"Radwanski's Reward"

June 25, 2003

It was the taxes that finally did it.  Not that former Privacy Commissioner George Radwanski's lavish taxpayer-funded expenses or accusations that he falsified documents and intimidated his staff weren't enough to prompt outrage.  It's simply that after repeated accounts of extravagant government spending, it takes a lot to truly shock Canadians. 

That all changed when it was revealed that the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) graciously forgave a half million dollars of Mr. Radwanski's unpaid taxes just one day before he was appointed by the federal Liberals to his job as Privacy Commissioner.  The CCRA claims there was no political interference in the decision to forgive most of Mr.  Radwanski's tax debt. 

Naturally, this coincidence has been met with a large degree of skepticism.  It also raises troubling questions.  Was the CCRA aware when it forgave $500,000 of Mr. Radwanski's unpaid taxes that the very next day his new $210,000-per-year-plus-living-expenses job would eventually have allowed him to pay off his tax bill?  If the CCRA was not aware of this impending boost to his financial situation, it should have been.  If the agency was aware of it, then the taxes should never have been forgiven. 

And that's what has this country seething.  At the very time most Canadians are struggling to support their families while dutifully paying their taxes, Mr. Radwanski appears to have received preferential treatment because of his political connections. 

For most Canadians, delinquency in paying your taxes is not a trivial matter.  The sternly-worded notices from CCRA for the most minor of delays in payment or errors in filing are enough to prompt immediate compliance where financially able.  The average taxpayer can expect to face intense pressure to pay amounts far less than even one percent of what Mr. Radwanski owed. 

Yet why would the CCRA concern him when he can so easily defy Parliament, his employer?  When the House of Commons government operations committee first began looking into Mr. Radwanski's expenses and conduct he actually questioned the "appropriateness" of such requests. 

When the committee pressured him to comply, they found that Mr. Radwanski's expenses reached $287,000 in just two years and included trips to London, Rome and Paris.  Even more alarming are allegations that before the expense documents were turned over to MPs, Mr. Radwanski ordered his staff to "white out" a stopover in Hawaii and details about a $444 dinner with his lawyer at an Ottawa-area restaurant. 

Mr. Radwanski was reluctantly forced to resign this week - with a $70,000 settlement package!   And still, he did not go gracefully.  He defiantly refuses to accept any wrongdoing and, instead, blames MPs and the media for causing his downfall. 

All political appointments are subject to extensive security and background checks.  Yet, incredibly, the Prime Minister's office still claims to be unaware of Mr. Radwanski's tax troubles before the Liberals approved his appointment.  Perhaps Canadians should follow Mr. Radwanski's suggestion after all, and investigate who is really responsible for this gross misuse of tax dollars.