Friday, June 2, 2017

Ontario gov't rents a big rubber duck for $120K

Ontario to kick off 150th birthday celebration with giant inflatable duck - Postmedia, Toronto Sun:

May 29, 2017 - "The Ontario government will celebrate the country’s 150th birthday with a giant rubber duck — and taxpayers are taking a bath.

Ontario PC MPP Vic Fedeli said the $200,000 birthday duck tour — more than half of it covered by Ontario — is a sure sign of a government with 'messed up' priorities.... 'They’re laying off frontline health-care workers right across Ontario ... They can’t find money for alternative level of care beds, but they can find $200,000 for some kind of a duck promo?'

"The six-storey-tall, 13,600-kilogram yellow duck is being brought to Toronto by the Redpath Waterfront Festival, at a total cost of $200,000, combining a provincial contribution and other funding such as corporate sponsorship. The total grant for the Toronto portion of the tour was closer to $121,325, according to tourism ministry spokesman Jeff Costen....

"Stops are planned in Toronto, Midland, Brockville, Amherstburg and Sault Ste. Marie to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday on July 1, according to Ontario 150 co-producer Lea Parrell.

"He said the price tag includes renting the duck from a man in the United States who owns it, transporting it, inflating it, using a crane to lift it onto a barge, towing the barge, bringing it to Ontario communities, marketing, and on-site support such as portable toilets and extra fencing so people don’t fall in the water....

"'We’ve been aware of this duck for a few years,' Parrell told Postmedia, 'Tourists and children love it and it’s been all over but it has never been to Canada before.'"

Read more: http://www.torontosun.com/2017/05/29/ontario-to-kick-off-150th-birthday-celebration-with-giant-inflatable-duck-costing-200gs
'via Blog this'

Rubber Duck by Florentijn Hoffman in Hong Kong, 2013. Photo by Mark Pegrum, Wikimedia Commons

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