The Governor-General and her husband use government aircraft to fly to their summer cottage on Georgian Bay, the National Post has learned. Rather than face a seven-hour drive from their Rideau Hall residence, Adrienne Clarkson and John Ralston Saul are ferried on a government plane to the Parry Sound Municipal Airport, where an RCMP driver picks them up and takes them to their private island for summer down time. News of the government-paid vacation travel emerged the same day officials told a House of Commons committee that total expenses for the Governor-General hit nearly $41-million last year. Transport Canada pilots were also ordered recently to do test runs to and from the Parry Sound airport to ensure the route can be flown using GPS, a sophisticated navigational tool. The testing was done for the Governor-General's benefit, the local airport manager said. A spokesman for Ms. Clarkson defended the use of government aircraft for the Governor-General's vacation, saying for reasons of national security, she must use government planes to travel. Randy Mylyk, press secretary to Ms. Clarkson, also said she has used the plane for only one trip a year to the summer property. But Jerry Holland, the airport manager, remembers things differently. Asked how many times a summer she uses the airport, he replied, "She is in and out, I would say maybe four to six times." Mr. Holland said it was Mounties who explained to him why Transport Canada showed up recently to test takeoff and landing approaches at the tiny airport to ensure the GPS system would work properly. "They wanted it in because she's been coming in," he said of the RCMP. NDP MP Pat Martin, a critic of the Governor-General's spending, said he is appalled taxpayers are on the hook for the travel. "Pay for your own f...... holidays," he said. "This is unbelievable. People won't tolerate that. It adds to building the case that we need to have a complete review of what we want our Governor-General to do." Mr. Mylyk said the Governor-General had been known to drive to the cottage, but that all changed with Sept. 11, 2001. "Clearly the rules of the game in terms of providing security for Canada's head of state, as well as for the Prime Minister, significantly changed, and that includes transportation." All decisions about the Governor-General's travel are made by the RCMP, he said. Mr. Martin said it is absurd to suggest the Governor-General is in need of such a high level of protection that she has to be flown to her cottage. "I don't accept that the Governor-General needs the same level of security as the Prime Minister," Mr. Martin said. The plane is not the Challenger normally used to ferry the Prime Minister, his Cabinet and the Governor-General on official business. That jet is too big for the Parry Sound runway, Mr. Mylyk said. So instead, a smaller KingAir craft operated by Transport Canada has been used. This is not the first time taxpayers' money and Ms. Clarkson's summer travels to her cottage have been linked. In 1998, before her appointment as Governor-General, Ms. Clarkson hired a limousine service to drive her from the cottage to Pearson airport in Toronto. She billed the $220 ride to the Canadian Museum of Civilization, where she was a board member. A year later, she said in an interview that the rustic cottage, where she enjoys the "tranquility of the water, the trees and the rocks," is the first image that comes to mind when she thinks of Ontario. Mr. Mylyk said the "very small" private island has no hot water or electricity, but does have a phone line because the RCMP demanded it. The vice-regal couple has to make sorties just to watch television, causing a stir among the locals, according to last September's minutes of the local library board. "Staff had some excitement in July when Adrienne Clarkson and her husband, John Ralston Saul, along with her RCMP bodyguard, came into the library to view a videotape as she does not have a TV or VCR on her Georgian Bay island. She even checked out a book," the minutes say. Meanwhile, the House of Commons government operations committee heard testimony that the federal government spent a total of almost $41-million on the office of the Governor-General last year. It is the first time government-wide contributions from various departments have been toted up, and comes after the committee became outraged last year that Ms. Clarkson's circumpolar tour with 59 prominent Canadians ballooned in cost from a reported $1-million to over $5-million. The RCMP told the committee they expect to spend $3.2-million to protect the Governor-General in 2003-2004, while the Defence Department, which transports the Governor-General, said its bill will run to $2.4-million. Mr. Martin said news of the vacation flights makes it even more important to have a debate about the future of the office and how much Canadians want the Governor-General to do. Ms. Clarkson's term is up in September. "We want to put strict guidelines and limits on spending."
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