OGGO Committee Report

Supplementary Opinion of the Conservative Party of Canada

Introduction

The Conservative Party has serious concerns regarding the spending practices of the Office of the Governor General, for both travel and personal expenditures.

Initially, concerns were raised regarding the current Governor General’s trip to the Middle East in March 2022. However, since then more concerning information has emerged about the Governor General’s expenditures.

Spending on Travel

During the trip to the Middle East, the Governor General’s delegation spent nearly $100,000 on in-flight catering.

One example of many, from the absurdity of this spending was hundreds of dollars spent on limes and lemons to be used as garnishes for drinks.

Following this revelation there was further egregious spending that came to light.

During a four-day trip to Iceland, the Governor General billed $71,000 for a limo service.

In her first full year of travel, the Office of the Governor General spent over $2.7 million on travel. Over $2 million was spent on four international trips, with the remainder being spent on domestic travel.

The trip to the Middle East cost approximately $1.3 million.

During the study, the Committee compared the travel expenses of the current Governor General with the travel expenditures of past Governors General.

While it is understandable the Governor General acts as the Head of State and must travel to fulfill certain duties of his/her role, the rate of spending is completely unacceptable.

Spending On Clothing

While the study was ongoing, reports emerged that the Governor General spent over $37,000 on clothing during her first 15 months in office.

This type of lavish spending erodes the trust of Canadians in the Office of the Governor General.

Attempted Motion to Reduce Funding

In response to the Office of the Governor General’s spending on travel and the Governor General’s spending on clothing, the Conservative Members on the committee attempted to pass a motion which would reduce the budget by the combined cost of catering from the trip to the Middle East and clothing expenses of the current Governor General.

Though this motion failed due to the Liberal and NDP Members, Conservative Members believe measures should be taken to reduce the Governor General’s budget.

Conclusion

Since 2017, the Governors General have billed $88,000 in clothing expenses.  The Governor General is very well compensated with a salary ($351,600) which nearly matches the salary of the Prime Minister of Canada.

This salary has increased by over $48,000 over the last five years.

It is obvious that after eight years of this Prime Minister there is a complete lack of regard for taxpayers’ money.  This extends to the Office of the Governor General.  This is unacceptable to Canadians.

We are in dire need of more transparency and better stewardship of taxpayers’ money.

Recommendations

In order to restore the trust of Canadians in the role of the GG, the government should enact the following recommendations:

1. Reforming the Governor General’s pension to match the pension of an MP. Currently, former Governors General receive a pension of roughly $150,000 per year, regardless of the length of time in office.
2. Ending the clothing allowance.
3. Ending the expense account for former governors general and
4. Legislating a requirement for the Office of the Governor General to publish on its website an annual report on its activities, including its financial statements, similar to that of the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor General of Australia.