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| Great White North |
| Liberals spent millions on flags that wouldn’t fly |
| 2004-04-01 |
| Only in Canada.... Back in 1996 then-heritage minister Sheila Copps trumpeted a plan to give away one million flags to Canadians as part of a national unity push. Flag Unlimited, in Barrie, Ont., is under new management now, but in 1996 it was paid $3 million to make flags for the government handout. But Ottawa paid more because it didn’t buy the flags directly from the manufacturer. It bought the flags from Lafleur Communications, an ad firm that is now part of Groupaction. Lafleur Communications was headed by Jean Lafleur, who had close contact with the PMO. Doreen Braverman, Canada’s largest flag retailer, says what doesn’t make sense is why the government used a middleman to begin with. "They’re (the federal government) supposed to go to the manufacturers. That’s where you’re going to get the best price," she told CBC News. Hey that bottle of Chateau Petrus is not cheap, but that’s a whole 'nother story... The flag story wasn’t noticed in the auditor general’s report, but it was noticed by Allan Cutler of Public Works, who blew the whistle two weeks ago. "The contract had a three-day term and was subject to the standard commission rate of 17.65 per cent payable to Lafleur," said Cutler. Should of used Halliburton? That would’ve added up to $600,000 out of the $3.4 million paid to Lafleur Communications - and it was all authorized by Chuck Guité, the man in the middle of the sponsorship scandal. "Moreover, the contract was amended to permit immediate payment on submission of an invoice," said Cutler, "a practice which is highly unusual in government procurement." It also turns out that Jean Lafleur was in regular contact with other top officials in the Chrétien government, especially Jean Carle, who was the director of operations at the PMO, as well as former chief of staff Jean Pelletier, former public works minister Alfonso Gagliano and Chuck Guité. Terms, Full, Inst. "Have another glass of CP" But there’s one final twist. The flags from Lafleur didn’t meet government specifications. According to Braverman "there was no way of attaching (the flags) to anything. So they’d bring them into the shop and say, ’I got this from Sheila Copps’ office, what do I do with it?’" The flags had no sleeve, so they couldn’t be attached to a flagpole. Flags won’t fly, army can’t fight, borders won’t close....need we say more? |
| Posted by:john |
| #7 The Quebec mafia strikes again... |
| Posted by: Pappy 2004-04-01 11:42:54 PM |
| #6 Typical liberal poopoo heads, rob from the poor and give to the rich. canadianistan sucks big ones..... |
| Posted by: Halfass Pete 2004-04-01 11:25:34 PM |
| #5 Quelle surprise. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-04-01 6:27:56 PM |
| #4 Kind of funny liberals making flags. Check out homes and see who flys the flag and who doesn't. See who's a proud American and who doesn't care (unless it is a foreign flag then that is a different matter). |
| Posted by: Bill Nelson 2004-04-01 3:13:37 PM |
| #3 Maybe it's just coincidence but most of the names are French. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2004-04-01 1:07:07 PM |
| #2 Repeat after me 'We are Canadians, and we are stupid, we are Canadians, and we are stupid...." |
| Posted by: steve d. 2004-04-01 12:35:24 PM |
| #1 Time to deploy the brigades to the north country and pretend to stop the wild invaders. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-04-01 12:20:17 PM |