Department spent $140K to store furniture it didn’t keep
Federal Environment Minister Peter Kent has remained tight-lipped over his department’s decision to replace a Gatineau, Que. office building’s workstations with new furniture. Environment Canada spent $141,000 to store the furniture for about a year, before putting it up for auction and purchasing new furniture for the building, which was under renovation. However, a spokesman told Postmedia News the government thought it was more “cost-effective” to replace the cabinets, steel metal wall panels covered in fabric, electrical outlets and wiring. The spokesman said the department is working on an explanation as to why it paid to store furniture it didn’t keep.