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'Harper's Folly': G8 fake lake deserves a name
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| mute79 |
conservatives will now make you pay $1.1B AND will get your city thrashed!
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Heather Scoffield, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - The Council of Canadians says the fake lake that G8 organizers are building inside their Toronto media centre deserves a name.
The protest group is applying to the Geographical Names Board of Canada to have the artificial indoor lake named "Harper's Folly."
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"This lake must have an appropriate name, and who better to name it after than Prime Minister Stephen Harper who approved of this expenditure as well as another $1.1 billion to be spent on three days of meetings," the group says in its application to the names board.
The lake is part of a $1.9-million display called The Canadian Corridor, meant to expose reporters to what Canada has to offer. It's supposed to give them the feeling of being in the Huntsville, Ont., area where the G8 summit will be held at the end of June.
The lakeshore is lined with racks of canoes donated by Muskoka residents, as well as deck chairs and a fake dock that camouflages several recharging stations for Blackberrys.
On the horizon, a giant screen portrays the real Muskoka, with its lakes, forests and rocky outcrops.
In reality, very few of the thousands of reporters covering the G8 will get anywhere close to Muskoka's cottage country. Only a small pool of about 200 reporters will be allowed to cover the G8 summit in Huntsville, and the rest will have to rely on a broadcast feed of the event fed into the media centre in Toronto.
That's precisely why the government chose to create a "Northern Ontario Oasis" at the media centre, Industry Minister Tony Clement said in Twitter traffic on Sunday.
Muskoka is part of his riding, and he is defending the display as legitimate promotion of the area.
"We've got up to 3000 int'l journalists in the media centre for 3 to 5 days. We should be condemned if we didn't promote!" Clement said in a Twitter response.
The federal Tories have been harshly criticized for budgeting $1.2 billion for security, hospitality and infrastructure to host the G8 summit in Huntsville and the G20 summit in Toronto.
But the lake project is well worth it, Clement said.
"Calm down. It is a reflecting pool," he urged critics.
"People: promoting tourism & Cdn business as a result of hosting Summits is a valid & legit aim & program."
Officials stress that the $1.9-million cost is split between the federal and provincial governments, and that the bill is not just for the lake. It's also for a replica of the Toronto Stock Exchange, and other presentations that showcase the City of Toronto and tourism in Ontario.
Huntsville tourism and business leaders were consulted for the design of the pond.
The aim, officials say, is to give reporters the tools they need to put together knowledgeable pieces about the Huntsville area.
The effort is in stark contrast to the approach the federal government took to promoting Canadian tourism at the Olympics.
Ottawa dithered on whether to build a Canada pavilion for so long that, when the call was finally made to go ahead, organizers had to scramble. They hired an American firm. The result was a structure that was widely condemned as ugly, for the cost of $10 million.
The G8 organizers have hired Lord Cultural Resources Planning and Management Inc. of Toronto to design and build the Canadian Corridor. That's the same company that took charge of the Ontario Pavilion at the Olympics, to much acclaim.
Despite the presence of canoes, reporters will be discouraged from going out for a paddle between news conferences. The fake lake is quite shallow, and lifeguards will not be on hand.
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| Abercrombie |
| quote: | | We've got up to 3000 int'l journalists in the media centre for 3 to 5 days. |
That's a lot of fecal matter. |
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| VDub |
There's already another G20 thread and one is enough...
Thanx... |
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| mute79 |
^^ not if you live in the "Target Zone"
:whip: |
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| ChemEnhanced |
| they better put some nice size small mouth bass in the pond. |
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| jester |
Harper's Foreign Minister called it something else :haha:
Saying it cost $57k for it, but the whole visitors centre thing was $2 million. |
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| Intangible |
While these numbers fall a bit short of the 1.9mil previously stated, they make me feel a lot better about the project...
The cost of the media centre breaks down as follows: design and consultation, $407,000; $208,187 for the northern oasis; $218,000 for the bridge; $292,000 for the cityscape; $147,000 for audio visual displays and labour cost $398,000. (http://www.citytv.com/toronto/cityn...-with-fake-lake)
I support this project.... it's a great way to showcase Canada's beauty and increase international tourism. It will also provide journalists with beautiful, professional backgrounds which will help define Toronto as a world class city. |
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| ChemEnhanced |
| quote: | Originally posted by Intangible
While these numbers fall a bit short of the 1.9mil previously stated, they make me feel a lot better about the project...
The cost of the media centre breaks down as follows: design and consultation, $407,000; $208,187 for the northern oasis; $218,000 for the bridge; $292,000 for the cityscape; $147,000 for audio visual displays and labour cost $398,000. (http://www.citytv.com/toronto/cityn...-with-fake-lake)
I support this project.... it's a great way to showcase Canada's beauty and increase international tourism. It will also provide journalists with beautiful, professional backgrounds which will help define Toronto as a world class city. |
if they really wanted to showcase Canada's beauty then they would have just had the summit in Huntsville. To spend this kind of money to bring the north to toronto is beyond retarded. |
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| Intangible |
| quote: | Originally posted by ChemEnhanced
if they really wanted to showcase Canada's beauty then they would have just had the summit in Huntsville. To spend this kind of money to bring the north to toronto is beyond retarded. |
This would cost even more - they would still have to build a media centre, provide accommodations for an extra 3000 peoples (From what I remember of Huntsville there are not whole lot of hotels), improve IT capabilites in Huntsville...
I would also assume that for security reasons its best to an additional 3000 people away from Huntsville.
It makes little sense to send the journalists to Huntsville. |
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| Geoffb3 |
This thing is hideous. For that the design and consultation FEE IS HUGE .... ~40% for and exhibition/interior lol I would really like to know who they got for this.
Yes i agree logistics for 3000 people in a small town is likely the cause. However spending that much money on some thing that ughly for a small time for a select group of people. If they were able to intergrate it better to the city where it became open to the public as some exhibition, or becase a part of the cne given the location and it was capable of benfiting the city in someway i would be oaky with it. Currently its tacky, and way to extravagent, and over priced.
I do see the importantance of presenting our selves to the media in a spectacular way and the benifits that come with it. I just dont think this is it. 
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| jester |
Got to love oil money... I mean tax payers money :p
I hope some of the venues will have vending machine selling Gold and Silver bahahahaha |
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