Despite the gold plated pension, $132,400 salary and great perks, the Senate of Canada can be a pretty depressing place to work these days. With ongoing expense scandals and an RCMP investigation, workplace morale is likely at an all-time low. Presumably this is why Canada’s upper chamber hired a motivational speaker to help rally the troops and weather the storm of infuriated taxpayers.

No they didn’t hire Justin Trudeau. Instead, the Senate opted for another high-priced motivational speaker, Marc-Andre Morel, along with Ottawa communications guru Barry McLoughlin, an expert in crisis messaging.

Mr. Morel’s biography on the National Speakers Bureau site states that he has “helped many organizations positively embrace change.” While we think motivational speakers for the Senate likely ranks pretty low on the priority list of most Canadian taxpayers, if Mr. Morel was able to persuade senators to positively embrace change and finally begin revealing their office expenses online, the investment would surely be worthwhile.

But only hours after the motivational speaker story leaked to the press did the Senate back track and cancel the speaking engagement. While there is no doubt that some of Canada’s more embattled senators could use some sage communications advice from Mr. McLoughlin, if they are dead set on hiring a speaker, a stern lecture on ethics should suffice.