It鈥檚 a rare event when the stars align in the cosmos of Ottawa to create the perfect opportunity for politicians to save taxpayers some money.
That phenomenon is happening now.
Ottawa is facing a black hole of debt. It needs to save money, and that signal needs to come from the top. When a new governor general soon takes the controls as head of state, the systems check needs to include a halt to the routine waste of money at that office.
Former Gov. Gen. Julie Payette鈥檚 turbulent three-year odyssey at Rideau Hall made systematic failures expensively clear.
Her swearing-in ceremony foreshadowed the rest of her tenure as the bill came in at $649,000. That鈥檚 30 per cent over an already astronomical budget. The open bar and snacks cost more than $96,000.
Payette鈥檚 secretary and associate secretary also racked up nearly$65.000 in flights, meals and other expenses during their first 18 months.
From the time Payette took office until her resignation, renovations that her office requested for her taxpayer-funded Rideau Hall mansion cost $464,395.
Documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation show that even Ottawa鈥檚 bureaucrats were worried about the out-of-control spending.
鈥淭he Financial Administration Act and the Treasury Board Policy on Financial Management seek to ensure 鈥榩ublic resources are used prudently and in an economical manner,鈥欌�� wrote National Capital Commission Vice-President Greg Kenney as a recommended message to the governor general鈥檚 office. 鈥淎s a result, we require sound rationale to appropriately justify the use of tax dollars.鈥�
Translation: a bureaucrat recommended reading the riot act to a governor general to get her to stop wasting money.
Despite the big renovation bills, Payette still refused to live in the mansion.
The taxpayer nightmare doesn鈥檛 end with Payette鈥檚 resignation because the problems are systematic.
Even though Payette has now blasted off from Rideau Hall, she鈥檚 still allowed to bill taxpayers up to $206,040 a year for office expenses thanks to a lifetime perks policy. These expenses can continue for six months after a governor general dies.
This crazy perk came to light after the National Post reported in 2018 that former governor general Adrienne Clarkson had claimed more than $1 million in expenses since leaving Rideau Hall in 2005.
How many Canadians receive a six-figure expense account after they stop working for a company? Anyone allowed to keep billing their former employer into the afterlife?
Since standard disclosure and access to information laws don鈥檛 cover governors general, we don鈥檛 know what they鈥檙e spending money on. We don鈥檛 even know how much each former governor general spends unless expenses total more than $100,000 in a year.
In addition to these six-figure expense accounts, former governors generally get an annual pension of about $150,000. Payette will still collect the full payment even though she held the role for only a little more than three years.
Parliament can make changes before the next governor general takes over. With the vast majority of Canadians working outside of government with no workplace pension, it鈥檚 clear Parliament should dial back the governor general鈥檚 pension.
On top of all these perks, the governor general鈥檚 salary is now more than $300,000 per year, according to public accounts. That鈥檚 too much. The governor general could take a 15 per cent pay cut and still remain in the top one per cent of Canadian income earners.
It鈥檚 time to save taxpayers some money: cut the pensions and pay for governors general, ensure all expenses are posted publicly and end post-retirement expense accounts.
The federal debt has already rocketed past the $1-trillion mark. The new governor general needs to turn the page on the disastrous Payette era. Now鈥檚 the time to bring the Queen鈥檚 representative back to Earth and cut the ridiculous waste at Rideau Hall.
Franco Terrazzano is the Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
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