Statement made on 16 May 2012 by Senator Terry Mercer
Hon. Terry M. Mercer:
Honourable senators, I asked the Leader of the Government in the Senate weeks ago, then a second and a third time, about budget cuts and hirings at the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. I also said that in the recent federal budget, funding to ACOA was reduced by almost $17.9 million per year — 21 per cent of ACOA's $84.6 million operating budget. I also asked the minister before about high-paying jobs going to Peter MacKay's friends at ACOA. For example, John Lynn was hired by Enterprise Cape Breton Corp., under then minister responsible for ACOA, Peter MacKay; Kevin MacAdam, a former MacKay staffer, was hired as Director General of Regional ACOA Operations in Prince Edward Island; Patrick Dorsey, former senior adviser to Premier Binns, was named ACOA's vice-president in P.E.I. in 2007, when Mr. MacKay was the minister responsible; and, of course, Cecil Clarke landed himself a job as a consultant at the Cape Breton County Economic Development Agency.
In the wake of another round of pink slips to hard-working career public servants in federal departments, I note that none of the above names make the list. Could the minister tell honourable senators when these people will get their pink slips, considering that their jobs are costing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the federal purse?
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