These MPs will be eligible to collect $1,927,000 in annual pensions by the time of the next federal election in 2015, in addition to $1.8 million in one-time severance payments.

By the (hypothetical) 2019 election, these pension payouts will cost $2,732,000 annually in addition to $1.1 million in one-time severance payments.

Included in the newly vested ‘Class of 06′ are Jim Flaherty and Tony Clement, the two men charged by Prime Ministers with cutting spending and tackling the deficit. Both of these ministers will be eligible to collect more than $68,000 by the 2015 election, and more than $96,000 by the (hypothetical) 2019 election.

As Jane Taber at the Globe and Mail points out, these two men – in addition to Foreign Minister John Baird – were a part of the Mike Harris government that culled the MPP pension plan provincially in Ontario. We will soon know if history will repeat itself.

For detailed pension and severance eligibility for each member of the Class of 06,’ go to page 59 of the CTF’s Report on MP Pensions.

The following article that appeared in the Fall 2009 edition of The Taxpayer.

Published in The Taxpayer ~ On the Job: Internship program benefits students & CTF

The research branch of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) received a boost this past summer as two interns joined us in the fight for lower taxes, less waste and accountable government.

Amber Ruddy (Schomberg, Ontario) and Lisa Anthony (Toronto, Ontario) worked out of the CTF’s Ottawa office and helped research various federal, provincial and municipal matters. The pair increased our capacity to engage in in-depth and groundbreaking research that will ultimately help our advocacy efforts. They even ended up spearheading a few of their own ideas.

In return, Amber and Lisa were provided with a rare opportunity to work on the frontlines of the taxpayers’ movement and gain valuable research, communication and advocacy skills from the vantage point of the nation’s capital.

Here is a summary of their experiences in their own words.

Amber’s experience

“Having worked with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation for the summer, I learned firsthand how to research and investigate stories of government waste.  For example: I was responsible for filing Access to Information requests, which are used to update reports and articles written by CTF spokespeople. As well, I helped create a database of the most ridiculous government handouts and grants in recent years. Collecting entries was not the hard part, deciding which ones made the cut was the challenge!

I also learned how to effectively write press releases and ensure they successfully reached the media. I drafted the initial version of the CTF’s press release which called on MPPs in Ontario to return to the legislature and order Toronto city workers back to work. Building on this, I created and conducted a survey with media outlets that receive the CTF’s Let’s Talk Taxes commentaries. The survey provided feedback to all directors on how to make their bi-weekly commentaries more effective.

One of the most interesting projects I undertook was compiling a list of MPP and MLA pension plans across the country.  This chart (see the TaxFacts section at taxpayer.com) will be used as a reference tool by media, researchers, CTF staff and the taxpaying public at large. The CTF plays an important watchdog role.

I look forward to being able to apply the advocacy and research skills that I have learned at the CTF to a number of issue-based campaigns that I will be leading when I return to university in September.  Campuses in Canada are dominated by radical groups disconnected from reality. They routinely call for more government intrusion into our lives and more government confiscation from our wallets. Armed with what I have learned from working with the CTF, I will be leading the charge against these groups on campus.”

Lisa’s experience

“As I complete my Master’s Degree and consider future career opportunities, interning at the CTF gave me excellent practical experience as well as networking opportunities. Researching was a major component of my work at the CTF, which has provided me with extensive knowledge regarding specific and current government issues such as the debate surrounding Employment Insurance reform.

Further to this, I had the opportunity to explore issues that are not at the forefront of public and media attention, such as analysing the growing divide between private and public sector pension plans. These issues are significant to all Canadian taxpayers and I was pleased to help the CTF in its efforts.

The work experience and knowledge that I have gained from interning with the CTF has been invaluable in my professional and political life. Every day we see examples of government waste and misspending. Digging deeper into current issues and exploring the extent of government spending has motivated me to want to continue working on behalf of Canadian taxpayers in some form in the future.”

Applications

The CTF is accepting applications from students for internship positions that can be filled in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Halifax.V

*Cross-Posted at taxpayer.com/blog

• $10,300 on a 2008 trip to Dublin and Copenhagen

• $8,893 squandered on airfare alone for a 2008 trip to Malaysia

• $8,323 blown on a 2007 trip to Geneva

• $7,140 minimum on a 2008 trip Vienna, of which the actual figures are not yet released

Canada’s chief censorship bureaucrat Jennifer Lynch has been busted by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) for wasting taxpayers’ money on expensive flights to international meetings of arguably little, none, or even negative value.

