ST. JOHN’S, NL – On the day Auditor General Sheila Fraser was scheduled to release her reports on G8/G20 summit spending and the G8 Legacy Fund, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff called on Stephen Harper to release her findings to Canadians.
“The Canadian people deserve to know what’s in Sheila Fraser’s G8/G20 reports – and they have a right to know it before going to the polls on May 2,” said Mr. Ignatieff. “Mr. Harper has these reports on his desk – and if he truly believes in accountability he must share them with Canadians immediately.”
Auditor General Sheila Fraser was scheduled to release her reports on the cost of the G8/G20 summits on April 5. As the Auditor General must first table her reports in the House of Commons before it can become public, Stephen Harper will only be held accountable for his G8/G20 waste and mismanagement if he releases them, which the Conservative government would have already received internally.
“Canadians deserve to know how the Conservatives completely mismanaged the G20, and how they alone are responsible for this billion-dollar boondoggle,” said Mr. Ignatieff. “They deserve to know how Harper put the interests of Conservatives ahead of the interests of Canadians – choosing a location in Tony Clement’s riding that couldn’t handle a large summit.
“When that didn’t work out, Harper switched locations from Muskoka to Toronto at the last minute, incurring sky-high costs and creating a security nightmare that has scarred Toronto to this day.”
Experts have said G20 security would have been simpler and less costly if it was held in a more suitable venue outside of the city or in Toronto’s Exhibition grounds. Instead, Stephen Harper’s poor planning and last-minute decision to fence off Toronto’s downtown core caused a severe intrusion into the lives of Canadians – including small businesses who suffered damage and lost profits only to receive zero compensation.
“Canadians also deserve to know how the Conservatives used this summit as cover to create a political slush fund so that Tony Clement could splash millions around his riding on projects that had absolutely no connection to the G8,” said Mr. Ignatieff.
Last week, Liberal candidate David McGuinty published information that showed the G8 was a flimsy excuse for the Conservatives to spray $50 million in public money across Tony Clement’s riding, with no controls and on projects that had no connection to the G8 whatsoever. Liberal candidate Mark Holland also joined Mr. Ignatieff to make a presentation on the Liberal plan to cut Conservative spending waste, including the G20’s infamous fake lake and the G8 Legacy Fund.
“Without the Auditor General’s reports, the public will have no accountability for this massive $1-billion boondoggle, or the Conservatives’ poor decisions leading up to it,” said Mr. Ignatieff. “If the reports contain good news for Stephen Harper, then he has nothing to lose by releasing them – but if he maintains his silence, we’ll know he has something to hide.
“There are two choices in this election: The Conservatives, who chose to spend $1 billion on a disastrous photo-op that benefited no one other than Tony Clement’s re-election campaign, or a Liberal government who will invest in families through the Liberal Family Pack,” Mr. Ignatieff concluded.
