Clement's road to re-election paved with asphalt

Courtesy of Liberal MP Mark Holland, here's a picture of some frivolous and wasteful spending by Tony Clement that is being incurred by Canadian taxpayers across the land in the name of the G8.

Problem is, this picture was taken June 27, 2010, some time after the G8 "leaders" had long since vacated the area known as Muskoka and miles from where any of them were staying or would be traveling.

This photo is of a portion of $745,000 allocated to Orrville, Rosseau and Humphrey for "downtown improvements" and is situated 70 km from where the G8 gathering took place.

Doesn't it make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know that Tony Clement is using the traveling G8 circus as his personal means to get re-elected after sprinkling money indiscriminately all over his riding?

As for "downtown improvements", I think that money would be better and more justifiably allocated to the businesses that occupy downtown Toronto whose businesses were interrupted and in some cases were vandalised during the events of the G20 traveling circus. One such example is a friend of mine who owns a womens clothing store on Queen Street in Toronto, just east of Steve's Music Store, that was the site of a stand off with police. Her stainless steel store front was vandalised with deep gouges from the screwdriver of a passing protester. She also had to shut down her business for the entire day on Saturday in June, which is one of the most productive times for her business.

Where is the compensation for the losses sustained by her and hundreds of other Torontonians? If the G20 in Pittsburgh is any guide, she won't be able to collect on her insurance, since the insurance companies will argue these losses were the act of political anarchy, which is not covered by insurance, as opposed to the act of vandalism, which is normally covered by insurance.

Meanwhile, we have the insurance company CEOs themselves attempting to justify the enormous cost of the G20 in Toronto, with self serving comments like this:

“It’s not an expense. It’s an investment,” Manulife Financial Corp. CEO Don Guloien told the Toronto Globe and Mail. (June 25, 2010).

The problem with that concept of Don Guloien's, is that the people making the "investment", aren't the people extracting the benefits. Just ask Tony Clement, he can tell you all about the concept of drunkenly spending "other people's money" for personal gain.