Federal departments quietly spent more than $260,000 over the past two years hiring consultants to coach senior managers on how to handle questioning by MPs at parliamentary committees, records show.Blacklock's Reporter says a total of $262,609 was charged to taxpayers for outside advice on “strategic and practical” preparation for committee appearances, according to an inquiry response tabled in the House of Commons. Consultants were paid to review briefing material and provide suggested answers and potential lines of questioning.The figures were disclosed after Conservative MP Steven Bonk (Souris–Moose Mountain, Sask.) asked for a breakdown of costs related to preparing ministers, departments, agencies, and Crown corporations for appearances before Commons committees.The CBC led all organizations with $78,643 in coaching fees, followed by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions at $27,540, the Department of Finance at $38,000, the Public Health Agency of Canada at $19,210, and the Canada Infrastructure Bank at $17,797.Under House rules, MPs are typically limited to six minutes per round to question witnesses, who are rarely sworn under oath and generally face no risk of perjury. Still, the spending followed a formal complaint from a deputy minister who said committee questioning had crossed a line..In a December 4 letter to the Commons immigration committee, Deputy Minister Harpreet Kochhar warned that public servants faced harassment after appearing before MPs. He cited online attacks, hostile emails, and in-person confrontations, arguing that short video clips shared on social media stripped testimony of context and inflamed public anger.Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner (Calgary Nose Hill) dismissed the complaint, saying MPs would not back away from holding officials to account.She told the committee that departmental testimony was often unclear or incomplete and reflected what she described as a broader culture of managerial incompetence. Questioning officials who are paid by taxpayers, she said, is a core function of Parliament and essential to democratic accountability.
