“There’s an awful lot of stuff that doesn’t look like it’s creating any jobs,” says Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay
Opposition members this week accused the government of mismanaging the $3-billion ‘special fund,’ established to direct money to stimulus-related projects as quickly as possible. Critics allege that many items being funded are going to non-stimulus-related activities. These include the $30-million that was allocated to Industry Canada’s Marquee Tourism Events Program, which would “support marquee festivals and events occurring in the summer that will attract tourists.” “There’s an awful lot of stuff that doesn’t look like it’s creating any jobs,” charged Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay, who also compared the recent spending to the Liberals’ sponsorship scandal. But Treasury Board President Vic Toews says that opponents have misunderstood the purpose of Vote 35, which established the fund. The fund was to get money flowing to any budgetary matters, Toews explained, and “not necessarily purely stimulus matters.”