MP/MINISTER: Dean Del Mastro, Peter Kent and Lawrence Cannon
DATE: June 8, 2010
CITY: Ottawa
SPOKESPERSON: Tom Flanagan
EVENT
Damage control press conference over $2.1-million “fake lake” fiasco and other examples of $1.1 billion in wasteful G8/G20 spending, including:
• $745,000 for projects in Rosseau, 40 km away from the G8 site, that include new sidewalks, trees and a “lighthouse carved from a big tree stump” (Toronto Star, June 8)
• $23 million for a brand new G8 hockey rink in Muskoka that was supposed to be used as media centre, but now isn’t.
EVENT TYPE
Fiasco
HEADLINE
• “Canadian lawmakers slam plan to build $2-million fake lake for G20” – CNN.com
• “The summits will leave a loonie legacy” – Kingston Whig-Standard
• “Harper’s ‘crazy’ idea” – Le Soleil
• “Fake lake dogs prime minister” – Kingston Whig-Standard
• “TORIES UNDER FIRE FOR LAKE ‘SHOWCASE’; ‘Maybe they’ll bring in some tanning beds’” – National Post
• “Tories soaked with criticism for $1.9M prop; Opposition MPs blast Conservatives for cost of media centre’s Muskoka backdrop” – Toronto Star
• “Tories drowning in complains about fake lake” – Vancouver Sun
• “Summit costs hit Canada Conservative backing: poll – Reuters
MEDIA IN ATTENDANCE?
Only if they won’t ask any questions.
AUDIENCE SIZE AND DESCRIPTION / TARGET AUDIENCES
Foreign media:
• “Supposedly the foreign networks will be enchanted.” – Terry Milewski, The National, CBC, June 7
• “For a less cynical international media this will probably prove to be a benefit… It will provide a photo position for the media of the world.” – Peter Kent, June 8
VENUE DESCRIPTION
“The federal government has lavished money on the whole Huntsville area where the G8 is to meet. There’s even a spiffy new $100,000 gazebo which visitors won’t see because it’s 20 minutes out of town. These new toilets are also 20 clicks down the road, a bit of a hike if you’re in a hurry. But that’s nothing. Huntsville itself has a new $23-million arena, supposedly a media centre, except that the media won’t be there at all. Instead, the world’s media will be in this building in Toronto near the shore of Lake Ontario, but forget the real lake. Inside the building, there will be a fake lake complete with a dock and canoes and a big TV screen showing pictures of real lakes.” – Terry Milewski, The National, CBC, June 7
STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS / RECOMMENDATIONS
“It looks to me like the kind of nonsense that happens when plans – they originally thought they would do summits out in the Boonies in Ontario, wherever it is – and they realized they couldn’t and they had to scramble to make other plans and everything got out of control. I mean, it bears all the hallmarks of that but, you know, we don’t really know the story. Who was in charge? I guess we will find out someday when the Auditor General looks into it. But I mean, how can you defend it, how can you defend? Dean Del Mastro did the best he could, when he’s paid to do it, but I’m not paid to spout that kind of nonsense.” – Tom Flanagan, Power & Politics, CBC, June 7
KEY MESSAGES
• “Calm down. It is a reflecting pool!” – Tony Clement, Twitter, June 6. (#fakelake is the number one trending topic on Twitter in Canada today)
• ”You know the international boat show in Toronto has indeed a fake lake to be able to put boats on it so, you know…” – Lawrence Cannon, Power & Politics, CBC, June 7
• “I think that this is frankly it’s a reasonable investment. It’s not a lot of money.” – Dean Del Mastro, Power & Politics, CBC, June 7
• “If Toronto is such a good substitute for the Kawarthas and the Muskokas, then how come come hundreds of thousands of people every weekend flock from Toronto to the Kawarthas and the Muskokas… it’s simply not the same.” – Dean Del Mastro, Power & Politics, CBC, June 7
COMMUNICATIONS PRODUCTS
• Telephone script for angry constituents
PICTURE
• Conservative MPs sweating profusely
TONE
• Panic
ATTIRE
• Clown suit
MEP PREPARED BY:
Liberal Caucus Research Bureau
