So Why is an American Firm Building the Canadian Pavilion at the Olympics?

With many Canadians struggling and all businesses in need of a boost, why did the contract to build Canada's pavilion for the Olympics, go to a Chicago firm.

I assume the Reformers do know that Chicago is not in Canada, right?

Of course, Dean Del Mastro, whose not the brightest bulb on the tree anyway, justified using an American firm by saying "It will celebrate everything that Canada has to offer. everything from our heritage and our culture, from First Nations to settlers, everything that this country is all about." And a Canadian company couldn't handle this?

U.S. firm building Canada’s Olympic pavilion
Damian Inwood,
Canwest News Service
November 28, 2009

VANCOUVER -- Canada's $9.2-million, Olympic pavilion is being built by a U.S. firm from Chicago. And Joyce Murray, Liberal MP for Vancouver Quadra, is accusing the federal government of badly botching the contracting process by waiting too long to issue it.

"Think about it: these are Canada's Games, taking place in Canada, and the project is for Canada's pavilion and it's being built by an American firm," she said. "The timeline excluded a lot of Canadian firms that would have otherwise been eminently capable of doing this work. This is something that they've known they would be doing for four years."

The contract was awarded to Giltspur Exhibits, a Chicago-based company, for more than $9.2 million after a two-week request for proposals process on MERX, the federal government's tendering website ....