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Toronto Star - 26 November 2004
Clarkson's budget to be cut
Commons committee wants $417,100 slashed
Governor General will have to show `discipline'
RICK WESTHEAD AND BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH
STAFF REPORTERS
OTTAWAâ â€Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, whose lavish trips have stoked controversy, will have to "switch brands of caviar," a New Democrat MP said after a parliamentary committee slashed her budget.
Clarkson is looking at cutbacks after the government's operations and estimates committee voted yesterday to trim her $19.1 million budget by $417,100.
While Clarkson has won praise for reaching out to people, the former journalist has come under fire in recent months for using government planes to fly to her Georgian Bay cottage and spending millions of dollars on allegedly exorbitant trips â †such as $5.3 million last December for a three-week sojourn through Russia, Iceland and Finland.
"We're not trying to clip her wings to the point where she can't do her job," said NDP MP Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre), a vice-chair of the operations committee. "We're simply asking her to show the same kind of discipline that the rest of us are expected to exhibit."
Martin is a long-time critic of Rideau Hall spending.
"We don't believe this will cause layoffs," he said. "We don't believe she'll have to cancel programs ... Anyone with a sharp pencil should be able to find that somewhere."
The Governor General's office has enjoyed significant gains in recent years. For the year ended March 31, 2005, Clarkson has a $19.1 million budget, up from about $13 million in 1995.
It would take a full vote of Parliament to reverse the prospective cut.
Treasury Board President Reg Alcock said the recommendation of the committee, chaired by a Conservative MP, might "carry consequences" since Clarkson also serves as ceremonial head of the armed forces.
"You can't talk about supporting the military, cut the budget of the commander-in-chief and then still expect her to play the same role in the ceremonial role with the armed forces and support troops," Alcock said.
"The magic of the minority government is that we're all responsible. The thing that the opposition is now going to learn is that when you make decisions like that ... that will have consequences."
Randy Mylyk, a spokesperson for the Governor General, declined to comment on the proposed budget cut, although he did say Martin "clearly does not understand the role of the Governor General in our parliamentary system" and "distorts the reality of the budget.
"Is it below Canada to honour Canadians through the activities of the governor general's office that honour, recognize and engage Canadians for bravery and volunteerism and lifelong excellence?"
Still, Martin suggested Clarkson's office â †which acts as Canada's de facto head of state representing the Queen â †was just one agency that should prepare for a future of austerity.
Opposition MPs also used their majority on the operations committee to take a bite out of the Privy Council Office budget, cutting it by $121,000 a year. It's a symbolic cut, matching the amount the office spent to hire a public relations firm to cope with the fall-out of the sponsorship scandal.
"Where do they get off spending public money on purely partisan issues? So we've deducted them dollar for dollar," said Martin. "This is what minority government looks like. They better get used to it."
In an interview last March with CBC Radio, Clarkson said she thought the millions spent on her office was well spent.
"I do believe that the money we ask for in our budget to do the job I think the Governor-General should do â †of reaching out to people, of making Canada real to everybody through travelling about and making connections with people, of showing people at their best to each other â †I think that we do spend it well," she said in the interview.
Clarkson has said her expenses have climbed because of costs associated with modernizing her office. She's also involved in 908 events a year â †three times more than have been scheduled in past years.
Accompanying the Governor General on her controversial "circumpolar" tour last fall were husband John Ralston Saul, 22 staffers and 59 "prominent Canadians."
This one managed to get me visibly incensed at 0845 this morning, due to
1/ $19.1 Million!?
2/ The audacity of some to associate such a pork-barrel office with support for the military.
Clarkson's budget to be cut
Commons committee wants $417,100 slashed
Governor General will have to show `discipline'
RICK WESTHEAD AND BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH
STAFF REPORTERS
OTTAWAâ â€Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, whose lavish trips have stoked controversy, will have to "switch brands of caviar," a New Democrat MP said after a parliamentary committee slashed her budget.
Clarkson is looking at cutbacks after the government's operations and estimates committee voted yesterday to trim her $19.1 million budget by $417,100.
While Clarkson has won praise for reaching out to people, the former journalist has come under fire in recent months for using government planes to fly to her Georgian Bay cottage and spending millions of dollars on allegedly exorbitant trips â †such as $5.3 million last December for a three-week sojourn through Russia, Iceland and Finland.
"We're not trying to clip her wings to the point where she can't do her job," said NDP MP Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre), a vice-chair of the operations committee. "We're simply asking her to show the same kind of discipline that the rest of us are expected to exhibit."
Martin is a long-time critic of Rideau Hall spending.
"We don't believe this will cause layoffs," he said. "We don't believe she'll have to cancel programs ... Anyone with a sharp pencil should be able to find that somewhere."
The Governor General's office has enjoyed significant gains in recent years. For the year ended March 31, 2005, Clarkson has a $19.1 million budget, up from about $13 million in 1995.
It would take a full vote of Parliament to reverse the prospective cut.
Treasury Board President Reg Alcock said the recommendation of the committee, chaired by a Conservative MP, might "carry consequences" since Clarkson also serves as ceremonial head of the armed forces.
"You can't talk about supporting the military, cut the budget of the commander-in-chief and then still expect her to play the same role in the ceremonial role with the armed forces and support troops," Alcock said.
"The magic of the minority government is that we're all responsible. The thing that the opposition is now going to learn is that when you make decisions like that ... that will have consequences."
Randy Mylyk, a spokesperson for the Governor General, declined to comment on the proposed budget cut, although he did say Martin "clearly does not understand the role of the Governor General in our parliamentary system" and "distorts the reality of the budget.
"Is it below Canada to honour Canadians through the activities of the governor general's office that honour, recognize and engage Canadians for bravery and volunteerism and lifelong excellence?"
Still, Martin suggested Clarkson's office â †which acts as Canada's de facto head of state representing the Queen â †was just one agency that should prepare for a future of austerity.
Opposition MPs also used their majority on the operations committee to take a bite out of the Privy Council Office budget, cutting it by $121,000 a year. It's a symbolic cut, matching the amount the office spent to hire a public relations firm to cope with the fall-out of the sponsorship scandal.
"Where do they get off spending public money on purely partisan issues? So we've deducted them dollar for dollar," said Martin. "This is what minority government looks like. They better get used to it."
In an interview last March with CBC Radio, Clarkson said she thought the millions spent on her office was well spent.
"I do believe that the money we ask for in our budget to do the job I think the Governor-General should do â †of reaching out to people, of making Canada real to everybody through travelling about and making connections with people, of showing people at their best to each other â †I think that we do spend it well," she said in the interview.
Clarkson has said her expenses have climbed because of costs associated with modernizing her office. She's also involved in 908 events a year â †three times more than have been scheduled in past years.
Accompanying the Governor General on her controversial "circumpolar" tour last fall were husband John Ralston Saul, 22 staffers and 59 "prominent Canadians."
This one managed to get me visibly incensed at 0845 this morning, due to
1/ $19.1 Million!?
2/ The audacity of some to associate such a pork-barrel office with support for the military.
