If the hon. member wants to talk about costs, let us talk about the real costs of the referendum, as reported in Le Soleil on December 2: ``Government advertising aimed at Quebec's welfare recipients, $273,000; unveiling of the preamble at the Grand Thtre de Qubec, $175,000; hiring-''.
$273 was spent by the government for advertising aimed at Quebec's welfare recipients.
$273,000 was spent by the government for advertising aimed at Quebec's welfare recipients, not $273. The system was fooled by this because it does not seem to be taking extra zeros into account, only the non-zero numbers.