[RRxtar]

Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence at Ottawa house: One is from Vancouver, another is from Toronto and the third, is from St. John's.

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 everywhere.