Time to bring GG perks back to Earth

It’s 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 Mary Simon 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’s 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’s 30 % over budget. The open bar and snacks cost more than $96,000.

Payette’s 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 Rideau Hall mansion cost $464,395.

Documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation show that even Ottawa’s bureaucrats were worried about the outof-control spending.

“The Financial Administration Act and the Treasury Board Policy on Financial Management seek to ensure ‘public resources are used prudently and in an economical manner,’” wrote National Capital Commission Vice President Greg Kenney as a recommended message to the governor general’s office. “As a result, we require sound rationale to appropriately justify the use of tax dollars.”

Translation: a bureaucrat recommended reading the riot act to a governor general to get her to stop wasting money.

Despite the big reno bills, Payette still refused to live in the mansion.

The taxpayer nightmare doesn’t end with Payette’s resignation.

She’s 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.

Since standard disclosure and access to information laws don’t cover governors general, we don’t know what they spending money on.

We don’t 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 only held the role for a little more than three years.

Parliament should dial back the governor general’s pension.

On top of all these perks, the governor general’s salary is now more than $300,000 per year, according to public accounts. That’s too much.

It’s time to ensure all expenses are posted publicly and end postretirement expense accounts.

The new governor general needs to turn the page on the disastrous Payette era. Now’s the time to bring the Queen’s representative back to Earth and cut the waste at Rideau Hall.