“FakeLakeGate”

You may have heard that Canada is hosting the G8/G20 Summits this month. The country is spending nearly a Billion (with a “B”) dollars (Canadian) on security alone.

Short digression: Lots of people, particularly on the left side of the political spectrum, hate the G8 and G20. These are the wealthiest governments on the planet. I’m not going to even try to write a sentence representing a unifying anti-G8 maxim (partly because I don’t think there is one), but summit protesters often throw out terms like: empire, exploit and exterminate (and lots of other words that do or do not start with “e”–but you get the point).

So, amid all the economics and other madnesses about to descend on Huntsville, Ontario (the site of the G8 Summit) and Toronto (G20), it was odd to see this tid bit from Reuters streaming across the Intertubes:

Canada’s government found itself in hot water on Monday after it emerged that the media center for two international summits this month will feature a C$1.9 million ($1.8 million) artificial lake, complete with canoes and a bar.

Leaving aside, for the moment, the excellence of the phrase “…complete with canoes and a bar,” you have to wonder what the [insert expletive of your choice] the summit planners were thinking.

Also from Reuters:

The official Atlas of Canada says there are 31,752 lakes larger than 3 square km (1.2 sq. mi.) in the country.

So it hardly seems necessary to build a fake lake.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party are taking it on the chin from all those opposition parties calling the summit “Harper’s billion-dollar boondoggle.” Canadian pols have engaged in a little word smithing fun.

Addressing the House of Commons, Rodger Cuzner of the Liberal Party said, “The government’s half-baked fake lake takes the cake. What a mistake.”

Jack Layton, of the New Democrats, coined the term “FakeLakeGate” saying, “It is the taxpayers who are going to end up at the bottom of the fake lake.”

Even the Toronto Sun newspaper tried to get in on the action:

Hoping to make big waves over the Conservative government’s spending on the G8/G20 summits, the Liberals Sunday unveiled new radio and YouTube advertisements attacking the “fake lake” media backdrop built for the international gathering.

Can you imagine what would happen in New York if Washington or Albany tried to build a fake lake in the Adirondacks?

No matter how vocal the opposition to a fake lake, it’s still hard to imagine anyone kicking up much fuss over the bar.

In the media center, no less. Now that’s good planning.