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Treasury Board President Tony Clement has recently criticized the benefits available to public servants, and publicly vowed to trim them, putting him at odds with unions.

But internal documents show his department has been ever more generous with its so-called “Instant Awards” program, sometimes handing out goods and services worth as much as $500 each.

The haul includes a Sears sewing machine, a notebook computer, a Tiffany ring, a Garmin GPS device, along with a wide range of cash cards for spas, restaurants, gas stations, pubs, Toys R Us, Canadian Tire, Shoppers Drug Mart, Tim Hortons and Starbucks.

The cheapest employee rewards have been $10 gift cards for coffee shops or for a bowling alley. One worker was handed a French grammar book worth $14.65, which to some may sound more like a punishment than a reward.

At the high end, many employees were given $500 gift cards for use at Best Buy, for example, or at the downtown Rideau Centre mall for merchandise in most of the shops.

One worker in the “expenditure management sector” got a $50 gift card for use at any Liquor Control Board of Ontario retail outlet.

The internal documents, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, list the names of the workers but do not spell out the reasons for the hundreds of awards.

Such awards are considered taxable benefits under Canada Revenue Agency rules, and are often listed under both their “gross” value, reported to the taxman, and the “net” value in the hands of the worker.