Every time there is a quasi-scandal in Canada, we like to add the American -gate to it, as if to denote its severity.  I cringe at it, but surprisingly, on ORPP severances, we didn’t hear it. So, let’s call a scandal a scandal and call this severance-gate.

The Ontario Retirement Pension Plan is no longer and the costs associated with it are now at $70 million.  We learned of the figures just before the August long weekend when people were packing their coolers with libations that will make them forget about the terrible waste.

We know this figure thanks to some proactive disclosure by the government.  The government released the details of the full program costs on their own, however, we seem to be forgetting that they tried to give us a much lower cost estimate about a month earlier.  At the end of June, we were told that the government spent about $20 million to start up and abruptly cancel the provincial pension scheme, even though it has had a willing federal partner for months. Now that number is three and a half times bigger.  Oops.

This episode reminds me of a Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie my kids like to watch.  The older brother, Rodrick, tells his younger brother, Greg, that there are rules to success in life.  One of those rules is to manage your parents’ expectations.  The movie switches to Greg telling his parents that he thought he failed a test, but when he got his mark back, he barely passed.  The dad, partially happy he averted the worst case says, ‘well, at least you didn’t fail.’

This latest ORPP episode is much like that.  Hey, Ontario, it’s true that our government wasn’t forthright about the true costs in June, but at least they proactively told us about the costs instead of having them pried out through an auditor-general or examining the public accounts.  No outcry needed as a result – yes the $70 million is bad, but at least they are now honest about it.  And because of this newfound proactive honesty, Ontarians can continue drinking their frozen Palm Bays courtesy of their online purchase at the LCBO.

What seemed to irritate more than a few people is the fact that $2 million in severance was being doled out to 6 people, some of whom got six-figure payouts for being on the job less than half a year.

This reminds me of what transpired at Western University during my first year there.  When the public disclosure of salaries for 2014 was made in early 2015, one of the eye-popping compensation packages went to the university’s president, Amit Chakma.  In his contract, he had the option of being paid an extra year’s salary if he opted not to take an administrative leave.  He didn’t take that leave, and it was revealed that he earned nearly a million dollars in 2014.

The response from the university community was swift and merciless.  How could a president who led an administration that was preaching restraint be compensated so egregiously high? And so there were protests everywhere – on social media, at the university Senate, around the water cooler, and more.  As we learned more about it, we not only started to question why the president took the money, but how inadequate university governance was to accept such a negotiated contract.

The outcry was so loud that Dr. Chakma heeded those concerns, agreed to give back the extra salary, and launched a review of governance structures to listen to the concerns of those in the university community that he leads.

The situation with the ORPP severances tells a different tale.  Whoever negotiates these contracts on behalf of tax payers is failing in their fiduciary duty to be mindful of the public purse.  To add salt to the wound, these contracts would have been rubber stamped by cabinet.  The fact that nobody tried to stop these severances from being negotiated even as the ORPP was winding down with a newfound federal partner shows us that the government really doesn’t care about the money they oversee.

Any organization, whether it be a university or a corporation or some other entity would have serious governance questions asked if such a scenario were to arise, but for the Government of Ontario, no questions are ever asked and no changes are ever made, which is why we keep seeing this happen over and over again.

Sadly, a by-election is being waged this week, and barely a mention of this until Kevin O’Leary penned his second open letter to the Premier and published it in the Toronto Sun.  It’s time that voters place some greater expectations on their government before the government continues to manage your expectations lower still. Who knows what will be next?