When I first heard of the alleged federal government matching funds for Haiti charitable contributions, my immediate first reaction was, "The Harpercons will never cough up a penny of that. It's all PR." Sadly, I failed to blog as such at the time and therefore missed a golden opportunity to crow, "Told ya so! Told ya so! Told ya so!":
I asked how much of the money raised through the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund has been spent. CIDA’s response included a paragraph about where Canada has spent money that doesn’t come from the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund, before adding the line: “Funds from the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund will be disbursed in the near future.”
In other words, they haven’t spent a penny.
Yes, I saw that coming. You'll just have to take my word for it.
CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG BUT, as I read it, the Harpercons are not just hanging on to what they promised were matching federal funds, but are also sitting on donated funds! That is, they haven't even put to use that cash that's come in from Canadian donors!! Do I have that right?
6 comments:
But hey, it gave the GG and Harper some media time....
Fuckers.
Is there anywhere a listing of the wonderful disbursement promises made and never filled by Harpercon? This seems to be his favorite pattern -- offer big dollars that don't exist, never materialize, or exist but under another department.
Stay tuned for Harper's 2010 new huge job-building initiative -- the Existing Roads and Bridges Budget (under a different blockbuster name.)
(For bonus points, watch him announce this while cutting bridge and highway dollars.)
CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG BUT, as I read it, the Harpercons are not just hanging on to what they promised were matching federal funds, but are also sitting on donated funds! That is, they haven't even put to use that cash that's come in from Canadian donors!! Do I have that right?
I don't think so. I'm not sure how the government decided to measure the donations in order to match them, but I assumed, after the deadline, they would get reports from various registered charities on the amount donated by Canadians and match them. I don't see how the government can be sitting on the donations made directly to the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders, for example.
I mostly didn't care about the matching fund commitment, since it's still *our* money anyway. But it's good way to encourage people to donate.
dear god in heaven, i actually agree with ti-guy. it must be the sign of the approaching apocalypse.
cc. get a brain on this. canadians donated to various agencies, primarily the red cross. the harpercons aka our government is NOT sitting on those donations. Those agencies are free to spend those donations as they wish.
As to the matching funds not being spent yet. Gee, I dunno, maybe the money will not be spent until Haiti and donor nations complete a comprehensive plan on rebuilding the country.
otherwise the money might be... i dunno... wasted?
My word, BB, I feel so embarrassed ... admitting I wasn't sure if I was reading something correctly, and asking for clarification.
I'll understand if you don't recognize the concept.
Wank.
Post a Comment