Prime Minister Mark Carney has handed a longtime associate a $679,100-a-year appointment to lead a new defence agency — making him the highest paid political appointee in the country, even as Carney pledges to spend less.Douglas Guzman, a Toronto banker and former colleague of Carney’s from their Goldman Sachs days, was named CEO of the newly created Defence Investment Agency on October 2. Blacklock's Reporter says the agency, housed within Public Works, is tasked with “overhauling and bolstering” the federal government’s military contracting system.“I am proud to have the opportunity to serve Canada at this important time,” Guzman said after his appointment. The Prime Minister’s Office declined to explain why Guzman’s salary — nearly double that of the finance minister — was warranted..Government records show Guzman’s pay dwarfs that of other senior officials. By comparison, the CBC’s CEO earns $562,700, the Bank of Canada governor $544,800, and the Clerk of the Privy Council $420,600. Even the Minister of Finance, who earns $309,700, makes less than half of Guzman’s pay.The two men’s long friendship is well-documented. Guzman once described Carney as a “guy who wants to get the right answer” and “successful in athletics, academics, and business,” in Globe & Mail interviews from the mid-2000s.The lucrative appointment stands in sharp contrast to Carney’s repeated promises to rein in government costs. .As recently as September 17, he told Parliament his government would “spend less,” followed days later by another pledge that “Canada’s new government is focused on best value for taxpayer dollars.”Carney has also ordered a “comprehensive spending review” and proposed a 7.5% cut in federal operations next year.Critics say awarding a record salary to a personal associate while urging fiscal restraint raises questions about the government’s credibility on spending discipline.
