Politics This Morning: Who’s getting those sweet, sweet speaking fees?

Good Wednesday morning, It was a reasonable question for the opposition to ask. After all, it’s fair to say the decision-makers in this Liberal government have not gone to great lengths to disprove the stereotype that Liberals play fast and loose with public funds. Sometimes those funds have found their way into the pockets of the friends and family of Liberal ministers or their staff. Then we had the business with the WE Charity scandal, which doled out big sums to Trudeau family members to deliver public remarks, whilst it was also cozying up with the Liberal government. It came as no surprise then, that Conservative MP ANDREW SCHEER—or a staffer using his name—submitted a formal request, in writing, that the government disclose to whom it had paid out speaking and hosting fees since 2019. The government tabled the details in Parliament at the end of March. Unfortunately for Scheer and co., the name “Trudeau” didn’t appear on the list, which ran well past 100 pages. That’s not to say there was nothing in the response worthy of your attention. The chef’s kiss came on page 166, which disclosed that the Communications Security Establishment paid a total of $25,000 to three individuals to deliver speeches to an audience of 3,000 people as part of “ethics week”—but that CSE had refused to name the recipients (one of whom pocketed $13,860), arguing that doing so would prove “injurious to national security.” CSIS did it one better, declaring that it wouldn't share the information "in order to protect the safety and security of Canadians." Canada Post declared the details to be too "commercially sensitive" to disclose. Veterans Affairs considered the speaking fees to be "third party information." Several other departments and agencies simply said they didn't keep track. One of the biggest single speaking fees went to former astronaut CHRIS HADFIELD, who took home $60,000 for a 2019 speech to employees of Export Development Canada. Motivational speaker STEVE ROBBINS received $50,077 from the Canada Development Investment Corporation in 2021. Export Development Canada gave author NEIL PASRICHA $30,000 for a virtual speech that same year. Public Services and Procurement Canada paid motivational speaker STÉPHAN MAIGHAN more than $28,000 for two virtual speeches last year. Maighan also delivered a speech to Farm Credit Canada in 2019 for $8,824. Author and motivational speaker STUART KNIGHT collected $51,522 from Farm Credit Canada in 2019 for delivering six speeches as part of “young farmer” events. Knight was just one of a handful of speakers who were each paid thousands per speech multiple times by FCC that year for the young farmer events. It’s probably wise to stop here to recall Occam’s razor: the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. In these cases, it seems more likely that the enthusiasm for expensive motivational speakers can be pinned on rank and file public servants in charge of organizing events, rather than on senior Liberal partisans. That said, the public servants closest to the PM—in the Privy Council Office—didn’t blink at dropping $33,359 on motivational speakers and media personalities for a 2019 “Canada Youth Summit” at Carleton University. Or on TERRY O’REILLY, a keynote speaker who specializes in the art of persuasion. He persuaded the PCO to part with $12,325 of your dollars for a virtual speech last year. Altogether, the government spent more than $5-million on guest speakers between 2019 and Feb. 6 of this year. It’s never too late to sign up for Toastmasters, dear reader. What’s happening today? Parliament is adjourned this week and next. Indigenous Services Minister PATTY HAJDU and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister MARC MILLER are holding a press conference in Ottawa alongside Manitoba Chief CINDY WOODHOUSE of the Assembly of First Nations. The 8:45 a.m. presser has been called to draw attention to a revision to last year’s agreement to compensate First Nations children and families who suffered because of underfunded child welfare services. Opposition Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE is also holding a press conference today in Thetford Mines, Que. No topic has been given. NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH will take his dental care victory tour to Halifax, where he will visit the dental school at Dalhousie University, talk to the press, and meet with the supporters. He will also deliver a virtual speech to the Assembly of First Nations special chiefs assembly underway back in Ottawa. PBO weighs in Parliamentary Budget Officer YVES GIROUX is releasing a new report this morning. The report will estimate the cost of creating a new 15-week EI benefit for adoptive parents and those who have a child through surrogacy. Conservative MP ROSEMARIE FALK’s private member’s bill, C-318, proposes to do just that. It is awaiting second reading in the House. Conservative MP Rosemarie Falk has introduced a bill that proposes extending maternity leave to parents who have children though adoption or surrogacy. