Industry minister has final say in allocating marquee events funds
Turns out it’s all Tony Clement’s fault if a variety of events didn’t get the funding they were expecting from the federal government. Richard Dicerni, deputy minister of Industry Canada, told a parliamentary committee on Thursday that Clement gets to pick who gets to dip into Ottawa’s controversial marquee tourism events program. So far, under the industry minister’s stewardship, funding to to popular festivals like Montreal’s FrancoFolies and Gay Pride in Toronto has been cut dramatically. Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez worries Clement’s role in attributing the funding comes with too little oversight. “We found out that the minister had carte blanche on nearly $100 million of public funds and he didn’t have to justify his decisions regarding these funds,” he said. “That is very worrisome.”