Flying high on taxpayers' dime
Governor-General's aide jets in for one hour
Gillian Cosgrove
National Post
Saturday, October 11, 2003
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Step aside, George Radwanski. Your record for profligacy was beaten this week by Barbara Uteck, the über-boss of Adrienne Clarkson's expanding 180-member household staff.
Ms. Uteck interrupted a three-week trip with the Governor-General and 57 other purportedly prominent Canadians to fly back to Ottawa to testify -- for only one hour -- before a Commons committee probing the GG's ballooning expenses. Then, she turned around and flew back to Helsinki to rejoin the $1-million junket to Finland, Iceland and Russia.
The return trip for Ms. Uteck and a staffer cost taxpayers a reported $17,000.
Surely she could have requested that the committee delay her testimony until after Mme. Clarkson's party returned? The committee was prepared to do just that. But budgetary restraint is not on the agenda at Mme. Clarkson's Rideau Hall.
The GG's budget has swollen almost 72%, from $11-million in 1999 to $19-million and counting last year. Her staff has increased to 180 from 135.
Ms. Uteck's husband is Toronto Star pontificator Graham Fraser -- who, in a recent column, staunchly defended big-spending bureaucrats.
THE SPIN BEHIND MCGUINTY
Jean Chrétien, the Prime Minister, Paul Martin, his heir, and Dalton McGuinty, the premier-designate of Ontario, have one thing in common: They share a secret weapon in the critical area of how they strut their stuff on TV.
That weapon is spin doctor Jack Fleischmann. During working hours, he is editorial honcho at the Globe and Mail business channel, ROB-TV, but he moonlights coaching heavyweight Liberals to project relaxed, confident images.
Jack works wonders with sometimes difficult human material.
He was the mastermind behind the survival of Mr. McGuinty in the Ontario leaders' TV debate. Mr. McGuinty, hitherto a wooden performer, did not commit an error that would have given Premier Ernie Eves the knockout punch needed to revive his faltering campaign. Thanks to Mr. Fleischmann, who focuses as much on content as cosmetics, the Liberal leader shook off his gawkiness and stayed on message.
Like Yvan Fecan, his ultimate boss at Bell Globemedia, Mr. Fleischmann is a passionate Liberal. Mr. Fecan, hosting the Prime Minister's Confederation Dinner three years ago, called Mr. Chrétien "our leader, our coach, notre première étoile." He'd never get away with that line today.
PLENTY OF WIND FROM ROBERT KENNEDY JR.
If you doubt all politics is local, environmentalist and lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., inheritor of the tragic Kennedy flame, proved you wrong when he came to Toronto this week to interfere in city politics. The charismatic eco-warrior received fawning media coverage when he endorsed the "waterfront vision" of David Miller, the chardonnay socialist candidate for mayor. These two were the special guests of Global News in its news chopper. Mr. Miller is the only candidate opposing expansion of the tiny island airport in Toronto's harbour. In his speech, Mr. Kennedy repeatedly referred to the ecological damage "jets" would do to the neighbourhood when a new airline is launched. Fact is there won't be any jets there.
If reporters had probed deeper, they might have noticed the Kennedy halo is tarnished with hypocrisy. In Massachusetts, he is fiercely fighting the construction of wind turbines in Nantucket Sound, playground of the playboy Kennedys.
The Cape Wind project would be North America's biggest clean renewable energy project, eventually providing 75% of the electrical needs of the Cape Cod region. Mr. Kennedy doesn't like the idea because the 130 wind turbines will ruin the views from his seaside mansion. He may be a tree hugger elsewhere, but when it comes to windmills in the waves, his answer is a definite NIMBY (Not In My Backyard.)
Mr. Kennedy's advice to Torontonians did not come free. The Miller campaign paid him US$25,000 to tell us what to do in our backyard.
POLITICAL TIMING IS EVERYTHING
Was it just coincidence that the day Paul Martin held his beer-and-pizza caucus meeting this week to address the "democratic deficit," his mentor John Turner, a former PM, lashed out at what he called "the elected dictatorship" on Parliament Hill?
Slamming the arrogance of those in power (he didn't need to name names), Mr. Turner found it "absolutely astounding" how often the government had used closure to shut down democratic debate in the House. Between 1913 and 1979, closure was invoked only 13 times; since 1980, it was imposed at least 166 times. "The power of the House of Commons is a myth," Mr. Turner said.
A SNAPSHOT
An orange harvest moon shining down on giant elms shedding their brilliant yellow leaves. The temperature a languorous 28 degrees. The children shooting hoops and riding bicycles on a limo-cluttered street. Life going on.
Grandpa would have loved it, a vignette guests will cherish from the shiva for Izzy Asper -- jazzman, businessman and larger-than-life mensch -- at the home of his daughter, Gail, in Winnipeg on Thursday. They will also remember the words of 13-year-old Daniel Asper, his grandson: "The reason why his heart stopped is because he put so much of it into the lives of others."
gcosgrove@rogers.com
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