The Royal Canadian Mint produces lots of money in Winnipeg, but it doesn't spend a single cent of its millions in sponsorship cash in the community that produces the country's coins. Documents obtained by the Free Press show that almost all of the $3.5 million the federal Crown corporation spent on sponsorships over the last seven years landed in Ottawa, Montreal or Toronto. The only event outside of Ontario or Quebec deemed worthy of mint sponsorship appears to be the Calgary Stampede, which received $2,094 in 2002-03. The mint's sponsorship record runs contrary to its own corporate policy that aims, in part, to demonstrate that it is a good corporate citizen in communities in which it is located. "The RCM (Royal Canadian Mint) sponsorship policy attempts to be sensitive to the competitive marketplace in which it operates while remaining responsible to the communities in which the mint is located," the policy says. The mint's headquarters are in Ottawa, where 332 workers are employed. Its Winnipeg operation, which produces all of the country's pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, loonies and toonies, employs 139. It has no operations in Toronto or Montreal. While Winnipeg was shut out of mint sponsorship, Ottawa raked in money for events including its Tulip Festival ($40,000), its Winterlude Festival ($50,651), a posh black-tie opera night ($32,000) and Canada Day celebrations in the capital ($372,557). In 1999, when Winnipeg was hosting the Pan Am Games, the mint sent $100,000 to the Francophonie Games, which were held in the national capital region. Documents released to Ken Rubin, a consultant on freedom-of-information issues, under the federal Access to Information Act also show the Ottawa Senators hockey team and the Nokia Brier curling championship, which Ottawa hosted in 2001, shared in an undisclosed amount of cash that was part of a $1.56-million sponsorship pot the mint refuses to itemize. Other big sponsorship winners were the Canadian Museum of Civilization across from Ottawa in Gatineau, Que. ($72,000), Toronto's dragon boat races ($11,330), the Molson Centre in Montreal and the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, whose sponsorship amounts were part of the $1.56 million in undisclosed payouts. The mint's sponsorship record for Western Canada and Atlantic Canada is similar to that of the controversial federal sponsorship program, which saw $250 million spent mostly in Quebec. The federal auditor general says Liberal-friendly ad firms in Quebec received up to $100 million under the program for work of little or no value. "For a government concerned about western alienation, their Crown corporations aren't making things any better. Talk about fuelling the alienation of westerners! I mean, we are invisible," said NDP MP Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre). "Winnipeggers make the cash; we just don't get to see it." Conservative MP Brian Pallister said Winnipegger Ernie Gilroy, a member of the mint's board of directors, has some explaining to do about the mint's sponsorship payouts and the fact his home city was shut out. "What did he say in defence of the fairness obviously missing in these numbers?" asked Pallister (Portage-Lisgar) Gilroy, a longtime Liberal who heads the Manitoba Floodway Expansion Authority, was appointed to the mint's board in 1998. He could not be reached for comment. However, mint spokesman Phil Taylor defended the sponsorship spending, which he admitted is directed largely toward Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto. Taylor said the mint's sponsorship efforts are not driven by political considerations, but by the bottom line as it seeks out markets and business opportunities. "Sponsorship is really about a return over investment, so where are we going to get the most out of that?" he asked. "We follow the money, which is largely in Quebec and Ontario." But Drew Cringan, a Winnipeg advertising and public relations expert, said the mint's sponsorship program doesn't appear to make business sense. Cringan said a number of major corporations such as the Royal Bank sponsor events in order to have a strong presence across the country. "They (the Royal Bank) have a presence nationally and they keep reminding you about that through advertising that they are part of the community," said Cringan, president of McKim Communications. Cringan said the mint's sponsorship spending appears to have no continuity or consistency. "It is apparent we are just a branch office," he said. "They are far too busy making money to spread the word around the country."
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