Using Access to Information & Privacy (ATIP) requests, the CTF has learned that Chief Commissar Lynch spent $8,323 on accommodations, meals and a business class flight for a junket to Geneva, Switzerland in 2007. The purpose of this was to meet with the likes of “human rights” officials from Algeria and Morocco as well as the Asia Pacific Forum, which is an umbrella organization that includes the likes of Jordan & Palestine.

In 2008, Lynch made another trip to Geneva at the cost of $8,083 for her business class airfare alone. Including her other costs, that trip cost more than $10,400. The purpose of her trip in this instance was a committee meeting linked to the UN “Human Rights” Council, which includes: Bangladesh, Cameroon, Cuba, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and most importantly, Saudi Arabia. One must wonder why Canada would spend its money on and lend its reputation to a body made up of some of the world’s worse human rights violators.

If these countries have anything to learn from Lynch, it is only how to subvert human rights with more tact and subtly than their own traditional methods (guns and ropes).

Lynch had a busy year of meeting with other human rights defenders in 2008 however; also traveling to Kuala Lampur, Malaysia with a business class airfare of $8,893, plus all other expenses. This confab was hosted by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, which is a part of a government that – according to the US State Department – restricts freedoms of the press, speech and religion, including “barring Muslims born into Islam from to converting to another religion,” allowing religious courts to enforce apostasy cases under Shariah law. This country’s human rights example was on display just this summer when a woman was convicted by an Islamic Shariah court in Malaysia for drinking a beer, sentencing her to “six beatings by cane”.

But that’s little more than a transparent application of the same law that she used to prosecute Ezra Levant and Mark Steyn.

In what was an ironic travel destination, Commissar Lynch traveled to Dublin, Ireland and Copenhagen, Denmark at the cost of $8,087 for her airfare (business class), totalling more than $10,300 after expenses. For those who need their memories jogged, Denmark is where a set of innocent cartoons were originally produced and printed that sparked world-wide riots by religious extremists. Joining the extremists in calling for the prosecution of any who dare reprint them, “Human Rights” Commissions in Canada attempted to censor Ezra Levant, who had them printed in the magazine for which he was editor.

The information (above) did not come easily to CTF researches however; as the Canadian “Human Rights” Commission stalled, blocked and dodged its several ATIP requests beyond the regular legal bounds. By law, government entities must provide the information within 30 days of the request being filed. Lynch and her gang only coughed it up after 51 days, but not without trying to put it off even longer, complaining that providing the information on time would “unreasonably interfere” with their operations. To date, an ATIP request filed in August for a Lynch flight to Vienna – for which Proactive Disclosures indicate she spent a minimum of $7,140 on airfare alone – has yet to be released.

Sizable inconsistencies were found in the costs of two of Lynch’s flights provided to the public through Proactive Disclosures, and the actual costs of the flight as discovered through Access to Information Requests.

With the cooperation of some officials, the CTF was able to confirm that much of the inconsistencies in this reporting – at times over to $3,000 difference – were due to Lynch only posting the Canadian portion of what was paid for her tickets, omitting the total cost. The difference in total cost was largely made up of reimbursements from international organizations that Canadians taxpayers fund, thereby allowing Lynch to only post the direct cost to the Canadian taxpayer and fly under the radar. That is until the CTF began to snoop.

Canadian taxpayers should be up in arms over any bureaucrat spending this kind of money and playing tricks – however legal – to minimize what the public sees in costs. That it is being done by bureaucrats that censor Canadians and feel the need to meet with tyrannical regimes for international confabs is even more outrageous. If the federal government is serious about curtailing its record deficits that have now pushed our national debt over the $500 billion mark, grounding censorship bureaucrats like Lynch would be a great place to start.

Contacting the CHRC’s ATIP Coordinator , the folks at Canada’s enlightened censorship bureaucracy reacted with hostility upon learning who was calling (the CTF), refusing to discuss the documents outside of a formal complaint process on paper.  As some readers will know, a complaint was already filed against the CHRC for failing to respond on time and its excuse that providing information would “unreasonably interfere” with its business (namely, censoring the opinions of free Canadians).

Normally, government outfits have up to 30 days to respond to an ATIP request.  The CHRC took 51 days.  With every other department which was contacted by the research wing of the CTF, the respective ATIP Coordinator has been willing to discuss the documents to ensure that all is included and clear.

Not so with Jennifer Lynch and her lackeys.  Normally however; the CHRC only tries to block information from coming from Canadians.  Now it appears that it is trying to block information from its organization to taxpayers.

The Thought Police can block, bob, weave and duck as long as they like, but we’re not going to give up any time soon.

