Never let a crisis go to waste

In a follow-up to yesterday’s report, CP’s Bruce Cheadle details at even further depth the government’s concerns and demands for signage.

"Although progress in the installation of signage had been slowed due to seasonal limitations, departments and agencies managed to increase the number of signs erected from 58 per cent to 65 per cent of the total number of signs to be installed," Wayne Wouters, the powerful clerk of the Privy Council, wrote in a March 8, 2010, memorandum to the prime minister.

The "Update on Signage" memo, marked "Secret" and obtained by The Canadian Press under Access to Information, goes on to list the total number of signs — 5,275 — installed to that date. It cites 3,840 more that "have been ordered or are in production."

"Departments have been using alternative methods for signage installation in order to sustain visibility by placing signs in windows, on buildings or employing other temporary measures," Wouters wrote of the winter conditions.