For two decades, concerns have been circulating in government over the usefulness and transparency of a program that allows former governors general to make expense claims on the public dime for the rest of their lives, according to a briefing note prepared last fall for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Documents obtained through an access-to-information request to the Privy Council Office also disclose for the first time the internal guidelines for the program — guidelines which were only established in 2012, despite the program existing since 1979. The documents confirm that each former governor general is allowed to claim up to $206,000 per year, an amount not publicly released but reported by the National Post last year based on confidential sources.
The expenses are on top of the $143,000 annual pension (rising over time) that goes to every former governor general, and on top of the multi-million dollar start-up grant each one gets to create a charitable organization.
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