The Chopping Block’s hunt for federal spending cuts is reaching the finish line. A summary of the numbers will appear tomorrow. But before we award ourselves a gold medal for overachievement — we may have exceeded our target of $20-billion annual expenditure reduction by 2013-14 — first a brief example of Ottawa’s spending habits and programs.
A news release yesterday from Natural Resources Canada tells the story:
CASTLEGAR, B.C. — A $40-million investment by the Government of Canada will enable one of Canada’s largest and most modern kraft pulp mills to generate clean, green energy from forest biomass.
Colin Mayes, Member of Parliament for Okanagan-Shuswap, today announced that the Zellstoff Celgar Pulp Mill in Castlegar, B.C., is the first mill to receive funding under the Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program (PPGTP) for its Green Energy Project
Ottawa is full of these corporate cash machines. Where did the PPGTP come from? How much is it spending? Lots, it turns out. The PPGTP web page says the program, announced last August, “provides pulp and paper mills with one-time access to $1 billion in funding for capital investments that make environmental improvements to their facilities such as improved energy efficiency or increased production of alternative energy.” NRCan says eligible pulp and paper companies can apply “until the $1 billion in funding is fully allotted.”
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