They may not have won, but for Alberta’s Energy War Room the honour didn’t come from just from being nominated..The Canadian Taxpayers Association handed out their highly-anticipated Teddy Awards Thursday highlighting government misspending across the country – and the Government of Alberta’s $30-million a year war room received a nomination..“The $30 million effort hasn’t had gotten off to a stellar start, and earned this nomination for the comedy of errors and waste that surrounded its logo. In December, the war room had to change its logo after it was revealed (it) was already being used for an American tech company. The logo it switched to also came under fire, though it hasn’t been changed yet. We may never get to know the cost of the whole fiasco, because the “war room” isn’t subject to freedom of information requests,” said the CTF.. Alberta slashing funding to energy warm room by 90 per centCourtesy Canadian Energy Centre .Franco Terrazzano, Alberta director of the CTF said: “If the war room is going to continue to use taxpayers’ money it needs to be fully transparent with taxpayers. .“I can understand that Albertans are ready to stick up for our resource industries. I think the government wants the war room to be like a defencemen. Well right now I don’t know if this defencemen knows how to skate backwards. The Mighty Ducks conquered all odds in the Disney movie. But I am skeptical given what I’ve seen so far.”.In the provincial category, the war room lost out to the Yukon Department of Tourism and Culture..“Someone in the Yukon had a brilliant idea: Buy gold and throw in a creek at a taxpayer-funded publicity stunt. The Yukon government jumped on board and spent $139,000 to promote and stage the Gold Rush II initiative where organizers threw gold into a creek as part of a tourism influencer campaign.”.Unfortunately, a fundraiser campaign to cover the cost only raised $4,500 and only one reporter showed up..Other winners:.FEDERAL: Global Affairs Canada; “Taxpayers were left with a bad taste in their mouths when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spent more than $17,000 to fly a Canadian chef to India to prepare Indian food. Global Affairs Canada has been spending millions of dollars using a little-scrutinized fund called the Mission Cultural Fund to fly chefs around the world to cook at different embassies, among other expenses..“Since the program was created in 2016, the government has spent $11.2 million out of a budgeted $4.6 million, putting the actual program cost at a whopping 144 per cent over budget.”.MUNICIPAL: City of Toronto Parks and Recreation; “Toronto’s Parks and Recreation Department has spent countless hours investigating a serious problem in its local community centres: seniors playing euchre. The investigation was led by a team of Scarborough Community Recreation supervisors, along with the city’s legal department and Gaming Services division..“The crime? Seniors were paying $1.25 to play three hours of euchre at various community centres in Scarborough. The CTF obtained 186 pages of documents detailing the bureaucracy’s extensive work cracking down on the old-timers’ sinister gambling operation..“After the story became widely known, the city finally dropped the investigation, with.Toronto Mayor John Tory joking about calling off the “fun police.”.The City of Victoria received a nomination in the category for spending $5,150 on an imported French stainless steel ping pong table in a local park. The city also plans to hand out free table tennis paddles and balls to nearby schools, businesses, homes and hotels..Also nominated was the City of Vancouver for spending $200,000 on painting five large red rectangles at five bus stops throughout the region. The five red zones, which cost $40,000 each to paid, are part of a new city pilot project testing whether the red paint helps deter drivers from parking their cars in the zones..And, drumroll please, the CTF 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award went to former Montreal Mayor Michael Applebaum..“Applebaum previously plead guilty to eight counts of corruption in 2017, and spent six months in prison. Despite his convictions, Applebaum will get to keep his $260,000 taxpayer-funded severance package stemming from his time as a crooked mayor and councillor in Montreal, and will remain eligible for $36,000 a year from a taxpayer-funded pension when he turns 60, meaning that if he lives to age 90, he will collect more than a million dollars in pension payments.”.A full list of all the nominees can be seen here..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandradonline.com.Twitter: Nobby7694
