canada

Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence at Parliament Hill.

One is from Montreal, another is from Toronto, and the third is from Vancouver.

All three go with a Parliament official to examine the fence.

The Vancouver contractor takes out a tape measure and does some measuring, then works some figures with a pencil. “Well,” he says, “I figure the job will run about $9,000. That’s $4,000 for materials, $4,000 for my crew, and $1,000 profit for me.”

The Toronto contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, “I can do this job for $7,000. That’s $3,000 for materials, $3,000 for my crew, and $1,000 profit for me.”

The Montreal contractor doesn’t measure or figure, but leans over to the Parliament official and whispers, “$27,000.” The official, incredulous, says: “You didn’t even measure like the other guys. How did you come up with such a high figure?”

The Montreal contractor whispers back: “$10,000 for me, $10,000 for you, and we hire the guy from Toronto to fix the fence.”

“Done!” replies the government official.

And that is how the Government Stimulus plan works.

Three boxes keep us free:
- The soap box,
- The ballot box, and
- The jury box.