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Thursday November 1, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday November 1, 2018

Two Former GGs on the hot seat for their lavish ways

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.

February 20, 2004

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 program 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.

September 27, 2005

“These are people who’ve stepped up and offered tremendous service to this country but Canadians expect a certain level of transparency and accountability and we’re going to make sure we’re moving forward in a thoughtful way,” Trudeau said on his way into the Liberals’ weekly caucus meeting.

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. (Source: Toronto Star) 

May 27, 2009

Earlier in October, another former Governor-General, Michaelle Jean failed, in her bid for a second term as secretary general of la Francophonie Friday as members chose Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo.

Three days after his government withdrew its support for Jean, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau insisted the move was not part of a deal to advance Canada’s bid for a United Nations Security Council seat in 2020.

Jean had been dogged by stories of excessive spending and questionable expenses during her mandate.

After a four-year term marked by controversy, the former governor general was considered a long shot for a second stint, but she refused to withdraw her candidacy even as support dwindled. (Source: CTV News) 

 

Tuesday May 16, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday May 16, 2017

Cultural appropriation: at its base, it’s all about money

The debate over cultural appropriation is complicated. At one level it is about the legitimacy of telling the stories of others. At base, it is about money.

It became front-page recently when the editor of a little-known literary magazine created a firestorm by daring to support the idea.

“Anyone anywhere should be encouraged to imagine other peoples, other cultures, other identities,” Hal Niedzviecki said in Write, the journal of the Writers’ Union of Canada. He went on to suggest, tongue-in-cheek, that an “appropriation prize” be created for writers who managed to accomplish this task.

For that, he was denounced by his employer and a number of authors. He quickly resigned.

Those living happily outside the hothouse of Canadian literature might be surprised that this is even an issue. By definition, fiction writers write fiction. In that sense, everything is borrowed. (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)