In this video interview, Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director, Canadian Taxpayers Federation, discusses the bloated bureaucracy since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came to power in 2015.
Franco Terrazzano
Terrazzano talks about the number of people hired, how big the bureaucracy has become, raises and bonuses, and how much government officials and the Governor General are spending on international trips.
Below is a recent story done by CTF’s investigative journalist Ryan Thorpe who discovered the federal government hired more than 98,000 employees since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came to power. That includes an extra 21,290 staff added over the last year.
Monday, July 10, 2023
Turn off the hiring machine: Trudeau adds 98K bureaucrats to payroll
The federal government has a habit it can’t seem to break: hiring more bureaucrats.
Since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came to power in 2015, the feds have added more than 98,000 new bureaucrats onto the government payroll.
That trend shows no signs of slowing down, with 21,290 extra staff added between March 31 of 2022 and 2023.
“Was there a bureaucrat shortage in Ottawa before Trudeau took over?” Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said. “Canadians need a more efficient government, not a bloated government full of highly paid bureaucrats.”
The federal government now employs 357,247 bureaucrats, according to the latest data from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, released June 26.
To put that in perspective: there are now more than 98,000 extra government employees on the taxpayer dole than there was when Trudeau came to power.
| Year (As of March 31 each year) | Number of federal bureaucrats |
| 2016 | 258,979 |
| 2017 | 262,696 |
| 2018 | 273,571 |
| 2019 | 287,983 |
| 2020 | 300,450 |
| 2021 | 319,601 |
| 2022 | 335,957 |
| 2023 | 357,247 |
And it isn’t just the size of the federal bureaucracy that’s ballooning – the cost is too.
The cost of the federal bureaucracy grew by 31 per cent over the past two years, according to an April 2023 report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
The government handed out 802,043 raises to federal bureaucrats from 2020 through 2022, according to internal government records previously obtained by the CTF.
Meanwhile, the feds paid out $1.3 billion in bonuses since 2015.
Given the rash of bonuses and pay raises, on top of the spate of fresh hires, Canadians might wonder: how well are things running in Ottawa?
Well, the reviews are in and the results aren’t good.
Less than 50 per cent of the government’s own performance targets are consistently met by federal departments within each year, according to a March 2023 report from the PBO.
Despite this, the average annual compensation for a full-time federal bureaucrat is $125,300, when pay, pension, and other perks are accounted for, according to the PBO.
Meanwhile, data from Statistics Canada suggests the average annual salary among all full-time workers in Canada was about $64,000 in 2022.
“Taxpayers have paid for hundreds of thousands of pay raises, hundreds of millions in bonuses and for tens of thousands of extra bureaucrats and the government still can’t meet half of its own performance targets,” Terrazzano said. “Trudeau needs to take some air out of the ballooning bureaucracy.”
The federal government currently employs so much staff, it can’t even keep track of where they’re working.
In May, the TBS confirmed “it is not possible to determine the number of [bureaucrats] working from home versus those working in the office.”
Governor General bills taxpayers for $71K “Icelimo” during foreign trip
Taxpayers were forced to pick up the tab for a $71,000 bill from “Icelimo Luxury Travel” during Governor General Mary Simon’s four-day visit to Iceland last fall.
“The governor general spent more on fancy rides in four days than the average Canadian makes in a whole year,” Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said. “We’re not saying the governor general should be hitchhiking, but surely she could have gotten around a small island for less than the price of a brand-new BMW.”
The cost to taxpayers was more than $1,000 per hour during the 69.5 hours Simon and her entourage spent in the country, according to a review of her official itinerary.
Icelimo specializes in “genuine luxury travel life experiences … crafted with flair and finesse entirely around your dreams,” according to its website.
Simon spent Oct. 12-15, 2022, in Iceland to attend the Arctic Circle Assembly, an annual international gathering held at the Harpa Conference Hall in the capital city of Reykjavik.
