The Governor General is taking Canadians to the cleaners – literally.
Records tabled in the House of Commons in response to a query from a Conservative MP reveal that Rideau Hall has spent $117,566 on laundry services since 2018.
The expenditures have been decried by the fiscal watchdog Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
“When I spill half the Pizza Hut lunch buffet on my white work shirt, I don’t stick the company I work for with the dry cleaning bill and neither should the Governor General,” said CTF federal director Franco Terrazzano.
The Office of the Secretary to the Governor General managed to spend six figures on dry cleaning despite having an in-house domestic staff.
“Why does the Governor General’s office need to spend so much on dry cleaning when it already has staff doing laundry and there’s a six-figure expense account for new clothes?” said Terrazzano. “Whether it’s feasting on fancy airplane food, spending a fortune on a limo service in Iceland, or staying in the finest of hotels, Rideau Hall spares no expense when it’s taxpayers picking up the tab.”
The monthly dry cleaning costs for Rideau Hall costs taxpayers an average of $1,800 per month.
The total would be enough to dry clean 13,831 blouses, 6,204 dresses or 3,918 duvets, according to prices at Majestic Cleaners, a dry cleaning service in Ottawa.
While the records did address that “traditional laundering is done in-house at the OSGG,” they also stated that personal clothing needs, including tablecloths, napkins and assorted linens are sent out for professional drycleaning.
“This is another perk the Governor General enjoys that struggling Canadians can’t afford,” said Terrazzano.
In May, Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and her predecessor, Julie Payette, were caught having billed the taxpayers over $88,000 in combined clothing purchases since 2017.
Over their five-year mandate, the Governor General is allotted an expense account of up to $130,000 on clothing alone.
Their purchases included everything from a $3,000 “black velvet dress with silk lining” to boots that were over $1,000 and an “ecru hat” that cost almost $500.
Between 2021-22, the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General was given around $33 million in federal funding.
The annual salary for the Governor General is currently $351,600, as the position was granted an additional $48,000 pay raise during the Covid-19 pandemic.
