We all know about the G8/G20's $930-million security bill and the infamous “fake lake,” but Access to Information (ATI) requests by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) have uncovered a whole new basket of wasteful goods. This ATI request filed for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) found nearly $227-thousand spent on "promotional items," including:

• $84-thousand for lapel pins
• $40-thousand for engraved, bamboo and eco pens
• $14-thousand for zipper pulls
• $29-thousand for water pitchers and custom bottles
• $4-thousand for coffee mugs
• $17-thousand for golf shirts
• $22-thousand for day bags

Now, nobody expects President Obama to be served his morning coffee in a Styrofoam cup, but were the $4-thousand for custom cups really necessary? At a summit that trumpeted budget austerity to slash their red-ink strained deficits, it was more than a little odd that taxpayers were billed $40-thousand for an assortment of engraved, bamboo and eco pens. That, when the red Bic pens that write our budgets would have done just fine. Summits shouldn't be done on the cheap, but neither should they be used as an excuse for "stimulus" spending (read pork) or for showing off. Showing restraint at an international summit focused on cutting government profligacy might have lent it's tough words more credence.

The received ATI from DFAIT can be found here.