In a revelation yesterday even Ottawa would admit is ill-timed, documents came to light showing the federal government has spent more than $15 million on bottled water in the last five years, $10 million of that in the last three.
May 1, 2009
> Death by Government & Private Corporations
Feds spend $15 million of your money on bottled water
By Jason Buckland, Sympatico / MSN Finance
No, the kid from Blank Check isn�t running parliament. I checked.
In a revelation yesterday even Ottawa would admit is ill-timed,
documents came to light showing the federal government has spent more
than $15 million on bottled water in the last five years, $10 million
of that in the last three.
Now, you don�t need me here to tell you that $15 million for water
could, yeah, probably be spent a little bit wiser. But if one thing�s
for sure about Canadians, it�s that they don�t like wasted taxpayer
money.
One advocacy group has already dubbed the issue �Bottled Watergate,� and another cast if off as �deeply, deeply concerning.�
Before we pile on, there is one defence for the feds worth
mentioning: not all the water money was seemingly tossed away. In the
documents detailing the water expenses, some $3.3 million of the $15 million
($15.7 million, actually) was tabbed by Indian and Northern Affairs
over the past five years and sent to supply First Nations reserves
where the safety of drinking water was suspect.
So, that�s okay.
Yet, that still leaves a cool $12.4 million which, no matter what
the case, leaves us with the image of two suits breezing by some City
Hall water fountain to grab a crisp, cold Evian from the nearest mini
fridge.
It�s still early, but so far there hasn�t been much response to the
spending from the feds who, rightfully, probably have more pressing
matters to deal with. But what�s going to irk the public further is
that, of the $12.4 million, there didn�t seem to be much of an effort
to conserve on the government�s behalf.
Most of us realize that $12.4 million � spread over the entire
nation, over half a decade � really isn�t that much, but that belies
the point here. It seems like waste and, from a government intent on leading the charge to ban the plastic water bottle anyway, a bit hypocritical.
How many millions of that taxpayer cash could�ve been saved if water
fountains were better used or, if handouts were necessary, government
workers were given reusable bottles they could refill on their own?
Even while most of Bottled Watergate�s spending was done before the
economy tanked, the news of it broke during the recession. And that
means now, more than any other time, the feds are probably going to
have their hands full answering to this one.
