EX-GG JOHNSTON ISSUES EXPENSES.
OTTAWA • In an unprecedented move, former governor general David Johnston has released a report showing how he has used public funding to support his work since leaving Rideau Hall last year. Johnston’s report does not capture a full year’s spending, instead covering the six months from when he left office on Oct. 2, 2017, to the end of the government’s fiscal year on Mar. 31, 2018. During that time, Johnston billed $76,650.26, though the report says nearly half of that was in one-time transition and start-up costs as he set up his office.
The Former Governors General Program, through which the public pays to support the work of former holders of the vice-regal office in perpetuity after they leave Rideau Hall, has offered little transparency since its creation in 1979. Johnston’s report marks the first time the public has seen any breakdown about how the funding is spent, save for the occasional appearance of a lump sum in the government’s public accounts. So far, no other former governor general has committed to releasing their expense claims. Controversy over the expenses program began three weeks ago when the National Post reported that former governor general Adrienne Clarkson was still billing more than $100,000 per year, a partial figure that was only visible due to accounting rules that required it be published in the public accounts. Clarkson has declined repeated requests for comment, and to answer any questions about how the money was spent each year. Sources later told the National Post that Clarkson has actually expensed around $200,000 in many years since she left office in 2005. “I have been grateful for the administrative assistance provided through the Former Governors General Program and pledge to be careful in its use and meticulous in its public accounting,” Johnston said in the report, published Tuesday. The bulk of the money Johnston has claimed was $54,463.64 in office support, largely on “the costs of an Executive Assistant for correspondence, scheduling, accounting, speeches, publications and events,” the report says. He billed $13,911.87 for travel, accommodation and meals, and $8,274.75 for “office supplies and miscellaneous.”