Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence at an Ottawa government
owned house:
One is from Vancouver , another is from Toronto and the third, is from St.
John's, NFLD .
All three go with a Government official to examine the fence.
The Vancouver contractor takes out a tape measure and does some
measuring,
then works some figures with a pencil. "Well," he says, "I figure the job
will run about $900: $400 for materials, $400 for my crew and $100 profit
for me."
The Toronto contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, "I
can do this job for $700: $300 for materials, $300 for my crew and $100
profit for me.
"The NFLD contractor doesn't measure or figure, but leans over to the
government official and whispers, "$2,700."
The official, incredulous, says, "You didn't even measure like the other
guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?" The NFLD contractor
whispers back, "$1,000 for me, $1,000 for you, and we hire the guy from
Toronto to fix the fence."
"Done!" replies the government official.
And that, my friends, is how government contracting works !
And it's the same which ever country or state you may be in.
--
Stuart Winsor
Only plain text for emails
http://www.asciiribbon.org
On Mar 12, 1:12=A0pm, Stuart <[email protected]> wrote:
> Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence at an Ottawa governme=
nt
> owned house:
>
> One is from Vancouver , another is from Toronto and the third, is from St=
.
> John's, NFLD .
>
> All three go with a Government official to examine the fence.
>
> =A0 The Vancouver contractor takes out a tape measure and does some
> measuring,
> =A0 then works some figures with a pencil. "Well," he says, "I figure the=
job
> =A0 will run about $900: $400 for materials, $400 for my crew and $100 pr=
ofit
> =A0 for me."
>
> The Toronto contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, =
"I
> =A0 can do this job for $700: $300 for materials, $300 for my crew and $1=
00
> =A0 profit for me.
> =A0 "The NFLD contractor doesn't measure or figure, but leans over to the
> =A0 government official and whispers, "$2,700."
>
> =A0 The official, incredulous, says, "You didn't even measure like the ot=
her
> =A0 guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?" The NFLD contract=
or
> =A0 whispers back, "$1,000 for me, $1,000 for you, and we hire the guy fr=
om
> =A0 Toronto to fix the fence."
>
> =A0 "Done!" replies the government official.
This is where the story falls apart. The government official would
have replied: "Make that $1500 for me and I won't have you charged
with attempted bribery."
>
> =A0 And that, my friends, is how government contracting works !
>
> And it's the same which ever country or state you may be in.
>
Indeed.