Harper ordered nation-wide sign count

Eighteen agencies are involved in a weekly mission to inventory signage advertising the government’s stimulus plan.

Six months ago the Privy Council Office ordered civil servants across the country to track signs promoting the government stimulus package known as the Economic Action Plan. Departments as diverse as Parks Canada, the Canada Housing and Mortgage Corp., and the Food Inspection Agency, some of them already understaffed, have been ordered to report regularly on how many EAP signs have been installed, have yet to be installed, and when they will be posted. The news of the plan is drawing fire from the opposition, who say the government hasn’t bothered to count the number of jobs created by the EAP and accuse the Tories of using the program to promote their own party.