Clement tells bureaucracy to end ‘March Madness’

OTTAWA — Treasury Board President Tony Clement says there will be no “March Madness” in the public service this year, and has directed bureaucrats to forgo the spending binge that typically precedes the end of the fiscal year.

But opposition critics say orders to halt frivolous spending ring hollow coming from Clement, who they said set a poor example while presiding over questionable spending in his riding prior to the G8 meetings.

March is still a month away, Clement said on Thursday, but the madness has already begun.

“I was starting to receive reports of increased activity, let’s just say, throughout the public service,” he said. “I wanted to make sure everyone was crystal clear that anything outside the traditional contractual obligations just to fill up the budget would not be acceptable.”

In a letter circulated to public servants Thursday, Clement said he is well aware of the spending spree that generally takes place as March 31, the end of the fiscal year, approaches.

“In the past, we have heard stories about what is known in Ottawa circles as ‘March Madness’ when organizations spend unused operational funds on things such as new furniture, promotional items, stockpiling of IT hardware, and other purchases,” he wrote.

Clement said this last-minute spending is often done by departments “in order to expend their budgets prior to the end of the fiscal year.”

“This type of expenditure — dictated by the fiscal calendar rather than real departmental needs — is something that our government strongly opposes,” Clement’s letter reads.

Clement said he has linked the performance bonuses of senior public servants to his budget trimming exercise, and that he also will be holding his fellow ministers accountable for questionable March spending.

“Most public servants are professional, and understand their job is to fulfil the will of the Canadian people, but I don’t want to take any chances,” he said.