Taxpayers will be funding a nearly $2 million effort to impress the international media when reporters descend on Toronto to cover the G8 and G20 summits later this month.
The Conservative government has shelled out $1.9 million for a display called the Canadian Corridor that includes a fake Muskoka lake. The exhibit is intended to give international reporters who can’t make it up to Huntsville for the G8 a taste of cottage country and to provide a backdrop for television crews.
The display will be inside the Toronto media centre at the Direct Energy Centre on the CNE grounds. Aside from the fake lake, it will include Muskoka chairs, a fake dock and fake canoes. Another area in the Canadian Corridor exhibit will show a mock TSX.
The budget for the two summits that overlap on the last weekend of June has been pegged at $1.1 billion.
Opposition critics have characterized this expense as ridiculous.
“If there was one thing we didn't have to create artificially in Canada, it would be a lake. I mean, we've got lakes everywhere," NDP Leader Jack Layton said Monday with a laugh. "I just wonder what they were smoking when they came up with that plan."
Liberal critics wondered how the government could spend money on a fake lake when it's dealing with a massive deficit and is hosting international leaders to discuss the global financial crisis.
The Council of Canadians has proposed a name for the water feature – “Harper’s Folly”. The group has submitted its proposed moniker to the Geographical Names Board of Canada.
Conservative ministers have defended the move. Industry minister Tony Clement, whose riding is hosting the G8 leaders, said the indoor lake in Toronto will promote the Muskoka region to the world.
Transport Minister John Baird echoed that sentiment in the House of Commons Monday.
“Television networks from around the world will be focusing on Canada and we want to showcase the very best that this country has to offer, whether it's the great region of Muskoka or if it's a world-class city like Toronto," he said.