Would you hire someone for $50,000 with the expectation that they will do nothing in return for the money? The NDP would, and in fact they did.
Earlier in the year the former CEO of Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) Marilyn McLaren decided to retire. In return for work and retirement entitlements she received a total package for the year of $488,000 according to MPI. When she left she expressed confidence in the management team that she left behind to adequately run MPI.
Yet, shortly after retiring, the NDP Cabinet did something unusual. They decided to override the existing rules that prevent senior civil servants from being hired back as consultants with the government within a year of retiring. They passed a directive in the NDP Cabinet that allowed for a $50,000 contract to be entered into with the former CEO.
The NDP Minister responsible for MPI, Andrew Swan, said at the time that this was an important contract because the former CEO would help provide critical expertise to MPI. Mr. Swan went on to say that this was routine and a good thing for MPI ratepayers. At the time, Manitoba Progressive Conservative’s questioned why MPI ratepayers should have to pay an additional $50,000 to an individual who had just retired with a generous retirement package.
But just last week the story got even worse. At a committee of the Manitoba Legislature I had the opportunity to ask the new CEO of Manitoba Public Insurance exactly what work had been performed by the former CEO for the $50,000. The answer was, “none”.
It turns out that MPI never expected the former CEO to do any work. They considered the $50,000 an “insurance policy” in case they needed to ask the former CEO for assistance for some reason. Even after this revelation, the NDP stuck to their lines that this kind of “no-work contract” was standard procedure and good for ratepayers at MPI.
That message fell flat. After all, the NDP are currently seeking a 3.4% rate increase to MPI rates saying they are operating efficiently at MPI. A $50,000 no-work contract doesn’t sound like an efficient use of money to most people. While the NDP tried to assure Manitobans that the no-work contract was just standard operating procedure for the NDP, public concern and outrage grew quickly.
Within days the former CEO terminated the contract and paid back to MPI the money she had been given under the contract. And while that was a victory for the ratepayers of MPI, it leaves many questions unanswered. And it leaves the troubling feeling that if the NDP can justify a no-work contract as value for taxpayers, there must be far more waste happening in government than we know.
