Tuesday 12 April 2011

G8 spending was ridiculous



All of us, living in Muskoka at the time, were shocked with the money spent. It was embarrassing, to say the least. Huntsville got a fine building, and the upgrades were incredible.
The fence was the most ridiculous thing ever!
Local folks thought it amusing.
Fencing around the mailboxes, with a pathway leading down to the lake!



Sign before

This being Tony Clement's riding, there was some skepticism.
Mind you, Parry Sound didn't get too much, as the G8 was in Muskoka. Their signage remained the same.
New Bala sign during construction


The Star reports:
Federal cash flows into Parry Sound-Muskoka
Among the non-G8 projects listed in government records:
• $5.2 million for dorms for the Bracebridge campus of Nipissing University.
• $184,000 to put a museum and art gallery in the former South River train station.
• $6.1 million for a civic centre and swim facility in Gravenhurst.
• $500,000 to Niigon Technologies to improve energy efficiency in its manufacturing.
• $100,000 for the Muskoka Community Network to launch a broadband project for E-business and marketing.
• $1.4 million for a bridge in Kearney.
• $22,500 for the village of Sundridge to develop an economic plan.
• $22,500 for a wastewater improvement study in Britt.
• $833,333 to replace a bridge in Burk’s Falls.
• $110,000 for “rehabilitation” of Bracebridge.
• $1.3 million to expand the Parry Sound campus of Canadore College.
• $2.1 million for a fire hall, a sports park and other projects in Huntsville.

North Bay's airport looks like 10 million bucks after getting a huge upgrade in time for the G8 summit. Just one problem: No world leaders will land there.
The Gravenhurst airport had a lot of people and equipment, this is where everyone landed, rather than the airport farther north!




Hidden Valley had a whole fence around it.







Where the money went: The G8 Legacy Infrastructure Funding great 'infographic' from The Globe


The signage was the most amazing part.







Muskoka Lakes G8 signage project!


Then the fencing around Huntsville, when people didn't even come up from Toronto to protest, since they were waiting for the G20 in Toronto.
Even the press weren't allowed up into Huntsville.
It was a non-event. And so, after all this redone signage, it wasn't necessary.

The fencing was laughable.

3 comments:

Nancy Tapley said...

don't knock our G8 fence... we got a lot of amusement out of that. All that spending on projects that were suspect at best, unrelated in any way whatsoever to the summit, yes, that was way over the top. And don't forget the Archive building for Lake of Bays, when we were presented with a cheque for 4.5 million for a building that the Council had not approved, on an application that had not been signed... Now there's a tale! The Township turned it down, because it would have cost a ludicrous amount to maintain, but the fact that the Feds were so keen to hand out that kind of money for such an incomplete, unresearched, unsupported project, that's a travesty.

Cloudia said...

and APEC will be coming here in November!

God help us...



Warm Aloha from Waikiki


Comfort Spiral

><}}(°>


><}}(°>

<°)}}><

Lyzzydee said...

The fence is UGLY!!!! It all makes you wonder doesn't it???