Last week according to Liberal MP Marcel Proulx 308 MPs couldn’t pawn off the expense the cost of the iPad to us taxpayers because “The House system is totally based on Microsoft… If I was to call the Hill help desk and say I have a problem with my iPad, they’d say ‘Too bad for you. We don’t know anything about iPads. “Everybody is on the Microsoft infrastructure.”
Our MPs are not going to like this news. The Treasury Board received approval last summer to start a pilot project that saw 23 iPads and accessories come into government offices for a total bill of $20,530.69. The iPad pilot project apparently saves up to $700 a year in paper and laptop costs. It was deemed such a success that it’s being rolled out to 15 other departments.
Treasury Board President Stockwell said “I just think they’re wrong on this one… MPs will account for the equipment that they buy.… They need to look at it again from the point of view of efficiency and cost saving… Nobody’s seeing it as a high-end luxury because of the fact it’s coming in at a lower cost than most laptops…Why are we forced to use a horse and buggy when everybody else has got state-of-the-art equipment? I kind of resent that. If it’s good enough for cabinet ministers and senior bureaucrats, it’s good enough for MPs.”
This is our taxpayers dollars hard at work.
Source: Globe
