Monday, April 11, 2011

Harper's hidden $1 billion G8 bill



The auditor general says the Harper government misinformed Parliament to win approval for a $50-million G8 fund that lavished money on dubious projects in a Conservative riding. And she suggests the process may have been illegal.

The report was put on ice when the Harper government was defeated and is not due to be released until after the May 2 election.

However, a Jan. 13 draft of the chapter on the G8 legacy infrastructure fund was seen by The Canadian Press.

It reveals that Industry Minister Tony Clement, the mayor of Huntsville, and the general manager of Deerhurst Resort chose the 32 projects that received funding -- with no regard for the needs of the summit or the conditions laid down by the government.

The report analyzed the $1-billion cost of staging last June's G8 summit in Ontario cottage country and a subsequent gathering of G20 leaders in downtown Toronto.

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