Below is a calculation by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, spelling out exactly how much the government has paid down in debt since taking office in 2006 versus how much it has racked up in debt already.  Also included is how much the government is expect to rack up by 2014-15, if one can believe the claim that we will emerge from deficit without either spending cuts or tax increases.

What the numbers say is clear:

• For every dollar paid down in debt, the government has added more than two dollars, so far.
• For every dollar paid down in debt, the government is expected to add 6 1/2 dollars before getting back into black, if you can believe the projections.

So the next time politicians make that claim to calm your fears, ask them for the numbers.

NFB Commissioner and Chairperson Tom Perlmutter has been globetrotting on the taxpayers’ dime, and not doing so cheaply.

• Monsieur Perlmutter flew to Tokyo, Japan in October 2008 for a chat-fest with that country’s equivalent of the CBC.  Not including hotels, food or any other expenses, the bill for his business class flight alone came to a staggering $11,024.37.

• In February 2008, Perlmutter spent $8,059.82 on a flight to Sao Paulo to meet with Brazil’s Department of Culture and attend the “Cultural Corporation Program Conference”.  While Sao Paulo might be a great party city, taxpayers should not be jumping for joy.

• In May 2009, Commissioner Perlmutter took a trip with his wife to the French Riviera for the Cannes Film Festival where he spent an astronomical $4,997.61 on 12 nights of hotels and $524.24 on one particularly tasty meal, coming in at $131.06 for every person at dinner that night.  That Monsieur Perlmutter decided to book a studio apartment for the full 12 nights of the festival raised eyebrows to begin with, but questions come to mind as to why it was necessary for he and his wife to book a studio apartment at 416.47 per night, when he stayed for “only” 6.  Even if taxpayers can believe that the studio for Monsieur & Madame Perlmutter were worth 416.47 per night to begin with, the $2,498.81 spent on an empty hotel room for 6 nights is a bit much.

The usefulness of having film bureaucrats fly around the world is an issue unto itself, but doing so with such pizzazz leaves taxpayers feeling as though they just joined the Mile High Club in a rather unpleasant way.

Cross-Posted at taxpayer.com/blog

$57,000/Year Golden Handshake for Senator Joan Cook

While Liberal Senator Joan Cook celebrated her 75^th birthday, taxpayers were mourning that they are on the hook for her $57,000/year pension according to calculations by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).  Constitutionally forced to retire on her October 6^th birthday, the Senator will no longer have to carry the burden of writing our laws for which she was so legitimately chosen.

Should the good Senator live to the age of 85, grateful taxpayers will have doled out at least $593,000 in pension money for her service to the dominion.

Senator Cook was appointed on the advice of Jean Chrétien in March 1998, serving 11 years and holding several minor positions for which she was additionally paid.  The CTF calculated Cook’s pension based on an accrual of 4% for each year of service (nearly 11) multiplied by the average of her five most profitable years ($130,600), adjusted each year for scheduled increases.

But as Senator Cook blows out the candles, collects her birthday money and takes her last steps out of the Red Chamber, a shift is taking place.  Her retirement signals the Liberal Party losing its “official” majority in the Senate; creating a rare moment of “minority” balance of power (the Liberals still have the most seats).

While the prospect of undemocratic, reform-blocking Senators taking their leave is welcome news, it comes with a hefty price tag.

From the taxpayers of Canada, happy birthday Joan.

Cross Posted at taxpayer.com/blog

Click on image to view the complaint wording

So it seems that Jeniffer Lynch and her “Human Rights” thugs are not only above the law when it comes to censoring innocent Canadians for their opinions, but that they are also above basic government accountability as well.

In a post yesterday, I indicated that the CHRC was not able to provide receipts for Commissar Lynch’s travels to Vienna , Geneva, Dublin, Copenhagen and Kuala Lampur within the normal timeline.  After reading yesterday’s post  however; I believe that I left out a critically important element of the Thought Police’s excuse for not providing the information.  According to ATIP Coordinator Ginette Bastien, providing a few mere receipts within the statutory 30-day limit would “unreasonably interfere with the operations” of the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

While the CHRC might unreasonably interfere with the rights to freedom of speech, assembly and conscious of free-born citizens, I hardly think that such a modest and straight forward request will put any undue stress on our Dear Leaders.

I spend a good portion of my time filing Access to Information requests as a part of my job of exposing government waste, so its not suprising when some responses indicate that an extension will be required beyond the normal timeframe.  That is, when the request is a complicated and wide-ranging one, not mere receipts.

I look forward to seeing the expenses of Commissar Lynch’s trips to Vienna , Geneva, Dublin, Copenhagen and Kuala Lampur in 30 days time.