PAN AM BUDGET WAS MOVING TARGET

QUEEN’S PARK – Today, Ontario PC Deputy Leader and Critic for Tourism, Culture and Sport Steve Clark attended the final technical briefing for the 2015 Pan American / Parapan American Games where the government claimed the games were delivered under budget.

“It’s easy to be under budget when your budget is constantly moving upwards. And let’s not forget they added an extra $54 million to their budget when they thought were missing their targets,” said Clark.

The Liberal government even went as far as touting savings – including $56 million of unspent contingency funds – to their bloated budget.

“A contingency fund is meant for cost-over runs and emergencies. It certainly doesn’t mean you saved money because you didn’t spend all of the money in your rainy day account,” Clark added.

The government also said the $5.7 million dollars in bonuses paid to Pan Am executives is accounted for in their $2.4 billion tally.

“It’s absurd that the Liberals are handing out bonus cheques for simply showing up to work,” stated Clark.  “I can’t think of any other job where you get double your salary for punching the clock every day. Winnipeg managed to host their games for $140 million dollars and these executives are getting $5.7 million dollars in bonuses for running their games on a $2.4 billion budget. That just doesn’t add up especially as the cut health care and education across the province.”