Coaching services bill tops $4 million
Political staff get help, bulk goes to civil service
OTTAWA •A trio of former Conservative ministers authorized more than $ 1 00, 000 in “personal coaching” contracts to help a handful of their political staff find new jobs after last fall’s election.
And while several Conservative aides were polishing their resumes at taxpayer expense, dozens of incoming Liberals spent more than $ 50,000 on media coaches and another $ 32,000 on other kinds of coaches.
But the bill for “coaching services” for politicians and their partisan aides paled in comparison to what was spent to coach non- partisan civil servants.
Between Nov. 4, 2015 — the day the Trudeau government was sworn in — and Oct. 17 of this year, more than $4 million was spent on media, personal, and other “coaching services” for civil servants.
Most of that money was spent to groom bureaucrats for ever- higher promotions, to prep them for board interviews and, in some cases, to teach them to be better supervisors and improve their ability to deal with stress.
The combined spending on coaching services by the 30 Liberal ministers and the three Conservative ministers was $189,000.
The figures were disclosed in response to written questions, also tabled in the House of Commons, by Conservative MP Jamie Schmale. Schmale first asked how much had been spent by each every government department and minister’s office on makeup, makeup artists, hair stylists. Answer: A grand total of $156.84 was spent by Heritage Minister Melanie Joly on makeup and a stylist in connection with her appearance in some promotional videos for her department.
There were no other charges for makeup or hair stylists in any other minister’s office, including by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
But Schmale also asked for the grand totals for “coaching services” and there, he uncovered spending authorized by former Conservative ministers Chris Alexander, Steven Blaney and Peter MacKay who approved contracts worth $74,314, $22,124 and $21,477 respectively to firms that helped their political aides find new jobs after the Tories lost last fall’s election.
“It is, in my view, the first responsibility of a good manager to ensure the wellbeing and career advancement of staff who have toiled long hours over months and years of dedicated service, especially when that service comes to an end abruptly, as it did for us on October 19,” said Alexander, who lost his own seat in that election and who is now seeking the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada.
Alexander said no funds were spent on third- party firms to help him ease into post-political life; the money was spent only on his aides.
“I saw this as the only honourable and professional course of action, as well as an option that represented genuine value for taxpayers’ money.”
Treasury Board guidelines allow a minister to “authorize up to $5,000 per employee to cover fees for professional outplacement services for a member of his or her exempt staff whose employment has ended.”
Alexander, Blaney and MacKay were the only outgoing Conservative ministers whose spending was reported to the House of Commons as a result of Schmale’s question. Schmale asked for spending on coaches that incurred since Nov 4, 2015.
It is not known whether other Conservative ministers incurred spending on coaches before that date.