How much do you get paid not to work? If you’re Gerry Butts, principal secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the answer is one hell of a lot!

Before Butts joined Justin Trudeau’s campaign to be leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, he worked for former Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and bragged about his influence on the environmental file.

But did you know in between screwing up Ontario with McGuinty and screwing up Canada with Trudeau, Gerry Butts served as President and CEO of World Wildlife Fund Canada?

Butts was paid well for making your life unaffordable and was a true one percenter, the kind of person he hates, and for all he pulled in as CEO of WWF Canada, his severance alone was enough to put him in the one percent.

Watch as I share what we know about his salary and compensation because, although WWF doesn’t disclose this information to Canadian supporters, they do disclose it to the US government.

I wonder if the donors know how much Butts was paid not to work?

I’ve asked WWF and Butts some very pointed questions about this, including if these payments were instituted to allow Gerry to go campaign for Trudeau.

So far, I haven’t heard back.

WWF tells me they’re working on it and an email to Butts received an out of office reply, but with such extraordinary payments, I think it’s fair to ask if there was some kind of quid pro quo going on here.

Not that Gerry needed convincing. He is a true believer and wants the same things they do:

Less industry, a halt to pipelines, to leave the oil in the ground.

I think, given the nature of these payments, the person the payments went to and and the position he now holds, and did hold since leaving, that both Butts and WWF owe the public answers.

One of the most powerful men in Canada, who currently holds a lot of sway over Canadian public policy, was paid nearly half a million dollars not to work.

I’ve heard of golden parachutes before but two years of payments after four years of work is beyond unusual and I think the public has a right to know.