Signs of the Times and Harper's Permanent Markers

The Canadian Press has learned that several Conservative cabinet ministers expressed the desire to make the Canada Action Plan signs permanent.

Those temporary Economic Action Plan signs promoting federal stimulus projects have proved so popular with Conservative cabinet ministers that some want to make them permanent. Documents obtained by The Canadian Press reveal that a formal recommendation for a “permanent signage” program went to Prime Minister Stephen Harper last Dec. 17 — at the request of his ministers.

“Interest has been expressed by ministers in the placement of permanent signage at selected, completed Economic Action Plan (EAP) project sites,” says the opening line of a 12-page memo to the prime minister dated Dec. 17, 2010. “If you agree, we will work with departments and your office to ensure implementation of the guidelines.”

The proposal was rejected, but they got around it by opting for plaques instead, like this one in Tony Clement's riding. A permanent reminder that he paved roads to nowhere.

But what the plaques don't tell you is that the Harper government handled the planting of signs like the Gestapo.

The federal government is taking flak for its extensive use of "Canada's Economic Action Plan" signs marking infrastructure projects Ottawa has supported. Halifax NDP MP Megan Leslie spoke out against a sign the Harper government had installed on an uninhabited island in Halifax Harbour. "There's no one over there," Leslie said Wednesday. "This government is obsessed with, 'We need to get credit for this.' It's all about political games."

The signs, which are seen at a range of projects across Canada, only acknowledge federal support, though it is often the case that other levels of government have contributed. Cathy McCarthy, a member of the Friends of McNabs Island Society, said they had to install the sign, take a photograph of it and note the GPS coordinates to get the $73,500 in federal funding.

And despite the fact that the funding came from three levels of government, no Harper sign, no tax dollars.

So what next? No public funds unless you name the project after King Steve?

The Harper Highway to Texas? The Harper School for the Ignorant Masses?

Harper Government Involved in E-Health Scandal. What Will Hudak do Now?

As part of the government's Self-promotion Economic inaction plan, they have allotted a half a billion dollars, to Canada Health Infoway Inc., to create electronic medical records.

Not sure how this was a priority during an economic crisis, though I'm sure when all of this is laid out, we will find a few cronies who were in need of a few bucks.

Through Canada's Economic Action Plan, he federal government plans to invest up to $500 million in Canada Health Infoway.

The funding would be used to support the goal of 50 percent of Canadians having an electronic health record by 2010, to speed up implementation of electronic medical record systems in physicians' offices, and to develop electronic systems that connect points of service (e.g., hospitals, pharmacies and community care Facilities). Their secure systems would enable authorized health professionals across the country to access patient records quickly and easily.

So for all of Tim Hudak's accusations against Dalton McGuinty and his involvement with this mess, looks like the federal Conservatives are not so squeaky clean either. What will Timmy's campaign slogan be now.

'Vote for us. We're not as crooked as the Harper government. Honest!'

Health Canada handed out millions of dollars to a national eHealth agency without properly accounting for how the money was spent, a new audit says. The finding raises doubts about Health Canada's own record of accountability even as it conducts due diligence before deciding whether to give Canada Health Infoway Inc. another half-billion dollars.

The internal audit examined a $400-million, five-year deal the department signed in 2007 with Infoway, created to ensure all Canadians have an electronic health record by 2016. Infoway received its first cheque, for $38.7-million, in October 2007.

This is John Baird and Enron all over again. So much for accountability.

But the auditors suggest the deal was so badly crafted that Infoway was not required to provide enough information to Health Canada to ensure the money would be well spent.

Sheila Fraser cited a raft of contracting and reporting problems at Infoway, including one contract that ballooned to $726,000 from $144,000 without competitive bids. Fraser also found 13 contracts in a sample of 35 that were
signed only after the work had begun.

IS THIS REALLY CONSERVATIVE? IS THIS REALLY YOUR CANADA?

OUR Money for HIS Self Promotion. Is This Really Conservative?

Back in May, the Harper government announced that it would be launching a series of national ads to promote the budget.

What they didn't tell you was that those ads would run non-stop until the next election campaign, and that six months later would have run up a tab of between 100 and 150 million taxpayer dollars.

The intent of the ads was to promote the Conservative Party of Canada, and their plans to have a Canada Economic Action Plan; one they would have gladly launched had they not spent so much money on advertising. What with TV spots, sides of buses, billboards, signs and big cardboard cheques, there simply was no money left for anything else.

Maybe next time.

But at least the messaging for the ads was humorous.

The notices, from the Finance Department and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, say the government wants the campaigns to promote efforts to assist Canadian workers in the economic downturn, as well as other initiatives relating to tax policy, stimulus spending and strengthening the financial system.

These guys think they're Coca Cola, with a limitless budget to convince us that they are the real thing.

However, you don't advertise that you are the best at handling our money when you waste it so flagrantly. Maybe if you knocked off the constant stream of feel good juice, and started taking our finances seriously, we might not be in this bloody mess.

There was an op-ed piece in the Lac du Bonnet Leader, that sums up nicely just how ridiculous this whole thing is:

As many Canadians sit down in front of their televisions over the next month to watch Olympic coverage, they will be literally bombarded with Conservative "action plan" advertisements that are paid for with their own tax dollars.

.. This government has turned using taxpayer money to promote itself into an art form. The action plan Ad-Scam is possibly the biggest example so far. It started off with a $2 million "action plan" website, that is jam-packed with partisan images, it even had a link to a video of Stephen Harper playing piano and singing a Beatles tune. $2 million for a website? Seriously??

It will be interesting to see how many millions are cut from social programs to pay for this Conservative ad blitz. Would it be too much to ask for the Conservatives to pay for their campaign ads out of their own pocket, and save a few million for less fortunate Canadians who will suffer the most from the economic downturn?

You can't get away from it. This government has the best propaganda machine I've ever seen.

I can't watch prime time television, because I don't really like American shows, and I just can't handle hearing about the fraudulent economic action plan, that they may launch, but don't hold your breath.

I can't go for a drive because I see nothing but damn signs, paid for by us, with no return on our investment.

And I can't open my newspaper (Sun Media) without seeing a half page photo-op of our not so humble dictator with the usual 'all hail the Messiah' headline.

IS THIS REALLY CONSERVATIVE? IS STEPHEN HARPER REALLY THE BEST CHOICE FOR CANADA?

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