The tie goes to the get away driver

One of the more interesting tidbits of the Gomery inquiry this week has been the revelation that patriotic sartorial style comes at a heady price.

During the testimony of Jean Chretien's chief of staff on Monday, Jean Pelletier expressed no regret at an original tab of 46,000 dollars for 480 Canadian flag embossed mens ties. As Pelletier put it, "I believed that Canada deserved a necktie that held its own". Pelletier did claim to be shocked at the profit taking of his minions in the project, a take that netted two Liberal friendly firms 13,000 dollars in fees on top of the 46,000 dollar cravats. Making the National unity fashion accessory ring in at a total of 59,000 dollars, a lot of cash just to look patriotic.

Now while we would never deny Canadians a chance to wave a flag around their necks, 46,000 dollars for 480 ties does seem a tad steep, working out roughly to 120 dollars a tie. At least they could have thrown in a couple of shirts and some cuff links at the same time.

What's even worse is it's doubtful that these ties would match the quality of say a Harry Rosen product, the high end Canadian mens retailer sells a variety of Men's fashion accessories and even offers free advice on how to tie them properly. They even have a sale offering up to 60% off going on at the moment, just think of how many ties we could have had with a bit of creative purchasing!

In fact since actually going out and looking for a cheap quality product might be too much like work for the sponsorship folks, just clicking on Ebay would have given them a world of ties from which to choose from.

The neckwear revelations which have already been snowed under by golfballs and theatrical rhetoric by the former Prime Minister, get to the heart of this sponsorship scandal. No excess was too much, money had no value in Ottawa nor did responsibility and once again it was the taxpayer who was left to hold the bag.

The above item first appeared in my Boondoggle blog, check it out for more items about governmental excess and malfeasance!