The federal government reported spending more than half a million dollars on promotional pucks, sports jerseys, plastic wrist bands and golf balls from 2007 to 2012, according to reports tabled in the House of Commons.
Of the nearly $530,000 reported spent on these items from all departments and agencies for that period, $438,385 came from DND and the Canadian Forces.
The Canadian Forces used the items to develop visibility for the work it does, DND spokesman Christian Tessier said in an email.
"Promotional items are used to remind Canadians about recruiting initiatives, commemorative activities, and also of the role played by the CF in protecting Canada, working with the United States in the defence of North America, and in contributing to international peace and security," Tessier said.
Of the $438,385 spent by DND, more than half, just over $238,000, was for rubber bracelets and silicone wrist bands. This money was spent primarily in 2007 and 2008. DND could not say what the wrist bands and bracelets were used for.
Another $176,000 was spent on more than 100,000 hockey pucks, and another $23,000 on jerseys.
Canadian forces-branded hockey pucks were, until last year, distributed to the general public at appreciation events that NHL hockey teams were hosting, Tessier said.
As for jerseys, since 2006 DND has organized "Team Canada" visits to soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, Tessier said. The visits from high-profile Canadians and National Hockey League alumni almost always ended with a ball hockey game at Kandahar Airfield, Tessier said, with both teams wearing CF-branded hockey jerseys.
"Team Canada activities are often covered by the mainstream media and aired in Canada, which gives extensive visibility to the CF and raises awareness of CF contributions to international peace and security," Tessier said.
DND also spent just over $3,000 on 90 boxes of golf balls.
In the report, DND noted that there was only one purchase of such promotional material from 2011 to 2012, as organizations were directed to use existing inventory. That purchase was $2,683 for 100 hockey jerseys.
"Spending was drastically reduced in an effort to support wider initiatives,' the department said.
After DND, the Department of Canadian Heritage reported the most money spent on similar promotional items, doling out just over $45,000 almost entirely on sports jerseys between 2008 and 2009.
Parks Canada spent just over $9,000, most of it on hockey pucks, the bulk of them for the annual Winterlude festival in Ottawa this past winter.
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research spent just over $15,000 on sports T-shirts and vests for students who attended Synapse, its youth outreach program. The Canada Revenue Agency spent most of its nearly $2,000 in promotional spending on golf balls used for employee recognition awards.
Veterans Affairs spent $5,790 on hockey pucks over the five-year period. These were used for ceremonial puck drops at hockey games for Veterans Week events, the department said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade made a point of noting that the $827 it spent on rugby shirts and Team Canada hockey jerseys was to promote sales and exports of Canadian products and to support official hospitality offered to foreign nationals.
Separate from the $530,000, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada reported that it spent $28,514 over five years on promotional USB keys. The USB keys came in a "plastic bracelet format for the convenience of our researchers and students."
Several departments and agencies, including the Department of Justice and Correctional Services of Canada, said they don't categorize their promotional expenses at a level of detail that would allow them to say what amount went to sports jerseys or pucks.
Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: Natalie Stechyson
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