Right about the time you thought you couldn’t get more disillusioned about the Red Chamber, it is revealed that nearly half of Canada’s senators are moonlighting – and not for minimum wage.
According to The Globe and Mail, those hard-working senators were paid millions of dollars for burning the candle at both ends. That kind of a work ethic might be something to admire had they not also been paid lavish salaries supposedly toiling for the taxpayers of Canada.
Apparently Pamela Wallin served on three boards and earned up to $999,923 in pay and stock options. She was suspended earlier this month for erroneous travel claims. It’s no wonder. It must be hard to keep track of what you’re billing and whom you’re billing with such a full calendar of board meetings. It’s a wonder these folks can squeeze in Senate work.
Now, it’s not like we think senators should be forced to work in little grey cubicles, from 9 to 5 with a half-hour for lunch, but surely there should be some guidelines about how much work outside of the Senate is advisable. After all, senators likely wouldn’t be asked to sit on prestigious boards if they didn’t have the title of senator. It adds a certain cachet. (Well, at least it did before the last scandal.)
One of the 46 out of 99 senators who have other work is Larry Campbell, the former mayor of Vancouver. Campbell is the top-earning Liberal, and he sits on the boards of the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation and Avidus Management Group. According to The Globe and Mail, Campbell has made $396,516 in cash and up to $474,848 in stock options since 2008. He abstained from voting on one gambling bill and says he checks with the ethics officer as required.
We don’t question Campbell’s integrity. But we doubt that taxpayers think the Senate is serving Canada’s best interests when nearly half of its appointees are collecting cash or cash in lieu from Canadian corporations in their off hours.
