Clarkson racks up $1m in expenses since leaving GG job
OTTAWA — Former governor general Adrienne Clarkson is still billing Canadian taxpayers more than $100,000 a year in office expenses, and has now claimed more than $1.1 million in such expenses since she left Rideau Hall in 2005.
The expenses, paid through an unusual program that allows former governors general to bill for office expenses for the rest of their life, is used by other former governors general as well. But only Clarkson is regularly billing more than $100,000 annually, which means her expenses show up as a separate line item in the federal government’s public accounts.
The expenses are on top of the $1.6 million that Clarkson has collected to date as a government pension. It also does not include the $3 million in a start-up grant (plus up to $7 million over 10 years to match donations from the private sector) that was paid to establish Clarkson’s charitable organization, the Institute for Canadian Citizenship.
The expense program for governors general was created in 1979 and appears to be unique among federal government positions.
In general, the expenses can range from “administrative support, office space and furniture, to professional services, travel and accommodation,” according to a Rideau Hall spokesperson.
The only public disclosure of the expenses is in the public accounts, which are tabled annually in Parliament. Since 1995 — as far back as public accounts are posted online — Romeo LeBlanc is the only governor general other than Clarkson to have expensed more than $100,000 in a year, which he did in 2008 and 2009.
Clarkson, who was governor general from 1999 to 2005, has expensed more than $100,000 in nine of the 12 fiscal years since she left office. The only years she didn’t, from 2012 to 2014, immediately followed a Toronto Star article published in 2011 that first reported on the expenses.
Clarkson’s office refused to answer questions about what the money is being spent on or how Clarkson determines what expenses are appropriate to claim. Clarkson has remained active with various causes and organizations since she left office, which are listed on her website.