January 14, 2005

Newly released documents show that the Governor-General's own budget jumped from about $10-million in 1995 to $20-million in 2003. Expenses picked up by other departments grew from $307,000 to $15-million over the same period.

Adrienne Clarkson was appointed Governor-General in November, 1999.

The documents, prepared for the House operations and estimates committee, gives MPs the first glimpse into how much the Governor-General's office costs, including the millions of dollars that are covered every year by other departments, such as the National Capital Commission, Canadian Heritage, the RCMP and security services, Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Treasury Board.

Until now, the committee has only had access to information on the Governor-General's budget, which reached about $20-million last year. The documents show that other departments kicked in another $15-million to cover expenses. They included $10-million from the National Capital Commission, $3.8-million from the RCMP and $1.1-million from Public Works and Government Services.

The committee is still waiting for a tally on how much the Citadelle in Quebec City costs, as well as how much the Department of National Defence contributes to Madame Clarkson's budget.

Pat Martin, an NDP MP, said he was shocked that such "explosive" growth has been hidden from Canadians for years by being buried in the budgets of other departments and vowed to press for the committee to conduct a further review into the Governor-General's expenses. Mr. Martin proposed the committee send a strong message of its "displeasure" by reducing the Governor-General's budget by a token $1.

"It would be a great opportunity to send a profound message about our concern and would show the public that we will not give one more cent, not one more dollar, to the Governor-General until we have a full examination of what we want that office to do. Budgets are not supposed to explode that exponentially," Mr. Martin said.

Liberal and Canadian Alliance MPs rejected Mr. Martin's motion and instead approved a proposal ordering the Governor-General's office to provide a full accounting of all the money it receives from other departments when it tables its next budget in the spring.

Paul Forseth, a Canadian Alliance MP, said the overall growth in spending, which has been hidden from Canadians in the spending plans of other departments, is worrisome.

"I think the overall rise in costs is a huge concern to us all and the biggest question is whether it's going to continue," Mr. Forseth said.

Mr. Forseth said MPs of all parties are surprised and worried by the ballooning costs, but said they are running out of time to conduct a review before Parliament prorogues. Mr. Martin said he is worried Liberal MPs on the committee will shy away from a further examination for fear of embarrassing Madame Clarkson.

"If we are serious about the estimates process then we failed the first test because we didn't make the point that we are not satisfied with the spending estimates and some of us are horrified," he said.

The Governor-General's budget has escaped the scrutiny of parliamentary committees for years and no officials have been called to explain their spending since the 1980s.

The biggest unanswered question for MPs is what the money was spent on.

Mr. Forseth said he does not know whether the $30-million the NCC spent on Rideau Hall and its grounds over the past four years was for long-overdue repairs or for renovations to suit the taste of a new governor-general. About $9-million was spent on operating and $17.2-million on capital costs.

In the same four years, the NCC spent $1.2-million in operating and capital costs on the Prime Minister's residence at 24 Sussex Drive.

Madame Clarkson's officials earlier told the committee that the NCC, which maintains the residence, footed the bill for a major renovation of a historic stable to accommodate offices. It also told MPs the office's operations have grown dramatically, from awards to tours, and more than 45 people have been hired in recent years, bringing the office's staff to about 180 people.

The Governor-General's budget was thrust into the spotlight after reports of Madame Clarkson's $1-million circumpolar trip to Russia, Finland and Iceland to explore the "northern identity" of other countries, sparking complaints from citizens and groups and negative editorials across Canada. The trip began in Russia and included an all-expense-paid trip for 60 members of Canada's political, cultural artistic and intellectual elite. At that time, many of the committee members were concerned about the increase in the Governor-General's own spending plans and had no idea how much came from other departments.

The committee has gone out of its way to distance its review from the controversial circumpolar trip, arguing that its review was a routine examination of the office's budgetary estimates like it does for every other department. Coming on the heels of the Radwanski affair, the committee did not want the review into the Governor-General's expenses to be tarred with the same brush.