XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ab.politics   
   XPost: man.politics, sk.politics, ont.politics   
   XPost: nb.general   
   From: gregcarrsober@gmail.com   
      
   On 28/03/2014 5:59 PM, {~_~} Раиса wrote:   
   > huffingtonpost.com  -  03/27/2014   
   >   
   >   
   > Harper Government Under Fire Over $482 Million In Outside Legal Fees   
   >   
   >   
   > OTTAWA – The Conservative government has spent $482 million on outside   
   > legal fees since it came to power in 2006. And more than $447,045 to   
   > defend the Prime Minister, his staff and ministers, according to   
   > documents tabled in the House of Commons.   
   >   
   > “It’s just a shocking number,” Liberal MP Sean Casey told The   
   Huffington   
   > Post Canada Wednesday.   
   >   
   > “They closed Veterans [Affairs]’ district offices and saved $5 million   
   > bucks, [but] over the past eight years, they’ve spent half a billion on   
   > outside lawyers. It’s pretty stark.”   
   >   
   > Casey, the Grits’ justice critic who requested the departmental costs,   
   > said the $481,927,263 spent since April 2006, and shared between 27   
   > departments and their agencies, is proof of how many lawsuits and   
   > appeals the Conservative government has initiated while in power.   
   >   
   > The top spender was the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution,   
   > which spent roughly $30 million a year on non-government lawyers to   
   > conduct federal prosecutions for a total of $245 million. Other   
   > departments that relied heavily on outside legal services include:   
   > Foreign Affairs ($80 million), Canada Revenue Agency ($40.6 million),   
   > Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development ($25 million), Correctional   
   > Service Canada ($17.4 million), Fisheries and Oceans ($12.2 million) and   
   > Natural Resources ($9.2 million).   
   >   
   > Although the Department of Justice employs approximately 2,500 lawyers   
   > who defend the government on all types of matters, it also relies on   
   > private-sector law practitioners to carry out its mandate, spokeswoman   
   > Carole Saindon said Wednesday.   
   >   
   > NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus said the government should use its very   
   > large in-house legal team rather spend half a billion dollars on outside   
   > law firms “while telling Canadians that the cupboard is bare.”   
   >   
   > “It shows, I think, a disrespect for taxpayers and a disrespect for the   
   > legal expertise that we have in [the bureaucracy],” he said.   
   >   
   > Angus requested the information about the use of private legal counsel   
   > by ministers and their staff.   
   >   
   > He found that the vast majority of outside legal services used by Tory   
   > cabinet ministers and those under their employ were used to defend   
   > against probes by Commons’ Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson or   
   > investigations by Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault, who looks   
   > into abuses of the Access to Information regimen.   
   >   
   > At Public Works and Government Services Canada, for example, $194,988   
   > was paid between 2011 and 2013 to Paul K. Lepsoe, the Conservative Party   
   > of Canada’s former lawyer. Lepsoe’s work was related to an ethics probe   
   > involving former minister Christian Paradis as well as an investigation   
   > into whether his political staff improperly interfered in the handling   
   > of Access to Information requests.   
   >   
   > “A lot of the money is being spent on ethics problems and interfering on   
   > access to information,” Angus said.   
   >   
   > “When they are using outside law firms to deal with their ethical   
   > messes, I don’t think the taxpayers should be paying the extra amount   
   > for it,” he added.   
   >   
   > Angus pointed to a $10,500 fee paid to provide legal advice to David Van   
   > Hemmen, the executive assistant to Nigel Wright, Harper’s former chief   
   > of staff who was implicated in the Senate scandal by the RCMP.   
   >   
   > The Prime Minister’s office, however, said it is common practice to seek   
   > outside legal advice when someone employed by Crown is being challenged   
   > by another part of the Crown.   
   >   
   > “Under long-standing government policy, ministers of the Crown and their   
   > staff can receive legal assistance and/or indemnification for lawsuits   
   > against them within the scope of their official duties,” Harper’s   
   > director of media relations Stephen Lecce wrote in an email.   
   >   
   > Documents suggest former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin used   
   > taxpayers’ money to pay for outside legal help: $20,461 for a assistance   
   > with an ethical investigation and $16,214 to fight a civil action   
   > brought forward by Warren Kinsella.   
   >   
   > Aboriginal Affairs, the only department that responded to queries about   
   > its outside legal fees, said it believes litigation should be a last   
   > resort and noted that the majority of its legal costs – two-thirds of   
   > its $106 million bill in 2012-2013 – was incurred by hiring Department   
   > of Justice lawyers.   
   >   
   > “Our government treats taxpayers’ money with the utmost respect,” said   
   > Erica Meekes, the press secretary for Aboriginal Affairs Minister   
   > Bernard Valcourt.   
   >   
   > No government department conducted any studies to determine whether   
   > whether it would be cheaper to employ in-house lawyers rather than hire   
   > pricey outside firms, the documents show.   
   >   
   > The Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s Gregory Thomas said he finds   
   > $482-million price tag surprising.   
   >   
   > “When you are talking about half a billion dollars on something as   
   > intangible as legal fees, I think this is something that the government   
   > operations committee and the public accounts committee should be doing a   
   > special study of …. And they should be asking the government to justify   
   > these expenses,” he said.   
   >   
   > Several departments, such as Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird’s   
   > office, which spent $14,787 in 2013 in outside legal fees, did not   
   > provide any details to justify the expense, other than to say it was for   
   > “Ministerial Legal Advice.”   
   >   
   > “Because it’s legal advice, there is a cloak of silence around it. What   
   > were the billing rates? How many hours were billed? How good was the   
   > advice? … And what is the process for picking the law firms?” Thomas   
   asked.   
   >   
   > “Why doesn’t the Auditor General do an examination of the value for   
   > money that taxpayers are getting for all this advice?”   
   The annual budget of the govt is more than 200 billion dollars spending   
   a few score million on outside legal advice doesn't seem that surprising   
   when you think about it.   
      
   --   
   *Read and obey the Bible*   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)