Ottawa hires $90,000-a-day firm for budget-trimming advice

The Harper Conservatives have decided to hire economic consultants to advise them on how to save money in Ottawa—and they’re paying them $90,000 a day. According to the Canadian Press, Deloitte, Inc. was hired on Aug. 15 to help the government with its austerity program. They received a $19.8 million contract to advise the Treasury Board headed by Conservative MP Tony Clement on how to balance the books in Ottawa by 2014. The contract runs until March 31, and includes an optional one-year extension. This summer, the government asked 20 “pre-qualified” consulting firms to bid on the work, foregoing the usual open-tendering process for such contracts. The results of the Clement’s committee’s findings will be included in next year’s budget.

Canadian Press