Subhead:According to the agency, funding these cross-dressing burlesque shows is an ‘innovative, culturally relevant’ way for them to advance science literacy, but it comes across as a mockery instead.#
YouTube-embed:Yj1BlcVPhx8
What began as a routine Access to Information request quickly spiralled into something stranger and more wasteful than expected.
When Health Canada was asked for all invoices tied to Public Service Pride Week 2025, their response seemed straightforward on the surface. A hundred dollars for rainbow lanyards, another hundred for intersex-inclusive progress flag sticks, a $560 charge to raise and lower a flag, and over $800 for another flag-raising ceremony.
But buried in the paperwork was something far more revealing.
YouTube-embed:K6EgQZ3YLZg
Invoices show that Brookfield Global Integrated Solutions, a Carney-adjacent facilities management giant, billed taxpayers $1,550 plus HST just to raise a Pride flag on August 14. Then take it down for a Truth & Reconciliation flag on September 27. Then take it down again on October 16 — complete with new anchors and eyebolts for next year.
The revolving door of symbolic flag choreography, all at the taxpayers’ expense, was becoming clear.
