Why Does Canada's Senate Need 63,000 Bath Towels A Year?

    This seems excessive.

    Ishmael N. Daro
    by Ishmael N. Daro

    BuzzFeed Social News Editor, Canada

    Makaristos / Wikimedia / Via commons.wikimedia.org

    Canada's Senate is looking for a new towel supplier, and it's no small order.

    As first reported by Metro News, companies have been invited to bid on a government contract to supply the upper chamber with linens for the next three to five years. The job is worth up to $85,000.

    The contract, which was posted on the government's procurement website, states that the Senate requires 125 dish cloths, 500 hand towels, and 1,500 bath towels. (Towels must be 100% cotton, natch.)

    But that's just the inventory.

    Konovalikovandrey / Getty Images

    The Senate's estimates of how quickly it will go through the towels paints an even more alarming picture.

    A typical week, according to the contract, will require 475 hand towels and 1,325 bath towels. On an annual basis, members of this august body believe they'll need to dry their august bodies 63,600 times — all using taxpayer-provided bath towels.

    There is a Senate gym, also open to staffers and others who work on Parliament Hill, which likely accounts for much of the towel use. Whoever gets the contract had better be ready to provide some serious absorption.

    Why the hell do Canadian Senators need so many damn towels?

    Konovalikovandrey / Getty Images

    Some theories:

    1. OK, it's probably the gym.

    2. The Senators are stealing the towels.

    3. The Senators are eating the towels.

    4. They are swamp monsters in constant need of drying.