$1,272,679 spent to help you to be an "ally" to 2SLGBTQI+

I did an ATIP to find out just how much of our tax dollars went to the the Unity Campaign courtesy of the Department for Women and Gender Equality (WAGE). 

What is the Unity campaign? I am so glad you asked:

The Unity campaign sets out to create a more inclusive future for everyone, including Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, and other sexually and gender diverse (2SLGBTQI+) people.

Help advance equality by recognizing stigma, debunking misinformation, and supporting 2SLGBTQI+ communities.

WAGE spent at least $1,272,679.28 on the campaign. I say at least, because of the other internal costs buried in the department's day to day operations, like salaries of employees, other professional services contracts, etc. :

The contracts identified were awarded specifically for activities related to the Unity campaign, including services such as marketing, communications, and video production. The department also made use of existing department-wide communications and professional services contracts that supported a range of departmental priorities and initiatives. Expenditures under these broader contractual vehicles were not tracked or coded exclusively to the Unity campaign, and consequently the department cannot accurately determine the proportion of those contract values that supported the campaign. Accordingly, the contract values disclosed represent only those contracts directly attributable to the Unity campaign and may not reflect all expenditures incurred in support of the initiative.

Salary expenditures are not specifically tracked for this initiative, as employees support multiple departmental programs, projects, priorities and operational activities as part of their regular responsibilities.

The contracts went to:

P2400057 Cossette Communication Inc. for $988,156.83

P2500116 Essencemediacom Canada ULC $96,570.97

P2600035 Essencemediacom Canada ULC $132,796.48

P2600037 M5 Marketing Communications Inc. $51,030

P2700019 Essencemediacom Canada ULC $4,125

 

• P2400057: https://search.open.canada.ca/contracts/record/wage%2CC-2023-2024-Q2-00004
• P2500116: https://search.open.canada.ca/contracts/record/wage%2CC-2024-2025-Q3-00014
• P2600035: https://search.open.canada.ca/contracts/record/wage%2CC-2025-2026-Q2-00005
• P2600037: https://search.open.canada.ca/contracts/record/wage%2CC-2025-2026-Q2-00007
• P2700019: https://search.open.canada.ca/contracts/record/wage%2CC-2026-2027-Q1-00010

Here are the videos that were produced with your tax dollars for this campaign. I count six of them.

https://www.canada.ca/en/women-gender-equality/campaigns/unity/stories.html

https://www.canada.ca/en/women-gender-equality/campaigns/unity/resources.html