You bought WHAT?!?!
In addition to the things you might expect governments to buy, like grosses of paper clips and truckloads of computers, there are those purchases that might strike the unthinking outsider as, well, odd.
Take the purchase of 840 ladi& handbags that the Canadian Forces is about to make. Hello! Ladies' handbags? Ladies' handbags in black leather, 10.25 inches by 5.5 inches with a shoulder strap, to be exact. These will be part of the service dress uniform worn by those of the 5,600 women in the Canadian Forces who work in an office environment. The last order for these "very durable" bags came in at a price of $72.44 each, says David Laister, director of Soldier Systems at the Department of National Defence. "We get good prices," says Laister, who is in charge of everything Canadian Forces personnel "carries, consumes, uses and wears."
Banquet handbag Fake HandbagsOr how about the rain suits the RCMP is buying for bicycle patrols that will be part of the force policing the G8 Summit meeting in Kananaskis Country in Alberta this June? Security operations, handled jointly by the RCMP and the Calgary Police Force, have the stated objective of not only the safety of international leaders, but also protection of the environment of this pristine mountain locale.
That would be a factor in having bicycle patrols for the G8 Summit: they're environmentally friendly, points out RCMP spokesman Paul Marsh. Compared to a fleet of squad cars, or even battalions of officers mounted on their signature but (let's face it) voluminously waste-producing steeds, bicycles do seem an environmentally responsible choice.
Bicycle patrols have long been a feature of RCMP community policing, says Marsh. Bikes are not only environmentally friendly, they are highly maneuverable led tube light as well, allowing officers to get where they are needed quickly, where a squad car might get held up in traffic. Besides, Marsh says, "Bicycles are a healthy way for officers to carry out the Force's mandate."
So the RCMP is ordering 265 rain jackets and 630 pairs of rain pants for its G8 bicycle patrol - after all, it can be damp in the Rockies in June. But why, you may ask, more than twice as many pants as jackets? Well, as the Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) contact for this Request for Proposal (RFP) explained patiently, pants wear out faster than jackets. Check out the suits in your own closets; it's the same thing, except you're probably not sloshing around on a bicycle in your pants, protecting the leaders of the Western world.
And what about the RFP for a standing offer to deliver 12,000 bales of hay (and a backup one for 4,000 bales) to "various locations throughout Canadian Forces Base Gagetown training area" between April and November of this year? It seems that the hay, which must weigh between 30 to 40 pounds a bale, is to be used for erosion and sediment control. This has got to be one rare type of purchase, however. There's apparently not even an appropriate category for it on MERX - it's listed under Miscellaneous Office Equipment.
Bicycle patrols, erosion and sediment control - it's good to see everyday evidence of green purchasing and practices in the public sector. Speaking of green practices, here's an interesting acquisition being made by Environment Canada: officials there have recently contracted the Appraisal Institute of Canada to deliver seminars on appraising ecological gifts.
An ecological gift, or "Ecogift," is a donation of ecologically sensitive land to a province or municipality und
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