OTTAWA, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) has confirmed that provincial lieutenant governors do not receive expense accounts after leaving office and today called on the Trudeau government to change the policy that allows former governors general to bill taxpayers for millions of dollars in expenses indefinitely.
“We contacted the offices of all ten provincial lieutenant governors and all ten confirmed they have absolutely nothing like the indefinite expense account given to former governors general,” said CTF Federal Director Aaron Wudrick.
Lieutenant governors serve as the provincial equivalent of the governor general, representing the Queen and executing constitutional and ceremonial duties as required.
Wudrick noted that Ontario provides former lieutenant governors with a one-time $10,000 transition payment, while British Columbia allows reimbursement for mail forwarding for a three month period and New Brunswick helps with moving expenses. The seven other remaining provinces confirmed there is no additional taxpayer support for former lieutenant governors.
The federal government allows former governors general to continue to submit expenses without any transparency. Adrienne Clarkson has billed taxpayers for $1.1 million in expenses since stepping down as governor general in 2005.
“Helping a former governor general move out is one thing, but letting them continue to bill taxpayers for hundreds of thousands of dollars a year is not reasonable,” said Wudrick.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is collecting thousands of signatures on a petition calling for the government to end this unnecessary perk. It can be found here: https://www.taxpayer.com/
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