Tory senator wants Governor General to lose pension, benefits if they resign
OTTAWA — A Conservative senator is moving to block governors general such as Julie Payette from receiving their generous government pension and benefits if they resign before the end of their mandate.
Should Payette, the first ever governor general to resign in the wake of a damning workplace review after three and a half years on the job, be eligible to receive a nearly $150,000 annual pension plus a lifetime expense program of up to $206,000 per year?
Not according to Conservative Senator Claude Carignan, who will table a private member’s bill in the Senate on Tuesday that would financially cut off any future governor general who leaves the job for non-medical reasons before the end of their fiveyear mandate, National Post has learned.
“I was shocked and I was angry, like many Canadians, because there is no way to justify earning that amount of pension when you held your job for such a short amount of time. The annual expense budget she has is nearly equivalent to that of the average MP’s office,” Carignan said in an interview Monday.
Legislation called the Governor General’s Act states that anyone who held the role is eligible for a lifetime annuity, regardless of how they leave it and if they completed their mandate. It rises slowly over time, currently standing at $149,484.
On top of that, former governors general are entitled to a lifetime expense program that gives them access to up to $206,000 per year from the budget of the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General.
Many, including Carignan, were surprised when they learned Payette was just as eligible to those benefits as any other former governor general, despite being the first in Canadian history to resign from the job after a workplace review concluded she oversaw a toxic, verbally abusive workplace at Rideau Hall.
“The issue isn’t limited to just Julie Payette’s case. A person who is governor general for only one week before resigning would also be eligible for the pension and benefits. That’s ridiculous,” Carignan said.
“Let’s be honest, the work that a governor general does after their retirement does not justify the expense budget they currently receive. Not at all,” he added.
The senator’s bill does provide for certain exceptions though. For example, a future governor general who is rendered “unable” to serve the five-year mandate for medical reasons would still be eligible to receive full pension and benefits.
His bill also isn’t retroactive, meaning that Payette would only be financially cut off from the moment the changes become law. She would not have to reimburse any pension received before then.
Private member’s bills brought forward by senators don’t often make it to law, but it’s worth noting that one of the last pieces of legislation introduced by Carignan — that protects journalists and their sources — successfully passed through the senate and the House of Commons in Oct. 2017.
Carignan says his latest bill already has unanimous support from his Conservative caucus colleagues, as well as from “many” other senators and even MPs he’s consulted over the last few months.
“I think my bill will be supported by the majority of Canadians, so I invite the population to contact their MPs and senators in support of the bill,” Carignan said.
But he also hopes that his bill will push the Liberal government to act on this issue quickly and go forward with the changes he suggests in the federal budget due in April.