This is NOT tax dollars well spent

Ottawa’s spin doctor payroll rivals that of the Commons

Recently released numbers reveal that 3,325 spin doctors toil for the Harper government at an estimated cost in 2014 of $263 million

When we’re spending nearly as much on spin as we are on the House of Commons, we’re on a very slippery slope indeed.
 

Last week, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation released the head count and salary costs of the federal government’s legion of information services staff.
 

The numbers, released in response to an access to information request, reveal that 3,325 spin doctors toil for the Harper government at an estimated cost this year of $263 million.
 

Despite the Harper government’s avowed objective to reduce the federal public service by 19,000 positions, the ranks of communications staff have grown by 163 since the Conservatives took office, while costs have risen by $48 million.
 

The combined payroll of federal spin doctors rivals the $329-million payroll of the House of Commons, the beating heart of our democracy, the institution we rely upon to keep hundreds of thousands of federal officials accountable.

READ MORE: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/08/03/ottawas_spin_doctor_payroll_rivals_that_of_the_commons.html