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It’s entirely possible that Adrienne Clarkson, the former TV host who served this country as governor general from 1999 until 2005, is still providing direct value to the government and people of Canada. Clarkson is an impressive and accomplished Canadian, who served honourably during her time as Her Majesty’s representative in Canada. Though her posting ended some time ago, the knowledge she gained during her time in office, the contacts she made in capitals abroad, and the moral authority she can carry as a Canadian representative should not be underestimated.

But since she has been spending quite a bit of public money providing us with so much ostensible value, the nature of Clarkson’s rather costly activities should at least be explained to the Canadian taxpayers who must fund them. That’s not too much to ask.

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The nature of Clarkson’s rather costly activities should at least be explained to the Canadian taxpayers who must fund them. That's not too much to ask

As reported by the National Post this week, Clarkson, despite being 13 years out of her post, still routinely bills $100,000 or more a year to taxpayers. These are not pension payments or even contributions to her charitable foundation: the federal government is already providing generously for both, as is traditional with former governors general. These annual billings that have now accumulated to $1.1 million are apparently Clarkson’s office expenses and other costs of maintaining the role of a former governor general, although interestingly no other former governor general has sought fit to bill nearly as much as Clarkson has. Indeed, the only reason Post reporter Brian Platt was able to spot Clarkson’s outsized expenses is because, by exceeding $100,000 in reimbursements regularly, her spending has its own line item in the Public Accounts of Canada, while the other former G-G’s (who expense less than six figures each) are consolidated together into a group.