entitlement

Saturday July 11, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday July 11, 2020

PM’s mother Margaret and brother Alexandre were both paid to speak at WE Charity events

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s mother Margaret and his brother Alexandre have both been paid tens of thousands of dollars to appear at WE Charity events.

In a response to an inquiry from CBC News, WE Charity has provided details of the speaking fees paid to both individuals for their participation at events between 2016 and 2020.

Both Margaret and Alexandre are registered with the Speakers’ Spotlight Bureau, which arranges appearances for clients in exchange for negotiated fees.

Margaret spoke at approximately 28 events and received honoraria amounting to $250,000. Alexandre spoke at eight events and received approximately $32,000.

May 20, 2016

Prime Minister Trudeau and his government have been under fire since announcing on June 25 they were awarding a $19.5 million sole-source contract to WE Charity to administer the Canada Student Service Grant, a $912 million program offering grants of between $1,000 and $5,000 to post-secondary students in return for supervised volunteer hours.

WE Charity said last week it was pulling out of administering CSSG, citing the ongoing controversy surrounding it and the government’s decision to give the sole-source contract to WE. Prime Minister Trudeau said the federal government would take over the program.

September 22, 2017

News of the payments to two members of Trudeau’s family seems to contradict WE Charity’s earlier claim that it had “never paid an honorarium” to Margaret Trudeau.

The federal ethics commissioner is investigating the WE contract to administer the volunteer grant, after Conservative and NDP MPs contacted the office raising concerns about the relationship between the charity and the prime minister’s family.

This evening, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that — as CTV News first reported — the prime minister’s spouse, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, “received $1,500” for participating in a WE event in 2012, before Trudeau became leader of the Liberal Party.

August 20, 2019

“The prime minister has never received payment for any events with WE,” the PMO said.

Trudeau admitted to reporters earlier this week that he did not recuse himself from cabinet discussions that led to the decision to award the contract to WE Charity.

December 3, 2015

CBC News contacted WE Charity to clarify the terms under which the prime minister and members of his family had appeared at past WE Day events.

“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Madame Sophie Grégoire Trudeau and Madame Margaret Trudeau have participated in WE Charity events and programs over the years,” a WE spokesperson told CBC News late in the evening on June 25.

“The charity has never paid an honorarium to these individuals for their involvement in these programs and events.”

The charity said Sophie Grégoire Trudeau’s involvement as an “ambassador and ally” has been “entirely on a volunteer basis and travel expenses related to this involvement were paid for by WE Charity.”

On Thursday, WE Charity emailed CBC News, saying the organization wanted to reach out “proactively” to “provide you with some updated information.”

Less than an hour after the WE statement went out Thursday, Canadaland reported on its website that it had records showing Speakers’ Spotlight had invoiced Free the Children (the not-for-profit arm of WE, now called WE Charity) directly for some of Margaret Trudeau’s speaker’s fees — and had asked WE about the discrepancy. (CBC) 

 

Thursday March 9, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday March 9, 2017

DRESCHEL: Skelly places free city hall lunches on council’s plate

Free lunches are back on the political menu at city hall.

March 10, 2011

The hot button issue has been back-burnered since 2011 when The Spectator revealed the city spends about $33,000 a year on free sandwiches, pizza, cookies, and coffee and tea for councillors and senior staffers who meet over the lunch hour.

But this week Coun. Donna Skelly applied fresh grease to the question of whether the freebies are appropriate by asking if there’s a financial argument in favour of the practice.

Finance general manger Mike Zegarac responded that the free grub is provided to avoid interrupting committee meetings by breaking for lunch.

Skelly’s interest was triggered by a letter in The Spec which suggested that, given the city’s “budget crisis,” the lunch money should be directed to the Poverty Roundtable’s request for a $30,000 funding increase.

“I certainly wouldn’t want us to be accused to taking advantages of this when we’re talking about budget challenges,” Skelly said.

Coun. Brenda Johnson chimed in that councillors were previously told that free working lunches made sense because breaking for lunch leads to staff overtime costs.

“I’m all for let’s look at this again,” Johnson said, adding a review needs to include the impact on the tax levy if the freebies are stopped.

For his part, Mayor Fred Eisenberger says he’s willing to consider “reasonable alternatives” such as councillors offering to contribute money to offset the cost of the feed bags.

But Eisenberger says in the big picture it’s “really kind of nickel and diming.” People need sustenance to get through long, uninterrupted meetings, he says. (Continued: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Thursday February 9, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday February 9, 2017

Hamilton city staff broke rules at Washington Trump protest

A group of city of Hamilton employees who took part in the massive anti-Trump women’s march in Washington last month were in breach of city policies.

The staffers used a city van without permission to get to Washington and conducted out-of-country city business without proper authorization.

Joe-Anne Priel, general manager of community and emergency services, was the ranking staffer among the seven employees.

Priel should have gotten authorization for the travel and use of the van from city manager Chris Murray. She didn’t.

In an email to Murray and councillors, Priel explained the group used the city van because they were conducting business while in Washington, specifically visiting community hubs and picking up “ideas which we are keen to implement.”

The question is, did they book the hub visits before or after the decision to take part in the Washington march?

