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The expense program was established 40 years ago on the rationale that governors general still carry out duties related to their role after they leave office, such as attending ceremonies and making speeches. But the program is shrouded in secrecy, as Rideau Hall (more specifically, the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General) is not subject to access-to-information requests and declines to report publicly about the expense claims.

Concerns about the utility of the program and perceived lack of accountability are not new, and the issue has been raised with previous governments over the past two decades

The only hint about the expenses comes through an accounting quirk, where a supplier charging more than $100,000 to the government is identified in the government’s public accounts. Adrienne Clarkson is the only former governor general to have consistently shown up in the public accounts year after year, which is why she became the focus of media attention. Yet even this line item discloses just a portion of the expense claims; it is typically office expenses and excludes travel and hospitality claims, meaning the full amount in a given year can be much higher.

Last October, after the National Post reported that Clarkson has claimed at least $1.1 million — and likely much more — in expenses since leaving office in 2005, the prime minister announced the program would be reviewed to ensure it met “a certain level of transparency and accountability” expected by Canadians.

A subsequent briefing note to Trudeau, produced shortly after that announcement, says the concerns over the expense program had focused “largely on program design issues, rather than on any allegations of misconduct.”