The Trudeau Liberals approved an increase of $11,200 on Governor General Mary Simon’s annual salary in 2024, for a total of $362,800. This is Simon’s third significant raise in three years since her 2021 appointment to the role. “For 2024, the Governor General’s salary, which is determined in accordance with the provisions of the Governor General’s Act … is $362,800,” the Privy Council Office confirmed to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF). .CTF Federal Director Franco Terrazzano blasted the salary increase, arguing with the current cost of living, Canadians are having a hard time just getting by and bloating a bureaucrat’s salary is not in their priorities. “Canadians are struggling to afford a jug of milk or a package of ground beef, so the government shouldn’t be rubber-stamping another raise for the governor general,” said Terrazzano. “Can the government show Canadians how they’re getting more value, because the governor general’s paycheque just went up about a thousand dollars a month.".The salary for the appointed governor general has increased 20%, or $60,000 since 2019, according to TDF, while Statistics Canada data shows the average salary for a full-time worker in Canada is less than $70,000. In addition to a salary of $362,800, Simon as Governor General lives in “a taxpayer-funded mansion, has a platinum pension, a generous retirement allowance, a clothing budget, paid dry cleaning services and travel expenses,” said TDF. “Former governors general are also eligible for a full pension, of about $150,000 a year, regardless of how long they serve in office.”.For example, Simon’s predecessor, Julie Payette, who served as governor general for about three years, “will receive an estimated $4.8 million if she collects her pension till the age of 90,” TDF said, estimating Canada’s “five living former governors general will receive more than $18 million if they continue to collect their pensions till the age of 90.”The taxpayers nonprofit released an investigative report that shows “former governors general can expense taxpayers up to $206,000 annually for the rest of their lives, continuing up to six months after their deaths.”Simon and Payette combined have expensed $88,000 in clothing since 2017, “including a velvet dress with silk lining, designer gloves, suits, shoes and scarves, among other items,” reported CTF and $117,000 in dry-cleaning services since 2018 — an average of $1,800 per month. Further, Simon in 2022 spent $2.7 million on travel, including a “nearly six-figure in-flight catering tab during a weeklong trip to the Middle East” and “$71,000 bill at IceLimo Luxury Travel during a four-day trip to Iceland.”“The platinum pay and perks for the governor general should have been reined in years ago,” Terrazzano said. “A serious government would mandate the governor general’s office be subject to access-to-information requests, cut all international travel except for meetings with the monarchy, end the expense account for former governors general, reform the pension and scrap the clothing allowance.”
The Trudeau Liberals approved an increase of $11,200 on Governor General Mary Simon’s annual salary in 2024, for a total of $362,800. This is Simon’s third significant raise in three years since her 2021 appointment to the role. “For 2024, the Governor General’s salary, which is determined in accordance with the provisions of the Governor General’s Act … is $362,800,” the Privy Council Office confirmed to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF). .CTF Federal Director Franco Terrazzano blasted the salary increase, arguing with the current cost of living, Canadians are having a hard time just getting by and bloating a bureaucrat’s salary is not in their priorities. “Canadians are struggling to afford a jug of milk or a package of ground beef, so the government shouldn’t be rubber-stamping another raise for the governor general,” said Terrazzano. “Can the government show Canadians how they’re getting more value, because the governor general’s paycheque just went up about a thousand dollars a month.".The salary for the appointed governor general has increased 20%, or $60,000 since 2019, according to TDF, while Statistics Canada data shows the average salary for a full-time worker in Canada is less than $70,000. In addition to a salary of $362,800, Simon as Governor General lives in “a taxpayer-funded mansion, has a platinum pension, a generous retirement allowance, a clothing budget, paid dry cleaning services and travel expenses,” said TDF. “Former governors general are also eligible for a full pension, of about $150,000 a year, regardless of how long they serve in office.”.For example, Simon’s predecessor, Julie Payette, who served as governor general for about three years, “will receive an estimated $4.8 million if she collects her pension till the age of 90,” TDF said, estimating Canada’s “five living former governors general will receive more than $18 million if they continue to collect their pensions till the age of 90.”The taxpayers nonprofit released an investigative report that shows “former governors general can expense taxpayers up to $206,000 annually for the rest of their lives, continuing up to six months after their deaths.”Simon and Payette combined have expensed $88,000 in clothing since 2017, “including a velvet dress with silk lining, designer gloves, suits, shoes and scarves, among other items,” reported CTF and $117,000 in dry-cleaning services since 2018 — an average of $1,800 per month. Further, Simon in 2022 spent $2.7 million on travel, including a “nearly six-figure in-flight catering tab during a weeklong trip to the Middle East” and “$71,000 bill at IceLimo Luxury Travel during a four-day trip to Iceland.”“The platinum pay and perks for the governor general should have been reined in years ago,” Terrazzano said. “A serious government would mandate the governor general’s office be subject to access-to-information requests, cut all international travel except for meetings with the monarchy, end the expense account for former governors general, reform the pension and scrap the clothing allowance.”
