If you are a town or city and you want some federal funding for your infrastructure project, you can't get it unless you promise to pay for and put up a big separate sign that lets everyone know that the federal government's Economic Action Plan is kicking in some cash.
Liberal MP Siobhan Coady wanted to know just how many signs Ottawa had forced municipalities to buy and pay so she wrote up an “Order Paper” question. Yesterday, the written answer was tabled in the House of Commons in the name of Conservative MP Sylvie Boucher. Here's what Hansard has:
Question No. 49–
Ms. Siobhan Coady:With regard to Canada’s Economic Action plan signs the government has purchased: (a) how many signs were purchased; (b) what was the cost of each sign; and (c) what was the total cost to the government?
Mrs. Sylvie Boucher (Parliamentary Secretary for Status of Women, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, in regard to part a) of the question, the Privy Council Office, PCO, coordinates communications for the implementation of the economic action plan, EAP. However, departments and agencies are responsible for the execution and funding of EAP projects, including signage. As part of this role, PCO monitors progress on the installation of signage. As of the week ending March 5, 2010, 5,337 signs have been installed across Canada.
In regard to parts (b) and (c) of the question, the costs for signs vary widely depending on a number of factors, including the type, size, location for installation or the availability of bulk purchasing. For the majority of EAP projects, signage is part of the agreements negotiated by the Government of Canada with its partners—the provinces, territories and municipalities. The costs for signs are also covered by the same agreements, where project partners share the cost of the signs. Moreover, signage costs are often included in overall project costs in the same way as engineering, construction supplies, fencing and other expenses. A separate budget is not identified for such signs, and so, determining costs for signage would be a difficult and lengthy exercise. This work would also require federal-provincial-municipal discussions and would result in incomplete and unreliable information given that total costs will not be available until all invoices are received. Detailed accounting for all Government of Canada expenditures will be available through the Public Accounts of Canada.