Mr. Speaker, the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton; the Calgary Saddledome; the Richmond speed skating oval: what do these places have in common? They are all real legacy projects that have remained after Canada hosted major world events. Not only were they related to those events, they were actually completed in time to welcome the participants to the event.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the pork-barrel spending for the G8 summit.
How about the $2 million in park improvements in Port Severn, which is 135 kilometres from the summit site? It would be nice if it had some grass. What about the G8 washrooms in Baysville, which is 30 kilometres away? People are calling it “30 kilometres of grief for a little bit of relief”. What about my favourite legacy project, the restoration of the bridge to Kearney, which is 42 kilometres away, that has not even been started yet? The summit starts in nine days. The boys may want to get somebody on that.
What Canadians know is that even though the lake is fake, the misuse and abuse of their money is real.