Dear John,
The governor general expense accounts are even worse than we thought.
We already told you that Julie Payette can stick taxpayers with her office expenses for life after stepping down as governor general. Those bills get big. Adrienne Clarkson has racked up more than a million dollars in expenses after leaving office in 2005.
But here’s the mind blowing news: this isn’t just a lifetime expense account. It lasts longer than that. The estate of a former governor general can keep billing taxpayers for office expense for six months after they die.
You read that right.
You’re actually stuck paying a governor general’s office expenses for six more months after they die!
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s investigative journalist, James Wood, dug up the government’s report on these perks. There it was in black and white. The report highlights a provision that provides support measures “to the estate of a former Governor General for six months after (their) death.”
It's not like retired governors general are being thrown out on the street when they leave office: they already get an annual pension worth $149,000.
There is no way they should be allowed to bill taxpayers for up to $206,000 a year in office expenses after they’ve retired.
It’s a crazy policy and it needs to be eliminated immediately.
In the past few days, tens of thousands of Canadians have signed our PETITION calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to put an end to this shameful policy.
Will you join us?
Just click this link:
https://www.taxpayer.com/petitions/cut-off-expenses-when-a-governor-general-leaves-office
Trudeau promised to “review” this very policy two years ago. He’s had this report for more than a year and never made it public.
The time for reviewing is over - it’s time for action.
Thanks for all you do,
- Aaron, Todd, Shannon and the entire CTF team
PS: Unlike retired governors generals, we don’t take any government money. We rely on voluntary donations to do our work. If you’re able to chip in to help, you can donate at this link: https://www.taxpayer.com/donate
PPS: You can hear more about the crazy perks for former governors general on the Canadian Taxpayers Podcast. You can subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and many other podcast providers. Or just click this LINK.
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