On Mar 12, 1:12*pm, Stuart wrote:
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.

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."

* And that, my friends, is how government contracting works !

And it's the same which ever country or state you may be in.

Indeed.