Former governor general David Johnston sets a good example
By Medicine Hat News Opinon on November 26, 2018.
Former governor general David Johnston released a detailedaccountlast week of how he used public funding to support his work for the six months from when he left office on Oct. 2, 2017, to the end of the government’s fiscal year on March 31 of this year. It totalled $76,650, though he explains that nearly half of that was in one-time transition and start-up costs. Good for him. Johnston has set an important example of transparency and accountability for other former GGs, who can submit expenses to the government — in perpetuity — after they leave Rideau Hall under the little-known and less-examined Former Governors General Program. Too bad that former governors general Adrienne Clarkson, Edward Schreyer and Michaelle Jean have not yet followed suit, or publicly expressed any desire to do so. The generous expense program allows each of them to expense up to $206,000 annually. That’s hardly chump change. And it’s why it isn’t enough to make disclosure of the expenses voluntary. It should be mandatory. Former GGs must be held as accountable for how they spend taxpayers’ dollars when they have left office as they were when they held the position. Further, the government should set declining limits on how much former governors general can spend, with a cut-off date after they have had time to transition from the public demands of this important public office. As it stands now, for example, Schreyer, who finished his term way back in 1984, is still eligible to claim expenses. It bears repeating that a program with no transparency, no limits and no accountability is a very bad idea. — Toronto Star 11-10
