B.C. Ferries throw $200,000.00 party at our expense

[#juan]

B.C. government just spent $200,000.00 on a party for German ferry bulders. They have also announced that ferry fares are going up again.

http://tinyurl.com/37fett

 

[TenPenny]

$200,000 pales in comparison with the money they are throwing away on this 'Olympics' thing.

 

[JoeSchmoe]

There are some great letters to the editor that sum things up well.

Hey! Let's have a party to say we're useless
What is wrong with this picture?
On one hand, B.C. Ferries president David Hahn tells us we are going to be required to cough up another 25 per cent in fares
to keep B.C. Ferries afloat, while at the same time throwing a $200,000 launch party for 3,000 Flensburg shipyard workers and hangers-on -- roughly $67 per plate.
Then, with the huge Olympic logos on her bow to promote Canada, Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon tells the assembled multitude that there is no shipyard in Canada that could have built this beauty.
Yup, Canadians are just too dumb. And the proof is in the pudding. What other country in the world would export that many jobs, then throw a party and tell everyone how useless Canadians are at everything other than making snow?
Shipbuilding is a strategic industry. In 1939 the Brits had written Canada off as being next to useless in providing ships of war and commerce for the war effort. But we proved them wrong. Between 1940 and 1945 we built a fleet and by the end of the war Canada had the third largest navy in the world.
Richard Mackenzie,
Victoria.

(emphasis mine)

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=7ebb1e75-79da-47f3-af2c-9291d9668b5f