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade Giroux’s office posted a report yesterday about government spending on staff in the 2020-21 and 2021-2022 fiscal years. It found that the public service had grown by more than 31,000 positions over those two years, and public servant pay had increased by an average of 6.6 per cent per year. The average public servant was compensated $125,300 in 2021-2022. What’s the cabinet up to? Foreign Minister MÉLANIE JOLY is wrapping up her participation in a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels today. As you may have heard, NATO has a new member: Finland formally joined the alliance yesterday, just days after electing a new government. Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is making an appearance at an auto plant in the Greater Toronto Area, then participating in a town hall meeting with students later in the day. Deputy PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND is touring a nickel processing plant in Long Harbour, N.L., speaking to the press, then holding a roundtable talk in St. John’s as part of her post-budget tour. Rural Minister GUDIE HUTCHINGS will be doing budget promo in Coquitlam, B.C. Seniors Minister KAMAL KHERA is doing the same in Mississauga, Ont. Ditto for FILOMENA TASSI, the minister in charge of FedDev Ontario, in Milton, Ont. Heritage Minister PABLO RODRIGUEZ is on budget duty in Montreal. Health Minister JEAN-YVES DUCLOS will be in Sydney, N.S. The well-travelled transport minister, OMAR ALGHABRA, will be in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. Families Minister KARINA GOULD will be at a battery facility in Ottawa. Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT is talking up the budget in Saint-Jérôme, Que. Trade Minister MARY NG will be in York Region, Ont., where she will visit a battery manufacturer and meet with the local Tamil Chamber of Commerce. In non-budget activity, Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE and Associate Finance Minister RANDY BOISSONNAULT will announce funding for the cement industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Edmonton. PTM's people Sean Casey tours Centre Block Liberal MP SEAN CASEY recently took a tour of Parliament Hill’s Centre Block, getting an up-close-and-personal look at the progress being made in the major renovation of the building. https://twitter.com/SeanCaseyLPC/status/1643274232548282369 Centre Block is the historic home of the House of Commons and Senate Chambers, but the aging building was shuttered for a major renovation in 2018. The current estimate has the renovation wrapping up in 2030 or 2031, at a total cost of between $4.5- and $5-billion. You can check out Casey’s photos of the inside of the building here. You can also find background on the Centre Block reno here. Casey told PTM yesterday that he had been invited to tour the project by the House of Commons administration, and went along with a handful of other Parliamentarians and staff. He came away impressed on several fronts: the plan to insert a visitors centre underneath the Peace Tower, and connect parliamentary buildings on both sides of Wellington Street with tunnels, for one. The focus on improving accessibility, and on creating space for Senators and MPs to mingle—something lost since the renovations began—for another. So far as Casey could tell, he said, the project is touching near-every inch of the building besides the library at the back. “An extremely interesting and complicated endeavour for sure,” was how he put it. In the news Three public servants have had their security clearances revoked for allegedly spying for foreign powers in the past six years. NEIL MOSS reports. Affordable housing advocates are not impressed with the annual budget. STUART BENSON has that story. Benson also spoke to cannabis industry executives who are calling for more government support. Opposition members of the Special House Committee on Afghanistan say the government didn’t give them access to the documents they needed. Moss walked us through it. Reader Caitlin Fowler wins Tuesday’s Beautiful Book Give-Away Folks, we have a winner for Tuesday’s Beautiful Book Give-Away and it's CAITLIN FOWLER, a senior research associate at Evidence for Democracy in Ottawa. Fowler will receive a free copy of The Boundaries of Medicare: Public Health Care Beyond the Canada Health Act, by KATHERINE FIERLBECK and GREGORY P. MARCHILDON. She was the first one to correctly answer that the Canada Health Act was adopted in Canada in 1984. Shout-out as well to CHERYL LOADMAN. Keep reading for next week’s Beautiful Book Give-Away. Send your news tips to pmazereeuw@hilltimes.com

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Politics This Morning

Politics This Morning: Who’s getting those sweet, sweet speaking fees?

Plus, ministers and opposition leaders criss-cross the country.

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