Final Entitlement

Unrepentant to the end, the Liberals are going out in the style to which they have become accustomed, with both hands in our pockets:

David Dingwall, former head of the Royal Canadian Mint, has received $417,780 in his now-famous "entitlements," as one of the last acts of Prime Minister Paul Martin's departing Liberal government.

It is a fitting bookend — Martin's first act of office in December 2003 was to shut down a scandal-plagued sponsorship program that began during Dingwall's time as part of Jean Chrétien's government. This last act shows that Chrétien's legacy haunted Martin right to the bitter end of his mandate.

The Privy Council Office announced the payment yesterday following the decision of an independent arbitrator, George Adams, who concluded Dingwall had not resigned, as the government suggested at the time, but had been fired.

Dingwall left the $277,000-a-year-job in September after a prolonged controversy about his six-figure office expense account. A subsequent review by the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers concluded Dingwall's spending was within the rules with minor discrepancies.

With that sort of severance package, Dingwall can afford to buy his own gum. The real fancy stuff, too.

Source: Toronto Star