I’m with Wells when it comes to Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s hotel bill to attend an important security conference in Munich.
Nonetheless, despite the reasonable argument put forward by M. Wells, there has been much hyperventilating from the opposition (and from several news organizations) about this hotel bill.
Well, for those who were hyperventilating over Mackay’s $3,000 hotel bill, you’re gonna love this: CBC spent more than $72,000 to throw a B-list party for George Stroumboulopoulos to promote the late-night talk show he hosts on CBC.
Called the Hazelton Takeover, the event cost taxpayers more than $72,000, thousands more than CBC president Hubert Lacroix claimed when he appeared before a Commons committee.The lavish event, held at “Canada’s only 5 star hotel” in “the city’s finest and most fashionable downtown district,” brought CBC host George Stroumboulopoulos together with American and British celebrities during the Toronto International Film Festival.
Lacroix told MPs that the party cost $64,000, but a single invoice from Veritas Communications shows a charge of $72,372.
Other invoices, including one from the Hazelton Hotel, have had all the key information — including charges — removed.
I’m sure Liberals and New Democrats (and Conservatives) will be lining up tomorrow to tee off on Tuesday at Heritage Minister James Moore (the minister responsible for CBC) with the same zeal they went after MacKay.
Why, for example, won’t the government release the invoices the Hazelton charged for the party? That info is exempt under ATI laws? Are you kidding me?
I have friends who are top-notch journalists, writers, and producers in CBC newsrooms around the country. Some of them may be facing layoffs next year as the government looks to trim 5% to 10% from every department’s budget. A good salary for a lot of my friends who work there is $60,000 a year. Strombo blew $72- plus on a one-night stand. Nice. At least Strombo got a Twitter bump for a couple of days.
UPDATE: CBC has issued a statement responding to our story:
Get The Facts
December 20, 2011
Marketing our people, programs and schedules – setting the record straight
Once again, Quebecor offers its audiences misleading information about a CBC program launch last fall during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).The “Hazelton Takeover” event was a marketing and promotional initiative created specifically to offer a high-visibility launch of the new season of the George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight show. Its objective was to create awareness, through media coverage and word of mouth, of the program as the country’s foremost late night information and talk show and a destination for cultural and industry leaders throughout the country and internationally. The event promoted and celebrated CBC’s Canadian talent and star system and publicized CBC’s fall programming schedule. It also provided the opportunity to establish relationships and consider potential interviews with attendees for the upcoming season.
It was among several of CBC’s usual season-launch marketing activities, common among leading broadcasters. Expenses fell within normal budgets and were partially offset by private sponsorships, as often occurs within the industry.
The Hazelton event had a hard cost of approximately $64,000– the equivalent of a single Sun newspaper ad in five cities–as recently noted by CBC/Radio-Canada president Hubert T. Lacroix in his remarks to the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Ethics and Privacy. More information is available here. [Akin here: The link to the left is provided by CBC and is a copy of an invoice from Veritas, the event organizer. The “hard cost” as you will see by the link provided by the CBC itself is not $64,000 but is, as we reported, $72,000 once tax is factored in. It’s right there on the invoice.)
Contrary to Quebecor’s assertion, the event generated a significant volume of positive news coverage with an advertising value well in excess of costs, representing an effective and efficient use of CBC marketing resources.
The $72k for the Strombo party during TIFF may in fact have been a valid production or marketing expense, if that party attracted celebrities and others who were in Toronto for the film festival and, as a result of attending that party, agreed to be a guest on Strombo’s show. Was that hotel an expensive venue? Yes but also one popular with film stars and celebrities. Before assuming that CBC “blew” money on an expensive party, you should also follow that money to find out if it resulted in higher ratings for Strombo because of high profile guests, and increased advertising and other revenue for the CBC.
DPChurch (and others): Really should click through on the links provided and read the full story. “Perhaps it resulted in higher ratings” Nope. As we reported: The CBC itself said all that money resulted in a three-day spike of Strombo’s Twitter traffic. That’s it. A spike in Twitter traffic.
DPChurch is right. This was a legitimate marketing expense. Also, it’s ridiculous to even bring up the MacKay thing in relation to this.
Did you read your own link? Because I don’t see it saying there was no increase in ratings. Further, as DPChurch points out, the party might have generated interest from high-profile guests which also could have led to improved ratings.
You really have no argument here, and the sensationalist connection the linked article draws between the cost of the party and median salary proves it.
I did read follow the link and (quickly) read the story. Mistakenly assumed that “Twitter spike” was just snarky Sun comment. The story also confirms that it was a business marketing event (which didn’t achieve the intended results), not the private party for Strombo and freeloading buddies that some have characterized it as.
Honestly? Who cares? The only people raising a fuss about this are people with alterior motives.
In society everyone wants to expose “the dirt” on someone else to make themselves shine.
How much do large corporations spend on holiday parties or other events? Maybe they do not recieve open funding from the government, but they recieve other rebates that the average citizen does not recieve.
Would anyone have noticed a difference in their paycheck if Strombo and the CBC did not spend the $72000 for the party? I think not!
Why don’t we expose more of the government spending accounts. How many 10’s of thousands does each MP get to absorb for personal expenses, travel, advertising? Now, multiply that by how many 100’s of MP’s. How about the millions it costs the taxpayer when it’s time to elect/re-elect a Prime Minister? How many millions were lost in the Gun Registy program
.
People shouldn`t throw stones at glass houses.
What Strombo`s party did do was give him exposure to talent that were not familiar to this Canadian show. The VIP`s were also treated well, which in the future could bring in more revenue for Ontario through filming and other projects.
Sometimes you have to look past the negatives (amount of money that was spent) to see the positives.
Supporting my earlier conjectures about that Strombo party, the CBC provided more information about it today:
http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/media/facts/20111220.shtml
Marketing is sometimes a black art where successful outcomes are difficult to immediately quantity and assess.
That CBC press release also alludes to Quebecor’s demand to receive more of the CBC marketing dollars, as revealed in a Macleans article today. Which might suggest that the recycling of the Strombo party story might be more PR than journalism.
I just saw David Akin’s update and his comment about hard costs vs. the total invoice. I don’t believe that the CBC is exempted from GST/HST collection and reporting requirements. As such, the HST it paid on the total invoice would be reported and claimed as an input HST credit, offset against HST collected and remitted. It is recorded on the balance sheet, not as an expense. It’s fair to say the actual expense was $64k.