security -- but at least security is necessary. Now it looks like a huge chunk of the spending is going to pet projects. The fake lake is among the most absurd, so people focus in on it.

[arctic123456]

parliament

[loreweaver33]

@sensfan22 Why would the government buy land they already own? Also, you wouldn't want them to set up media land on an actual real lake, that'd be ridiculous too. It would likely cost more, and ruin the area. 2 million bucks is cheap on the Federal scale.  As for your 18 "known endangered" species, write a petition and deliver it to your MP. It's the Environment Department that looks after these cases, and keep in mind they *did* stop a copper mine in BC for just this reason.

[sensfan22]

@loreweaver33 OK now look at it this way, I live in ottawa in a neighborhood with an extremely environmentally significant property with 18 known endangered species and its going to be destroyed by developers. Now ur spending 2 million on a fake lake to showcase canadas natural beauty yet do nothing to actually save the the beautiful areas they r showcasing by building this fake lake. 2 million would have bought some of this land.

[Eryphil]

SOMEONE SHOULD AUTOTUNE THIS INTO A SONG!!!!!!!

[HKGJOHN]

Canada is leading the world in banking restraint and austerity. It is extremely embarrassing for them that they have done this. Especially with Canada's natural beauty. At least Canadian Parliament is holding feet to the fire. I think you would hear crickets if the US government decided the same thing. Hell every week Nancy Pelosi takes a full 757 back to Cali. That's ridiculous!

[freedomsfart]

What a joke the conservatards are.