The Department of Public Works awarded Postmedia a $5.5 million contract only days after announcing their media bailout package. According to Blacklock’s Reporter the contract was for “communications research services” and was paid for using taxpayer dollars.

The contract which was awarded on April 1st was worth a whopping $5,551,698.

Postmedia Network is a Canadian media and publishing company that owns several national and local newspapers throughout Canada. Among the media outlets which are part of the Postmedia umbrella are:

National Post

Calgary Herald

Montreal Gazette

Ottawa Citizen

Toronto Sun

Little to no detail has been provided about the nature of the contract or what services Postmedia will provide for the government since neither of the parties have commented on the deal.

While reporting on the $595 million bailout, National Post had this to say:

“The federal government’s plan to invest $595 million in local journalism should assist Postmedia in continuing to make its transition from relying on print revenue streams to those in the digital realm.”

In recent years, Postmedia has struggled to adjust to the new online internet and has reported continued losses. For example in the last six years the media giant has lost nearly $1 billion in revenue and has had to resort to layoffs and payroll cuts.