Jack Laytons funeral cost taxpayers over 368K

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by transplant99

I would of thought such treatment was reserved for people who actually were PM or as mentioned in the story GG or some other such titles.

If this is SOP for former or current party leaders, then there is no problem i suppose, but im still not sure anyone other than former heads of state etc really should garner such treatment and expense.

Has this happened before or is this unprecedented? Seems extremely over the top expense wise either way imo...i mean its a funeral, not some huge dinner or celebration.

If Mulclair or Rae were to suddenly meet their demise tomorrow, would it be ok to spend over 1/3rd of a million bucks on their farewell too? What about past leaders like Manning or Broadbent or Campbell?

I agree. Completely ridiculous.

I think it was basically a fairly crafty, ostentatious, politically diffusing move by Harper.

Looked that way then and looks that way now.

Cowperson

[Bertuzzied]

I have absolutley no problem with that cost. I guess the only complaint is that they didn't try to find a corporate sponsor for it....

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

I have absolutley no problem with that cost. I guess the only complaint is that they didn't try to find a corporate sponsor for it....

Orange Crush missed a HUGE opportunity.

[Ozy_Flame]

Seems a tad high, but I don't know what the running cost for state funerals is these days. He is, however, an important political icon in central and Eastern Canada so it's not surprise to me he got the funeral.

I wish, however, that the NDP financed half of it. That would have been a more fruitful method of payment if there was a second chance to do so.

[Vulcan]

Considering we spent a billion on the G8, G20 conference in Toronto, this is small potatoes.

[Kavvy]

This might put me on the wrong side of the fence as most Canadians, but as he was a leader of the opposition for a significantly short period, a man who didn't do anything great for Canada (small nod for giving the Bloc a kick to the groin), he did not deserve a state funeral.

But as that is another discussion, this final price tag was pretty amazing and efficient, considering Trudeau cost us $650,000

Best part of the article:

“The dollar figure released to The Canadian Press is the total combined cost borne by every federal department and agency involved in the nearly week-long event, not just the amount paid by Canadian Heritage, the lead department for state funerals.”

This amount of this funeral could have not been any lower even if we had a tax auditor run the thing.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by SeeBass

I am no fan of the NDP or Layton, but yeah ok, so that is what it costs for a funeral of the opposition party.

Would a price tag of $20K seem ok, cause if I heard that number I would of thought "geez we are a cheap country".

I dont mean to bag on the OP but what would you guess a service for a person of this stature should cost?

MY dad's funeral, which was pretty basement budget, was north of $10k. If that's all we afforded to the leader of the official opposition, I would be ashamed to have voted for the person who okayed the money for it.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Kavy

This might put me on the wrong side of the fence as most Canadians, but as he was a leader of the opposition for a significantly short period, a man who didn't do anything great for Canada (small nod for giving the Bloc a kick to the groin), he did not deserve a state funeral.

That bolded part is more than reason enough for me.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by transplant99

If Mulclair or Rae were to suddenly meet their demise tomorrow, would it be ok to spend over 1/3rd of a million bucks on their farewell too? What about past leaders like Manning or Broadbent or Campbell?

Is "over 1/3rd of a million bucks" the monetary equivelant of when people say "almost half a decade" to make a period of time sound longer than it is, to make their point?

[Reanimate]

Wow, I mean, the money means nothing to me in the long run. But is a joke that tax payers had to pay for an extravagant funeral.

[Traditional_Ale]

Does this figure include the budget for the bio-pic about him?

[Parallex]

That's an awful lot of scratch for a funeral. Personally I'd reserve state funerals to former heads of government & heads of state. So basically current and former Prime Ministers and Governor Generals.

I mean... are we gonna roll out 1/3 of a million bucks when Dion, Day, Ignatieff, Manning, McKay, Bouchard etc. etc. all kick the bucket?

[Thor]

lol a lot? Its pennies for the federal government

[jayswin]

1/3 of a million bucks. Woah, that sounds like a lot because it has the word million in it!!

[Erick Estrada]

This doesn't bother me as at least it's transparent and accountable. The average politician absolutely rapes taxpayers with their monthly expenses for every single little thing they can like packs of gum, cup of coffee, toothpaste, personal meals with family or friends expensed as business, fuel, etc that these politicians nickel and dime us for monthly for $$$. They live very comfortably on taxpayer dime.

[Kavvy]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

This doesn't bother me as at least it's transparent and accountable. The average politician absolutely rapes taxpayers with their monthly expenses for every single little thing they can like packs of gum, cup of coffee, toothpaste, personal meals with family or friends expensed as business, fuel, etc that these politicians nickel and dime us for monthly for $$$. They live very comfortably on taxpayer dime.

By any chance at all, anything to back up the word "average" at all, other than a few bad apples (far from average)?

I really hope you got something because your discussion points are getting worse and worse and its turned painful.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by transplant99

I would of thought such treatment was reserved for people who actually were PM or as mentioned in the story GG or some other such titles.

If this is SOP for former or current party leaders, then there is no problem i suppose, but im still not sure anyone other than former heads of state etc really should garner such treatment and expense.

Has this happened before or is this unprecedented? Seems extremely over the top expense wise either way imo...i mean its a funeral, not some huge dinner or celebration.

If Mulclair or Rae were to suddenly meet their demise tomorrow, would it be ok to spend over 1/3rd of a million bucks on their farewell too? What about past leaders like Manning or Broadbent or Campbell?

If the Minister of Veterans affairs, the Postmaster General, the Minister of Justice, and a former Minister without Portfolio all got state funerals in Canada (all of which have actually happened before) I don't see why Layton's is out of line.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

IIRC, wasn't it Harper's decision to grant Layton a state funeral? Also, didn't many of the CPC supporters here claim what a "classy move" it was at the time?

I'm no Layton/NDP fan, but how much did you think it would cost to put on a state funeral? What would a reasonable expense have been?

Strange thread.

It was a classy move, and for someone who has served the public for as long as he had, Layton deserved it. And I hate his political values.

[evman150]

I have no problem with this. If you had asked me beforehand, I probably would have guessed more.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

That certainly isn't cheap but for a guy whose party's platform was based on wasteful spending of money the government doesn't have, it seems appropriate.