The answer is a muddy as the optics. (Source: Andrew Dreschel, Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Wednesday December 2, 2015

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Wednesday December 3, 2015 Trudeau children's nannies being paid for by taxpayers Canadian taxpayers are paying the wages of two nannies hired to care for the children of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie GrŽgoire-Trudeau, according to cabinet orders posted online. The hirings were approved late last week, with cabinet authorizing the appointment of the two women under the Official Residences Act as "special assistants at the prime minister's residence." They will be paid between $15 and $20 an hour during the day and $11 to $13 an hour for night shifts effective Nov. 4 Ñ the day Trudeau and his cabinet were sworn in. The disclosure comes after an election campaign where Trudeau repeatedly attacked the Conservatives' enhanced universal child care benefit, or UCCB, and income splitting for families, arguing rich families like his and former prime minister Stephen Harper's didn't need taxpayers' help. "In these times, Mr. Harper's top priority is to give wealthy families like his and mine $2,000," Trudeau said in reference to the Conservatives' income-splitting tax credit. "Let me tell you something: We don't need it. And Canada can't afford it." Trudeau is also entitled to collect annual UCCB payments of about $3,400 for his three children. He promised to give the money to charity. One of the women hired was with the Trudeaus this past week on the prime minister's foreign trip that wrapped up Monday at the UN climate change conference in Paris. She posted photos online of the couple's two children who came on the trip. There were also shots of her with the Trudeaus' youngest child on Facebook visiting museums and at the hotel where they stayed in Paris. The prime minister's director of communications, Kate Purchase, said in an email that the two women who have been hired are doing more than childcare. "Like all families of prime ministers, a small number of staff provide assi

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday December 2, 2015

Trudeau children’s nannies being paid for by taxpayers

Canadian taxpayers are paying the wages of two nannies hired to care for the children of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau, according to cabinet orders posted online.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Friday January 12, 2007 Is Justin Trudeau set to run as MP? Justin Trudeau is about to enter federal politicsÑwell, according to everyone but him, that is. While the 35-year-old school teacher and academic is remaining coy about his intentions, a report published in MontrŽalÕs French-language daily La Presse on Tue, Jan 9, claims that the eldest son of former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau is planning on running as a Liberal candidate in the next federal election in Outremont, a riding located in the centre of the Island of MontrŽal that is home to wealthy Francophone families and a sizeable Jewish community. Outremont is considered to be an extremely ÒsafeÓ riding for the partyÑsince its creation in 1933, the Liberals have failed to win the seat only once, in 1988Ñand the areaÕs current MP, former Transport Minister Jean Lapierre, has indicated that he does not plan to run in the next election. Despite his denials and deflections (ÒI have no comment to make at this time,Ó Trudeau wrote in an email to the MontrŽal Gazette), the increasing likelihood of TrudeauÕs entrance into the House of Commons has set political pundits and journalists abuzz. A recent article in MacleanÕs magazine headlined ÒHis SecretÕs OutÓ claims that Trudeau hinted in an interview that he would make an announcement regarding his future in politics sometime after Christmas, while a close friend of the supposed star candidate reportedly told the magazine ÒOff the record, I think heÕs pretty much there.Ó (Source: Vue) editorial cartoon, 2007, Justin Trudeau, Pierre Trudeau, Colm Feore, politics, Outremont, trudeau

Friday January 12, 2007

The hirings were approved late last week, with cabinet authorizing the appointment of the two women under the Official Residences Act as “special assistants at the prime minister’s residence.”

They will be paid between $15 and $20 an hour during the day and $11 to $13 an hour for night shifts effective Nov. 4 — the day Trudeau and his cabinet were sworn in.

The disclosure comes after an election campaign where Trudeau repeatedly attacked the Conservatives’ enhanced universal child care benefit, or UCCB, and income splitting for families, arguing rich families like his and former prime minister Stephen Harper’s didn’t need taxpayers’ help.

“In these times, Mr. Harper’s top priority is to give wealthy families like his and mine $2,000,” Trudeau said in reference to the Conservatives’ income-splitting tax credit. “Let me tell you something: We don’t need it. And Canada can’t afford it.”

Trudeau is also entitled to collect annual UCCB payments of about $3,400 for his three children.

He promised to give the money to charity.

April 25, 2012

One of the women hired was with the Trudeaus this past week on the prime minister’s foreign trip that wrapped up Monday at the UN climate change conference in Paris. She posted photos online of the couple’s two children who came on the trip.

There were also shots of her with the Trudeaus’ youngest child on Facebook visiting museums and at the hotel where they stayed in Paris.

The prime minister’s director of communications, Kate Purchase, said in an email that the two women who have been hired are doing more than childcare.

“Like all families of prime ministers, a small number of staff provide assistance. Given the nature of the prime minister’s responsibilities and his young family, the Trudeaus employ two household employees who, in addition to performing other duties around the house, act as secondary caregivers to the three children,” Purchase said. (Source: CBC News)

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Regina Leader-Post, December 3, 2015

Regina Leader-Post, December 3, 2015

Thursday March 10, 2011

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday March 10, 2011

Council’s free lunch letdown

It’s not so much about the money. In the context of the city’s annual operating budget of about $1.3 billion, $33,000 a year in lunch money is not really a huge amount.

It is more about the sense of entitlement that seems to plague our elected officials, who, by the way, earn $80,000 plus expenses.

In workplaces across the city, people bring their lunches to work. Sometimes, they may order in — pizza, subs, Chinese, whatever — and they dig into their wallets to pay for that food. There is no free lunch for regular working Hamiltonians.

Why, then, is it OK — in their own minds at least — for our city councillors to spend our tax money on their working lunches? And why do they not, but for the odd exception, have the smarts to avoid sounding insensitive to the feelings of average citizens when asked about the lunch tab.

We know that wiping out the expense of the free lunches, as other municipalities have, will not magically fix our city’s budget woes or hold the line on property taxes. But, as is the case with a household budget, the little savings add up. The big question is: If Hamilton taxpayers are forking out $33,000 a year for lunches, what else might there be that we really shouldn’t have to pay for? (Source: Hamilton Spectator editorial)