Tories given plum posts

Enlarge Image

The practice of appointing or hiring party faithful is a staple of Canadian politics. During his days as an opposition MP, Prime Minister Stephen Harper was critical of political appointments made by former prime ministers Brian Mulroney and Jean Chrétien. (SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

OTTAWA -- About one in four defeated Conservative candidates in the 2011 election received a taxpayer-funded federal job within the last year, a Postmedia News analysis has found.

Thirty-five of the 141 candidates who lost at the polls received jobs in places such as the Prime Minister's Office, Health Canada, ministers' offices or on boards and agencies such as the Quebec Port Authority. Quebec candidates made up three-quarters of those who received jobs.

Four candidates were appointed to the Senate, two to overseas diplomatic positions in France, 14 to agencies or boards, and 14 became political staff of ministers and MPs. Some left their previous political staff positions to run in the election and were rehired after losing their bid for public office.

Two people hired to ministers' offices have since left their positions.

The analysis found of 63 defeated candidates in Quebec -- where the Tories won five seats -- 26, or about 40 per cent of all the defeated Quebec candidates, received appointments or political jobs.

Outside of political staff, appointments to boards, agencies and the Senate are approved by cabinet.

The practice of appointing or hiring party faithful is a staple of Canadian politics. During his days as an opposition MP, Prime Minister Stephen Harper was critical of political appointments made by former prime ministers Brian Mulroney and Jean Chrétien.

A spokesman for Harper said Friday that each one of the candidates identified in the analysis -- a copy of which was provided to the Prime Minister's Office on Friday -- was qualified for the position and earned the job based on merit.

"Partisan affiliation should not qualify someone for consideration, nor should it exclude someone from consideration," spokesman Carl Vallée said in an email. "It shouldn't be a surprise that people with the determination and guts to run to be an elected member of Parliament would want to serve the public in some capacity."

Chiefs of staff, communication directors and constituency assistants are a few of the jobs candidates received. At the upper end of the pay scale, chiefs of staff can earn $177,000 annually, according to Treasury Board guidelines. At the lower end, constituency assistants can earn a maximum of $80,900. The four senators -- Josée Verner, Jean-Guy Dagenais, Larry Smith and Fabian Manning -- each earn $132,300 annually, according to the parliamentary website.

Smith and Manning resigned their Senate seats to run in the 2011 election. They were reappointed after their losses.

The analysis found the majority of appointees to boards and agencies -- 10 of the 14 appointments -- received part-time work with the employment insurance board of referees, which adjudicates appeals of departmental rulings on all manner of employment insurance decisions.

Each EI referee earns $425 per hearing day, according to the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada website.

But the death knell has sounded for the board of referees. The federal government plans to merge it and three other social-assistance tribunals into one Social Security Tribunal, cutting down the more than 1,000 appeal board members to 74 full-time positions. It will be in place by April 2013 and fully operational by April 2014, a spokeswoman for Human Resources Minister Diane Finley said.

Postmedia News checked the name of each defeated Tory candidate against government websites, including the government's appointments index (appointments.gc.ca), the Privy Council website, the Canada Gazette and the public servant phone listings. The analysis also included checks of social-networking websites such as LinkedIn.

Among those who received appointments or political jobs were candidates who lost to former NDP leader Jack Layton, current NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, Liberal MPs Marc Garneau, Hedy Fry and Scott Andrews and Bloc Québécois MP André Bellavance.

Saulie Zajdel, who lost to Liberal incumbent Irwin Cotler in the Montreal riding of Mount Royal, was hired as a special adviser to Heritage Minister James Moore based in Montreal. He resigned from the controversial post in April.

The analysis found 10 of the political hires had experience working for a Conservative politician. Among them is Ann Matejicka, who lost to Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux by 2,396 votes in Winnipeg North. Human Resources and Skills Development Minister Diane Finley's chief of staff worked for "a number" of federal cabinet ministers, including Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, before running in 2011, her candidate webpage said.

Each appointee has to apply for positions advertised on the government's appointments website.

-- Postmedia News

Who works where?

List of Conservative candidates appointed or hired to work in public office since the May 2, 2011, election: name (riding) current job

(*have left their posts):

Jean-Philippe Bachand (Richmond-Arthabaska, Que.), employment insurance board of referees

Ann Matejicka (Winnipeg North), chief of staff, Human Resources and Skills Development Minister Diane Finley

Richard Belisle (Longueuil-Pierre-Boucher, Que.), National Parole Board

Jean-Pierre Blackburn (Jonquière-Alma, Que.), Canadian representative, UNESCO

Nancy Brassard-Fortin (Hull-Aylmer, Que.), member's assistant to MP Jacques Gourde

Sylvie Boucher (Beauport-Limoilou, Que.), caucus liaison and legislative assistant, minister's office, Health Canada

Lawrence Cannon (Pontiac, Que.), ambassador to France

Jennifer Clarke (Vancouver Centre, B.C.), director, Prince Rupert Port Authority

Matthew Conway (Notre-Dame-de-Gr¢ce-Lachine, Que.), special assistant, Canadian Heritage

Jean-Guy Dagenais (Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot, Que.), senator

Neil Drabkin (Westmount-Ville-Marie, Que.), chief of staff, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver

Nathalie Ferland Drolet (Chambly-Borduas, Que.), employment insurance board of referees

Sébastien Forte (Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, Que.), employment insurance board of referees

*Jennifer Gearey (Gatineau, Que.), director of communications, Treasury Board President

Bernard Genereux (Montmagny-L'Islet-Kamouraska-Rivière-du-Loup, Que.), director, Quebec Port Authority

Marie-Claude Godue (Berthier-Maskinongé, Que.), employment insurance board of referees

Steven Hébert (Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Que.), communications assistant, Prime Minister's Office

Pierre Harvey (Sherbrooke, Que.), employment insurance board of referees

Rodolphe Husny (Outremount, Que.), press secretary, International Trade Minister Ed Fast

Aaron Hynes (Bonavista-Gander-Grand Falls-Windsor, N.L.), director of policy to Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Peter Penashue

Guy Joncas (Laurentides-Labelle, Que.), employment insurance board of referees

Pierre Lafontaine (Jeanne-Le Ber, Que.), employment insurance board of referees

Melisa Leclerc (Shefford, Que.), chief of staff, Minister of State for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

Sandy Lee (Western Arctic, N.W.T.), director of regional affairs, Northwest Territories, minister's office, Health Canada

Ronald Leung (Burnaby-Douglas, B.C.), senior special adviser, Citizenship and Immigration Canada

Robert Malo (Laval, Que.), member for Joliette, Que., on Canadian Human Rights Tribunal

Fabian Manning (Avalon, N.L.), senator

Yvan Patry (Argenteuil-Papineau-Mirabel, Que.), employment insurance board of referees

Jean-Philippe Payment (Terrebonne-Blainville, Que.), employment insurance board of referees

Elie Salibi (Ottawa South, Ont.), parliamentary secretary assistant, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister

Larry Smith (Lac-Saint-Louis, Que.), senator

Josée Verner (Louis-Saint-Laurent, Que.), senator

Leanna Villella (Welland, Ont.), employment insurance board of referees

Katarina von Koenig (Toronto-Danforth, Ont.), constituency assistant to MP Ted Opitz

*Saulie Zajdel (Mount Royal, Que.), regional adviser, Montreal, Canadian Heritage

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 28, 2012 A4