OTTAWA – The number of political staffers working for the Veterans Affairs minister has quadrupled since 2006 – the year the Conservatives took power.
In 2006, there were three staff members working for the minister – two in Ottawa and one in Thompson, Man., newly released documents show.
This year, there are 12 – all in Ottawa.
The number of ministerial staff has fluctuated over the years. But save for the significant dip in 2006, it has steadily increased.
Since 2004, the average number of staffers working for the minister has grown by more than 70 per cent, from seven to 12.
The number has remained steady since 2010, at 11 or 12 employees.
In the Liberal governments of 2004 and 2005, there were seven and eight ministerial staff members, respectively.
While the minister’s office once employed people in five other communities across Canada, since 2010, they’ve all worked in the National Capital Region.
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Between 2006 and 2009, one ministerial staff was also stationed in Dufferin, Ont., Frederiction, N.B., Saint John, N.B., Thompson and Tracadie-Sheila, N.B.
The figures were tabled in Parliament in response to a question from NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus.
A spokeswoman for Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino pointed to public accounts records that show expenditures for the ministers’ offices decreased by $2.5 million compared to last year.
“Our government treats taxpayers’ money with the utmost respect and we require that government business be done at the lowest possible cost to taxpayers,” Ashlee Smith said in an email.
“Through the Federal Accountability Act our government brought in required reporting of spending on ministers’ offices.”
The documents also show the number of staff at the Prime Minister’s Office has grown by 47 per cent since 2004. This year there were 94 employees at the PMO, compared to 64 in 2004.
There were even more in 2010, when the number of PMO staff peaked at 109.
Angus said he’s concerned about the growth of ministerial staff under Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government, which has increased by 21 per cent over the past decade.
“It’s very troubling,” he said.
“It’s an incredible growth. When they’re letting everyone else go, they’re letting people go at Veterans Affairs, yet around the minister – he’s getting an incredible increase.”
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Liberal veterans affairs critic Frank Valeriote said the fact that the department has cut almost 900 jobs, most of them front-line, while increasing ministerial staff, shows the government’s ill-treatment of veterans.
“Our veterans are not receiving the services they should be, and always come last when it comes to this government,” he said.
“Going from three to 12 is significant increase to assist the minister, not assist our veterans.”
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