Spending by former governors general under review

OTTAWA — Canada’s governors general deserve continued financial support once they retire, but they need to be more transparent and accountable for their expenses, Justin Trudeau said Wednesday.

The prime minister made the comment after a Postmedia report revealed that Adrienne Clarkson, who was governor general from 1999 to 2005, has billed more than $1 million in expenses since leaving the viceregal job.

Besides their pensions, former governors general get lifetime public funding for office and travel expenses through a policy that has existed since 1979, on the premise that governors general never truly retire.

Trudeau said the federal government will review the program to determine “best practices” for supporting former governors general.

Clarkson has billed more than $100,000 to the government nine times in the 12 years since she left Rideau Hall.

That’s the threshold for reporting the billings separately, including identifying the claimant, in the federal government’s annual Public Accounts. The Public Accounts disclose no detail about the nature of the expenses.

Expenses of less than $100,000 billed by former governors general are lumped together in a general “temporary help services” category and do not identify who claimed them. Last year’s Public Accounts include about $228,000 spent that way, divided among five unnamed payees.

Conservative MP Gérard Deltell called on Clarkson to publicly explain her expenses.

Clarkson’s executive assistant did not immediately respond to a request for comment.