The Harpa Conference Hall is located about 700 metres – or less than a 10-minute walk – from the Hotel Borg, where Simon and 15 others stayed during the trip.
The CTF obtained internal government records and receipts related to the trip through a series of access-to-information requests.
All told, the four-day trip cost Canadian taxpayers at least $298,000.
About $115,000 came in the form of hotel bookings and hotel refreshment costs, while another $10,000 was spent throwing a “Friends of Canada Reception.”
Included in the overall costs for the trip is $18,600 for a “pre-visit” by an unknown number of staff from Aug. 28 to Sept. 1, 2022, who prepared the way for Simon’s arrival weeks later. The cost of the pre-visit also included a $6,400 tab from Icelimo.
Simon brought along her husband, her secretary, her director of communications, her manager of strategic communications, two “aide-de-camp” and her official photographer.
The amount paid to Icelimo would have covered the cost to purchase – outright – a 2012 Dodge Challenger limousine, with enough money left over to also pick up a 2011 Lincoln Town Car limousine.
Other, more affordable transportation options would have included Pick Me Up and VIP Travel, both of which operate in Iceland’s capital city of Reykjavik and offer cheaper fares.
Meanwhile, the delegation could have cut down on hotel costs by renting out an entire nine-bedroom “farmhouse” on a 700-acre estate with a geothermal hot pool about an hour’s drive from the city. In fact, the governor general’s team could have booked the idyllic location for more than 40 days and nights at a cheaper price tag for taxpayers.
“It seems like Simon and her bureaucrats go out of their way to find the most expensive options,” Terrazzano said. “Maybe when Canadians can barely afford groceries our government could ease up on the fancy rides, airplane food, hotels and international trips.”
The Iceland trip marked the third time Simon travelled abroad since her official appointment to governor general by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in July 2021.
In October 2021, Simon brought along her husband and 31 others for a four-day trip to attend a German bookfair, which cost taxpayers about $700,000.
In March 2022, Simon’s weeklong trip to the Middle East cost taxpayers about $1.3 million.
On both trips, Simon and her entourage racked up impressive in-flight catering bills: $103,000 during the Germany trip;$99,000 during the Middle East trip.
A review of the receipts from the Middle East trip – obtained by the CTF – shows Simon and company dined on beef Wellington and apple-stuffed pork tenderloin, among other dishes that sound at home on fine dining menus.
While the governor general’s Iceland trip did not result in a six-figure in-flight catering tab, a review of receipts reveals someone expensed taxpayers for a $602 beef steak bourguignon with mashed potatoes, followed by a $238 mousse with crumble and strawberry sauce for dessert.
Most recently, Simon travelled to Finland this February where she spoke out on climate change. Meanwhile, the plane that Simon flew on burned through nearly 25,000 litres of jet fuel, which is the equivalent to the fuel needed to power 22 cars for an entire year.
“Clearly Simon likes to jet around the world spending buckets of taxpayer cash, but what value are taxpayers getting out of all her fancy trips?” Terrazzano said. “The feds need to rein in the cost of international trips and Simon’s budget.”
The Arctic Circle Assembly, established in 2013, aims to “facilitate dialogue and build relationships to address rapid changes in the Arctic,” according to its mission statement.
Simon gave a 15-minute keynote address, followed by a 10-minute question-and-answer session – both of which were recorded and are available to watch on YouTube.
Mario Toneguzzi
Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Podcast. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list)
About Us
Canada’s Podcast is the number one podcast in Canada for entrepreneurs and business owners. Established in 2016, the podcast network has interviewed over 600 Canadian entrepreneurs from coast-to-coast.
With hosts in each province, entrepreneurs have a local and national format to tell their stories, talk about their journey and provide inspiration for anyone starting their entrepreneurial journey and well- established founders.
The commitment to a grass roots approach has built a loyal audience with over 120,000 downloads and thousands of subscribers on all our social channels and YouTube. Canada’s Podcast is proud to provide a local, national and international presence for Canadian entrepreneurs to build their brand and tell their story.